Etihad wins 'airline of the year' award

The Abu Dhabi-based airline picked up the award at a glittering ceremony at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai, hosted by ITP, the publishers of Arabian Business magazine and attended by many of the region's leading senior business professionals.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways' chief executive, said:

"To be awarded the 'airline of the year' accolade by Arabian Business caps an amazing 2008 for Etihad. Amidst the toughest of competition and despite an increasingly tough economic backdrop, we have remained steadfast in our focus upon the customer, which makes the winning of such a prestigious award so pleasing."

The Arabian Business Achievement Awards are now in their ninth year.

The awards celebrate the very best in business achievement, both on a corporate and individual level.

The awards are chosen by a specially selected jury comprising business leaders from the region and directors of ITP, the publishers of Arabian Business magazine.

Walid Akawi, ITP Business Publishing's CEO, said: "This was one of the most closely fought categories given so many strong performances in 2008.

"But the judges felt that Etihad stood out above the rest by virtue of its customer service, and the continuing progress of its expansion plans. In the end, the judges voted unanimously for Etihad."

The Arabian Business award for 'airline of the year' is the latest in a series of top accolades that Etihad Airways has won this year, including "world's leading first class airline" at the World Travel Awards; 'airline of the year' at the British Travel Awards; 'leading airline', 'leading first class' and 'leading travel website' at the Middle East World Travel Awards; 'best cabin staff' and 'best economy class' at the Business Traveller (Middle East) awards; and 'best website' at the Pan Arab Web awards.

This year has been marked by significant growth of Etihad's international network, aircraft fleet, passenger numbers and product development.

Etihad has launched six new destinations in 2008, starting flights to Beijing, the Indian cities of Kozikhode (Calicut) and Chennai (Madras) as well as Minsk, the capital city of Belarus, Moscow and Almaty, the commercial capital of Kazakhstan.

Etihad recently boosted its flying programme to Australia, with an increase in its existing daily service to Sydney to 11 flights per week and added a third daily flight to London Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport.

Etihad made history in July by announcing the largest ever aircraft order at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK.

The total deal for up to 205 wide-body and narrow-body planes is worth approximately $43bn, at list prices, and comprises 100 firm orders for a combination of Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

The airline expects to carry more than six million passengers by the end of year, with average seat factors forecast to be 75%.

The number of passengers has grown from 340,000 in 2004 to one million in 2005, 2.8 million in 2006 and 4.6 million in 2007.