Etihad! Luxury for the Wealthy (AvHistory #18)
Exploring the Diamond Tier of Middle Eastern Aviation: Etihad Airways' Journey to Premium Excellence
Welcome dearest readers, today we explore the other flag-carrier of the United Arab Emirates, and ironically one of the smallest airlines on Earth yet boasting one of the most prominent A380 fleets at the same time. I refer, of course, to Etihad Airways, more simply known as Etihad (pronounced Eh-tih-haad with the IATA code: EY).
Based in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi near its home-base and hub of Zayed International Airport, it shares the distinction of being the Arab nation's flag carrier with neighboring airline Emirates (based in Dubai, please see my previous article on the gold-plated carrier, aviation history #15). The two airlines cater to completely different customer bases, with Emirates being more comparably affordable compared to Etihad Airways. If Emirates is a premium airline (and it is in fact regarded as such) then Etihad is regarded as a diamond tier. Keep in mind, these are unofficial airline tiers and more accurately, SkyTrax has ranked both as 4- and 5-star airlines, respectively, alongside the ever-unreliable Qatar Airways. These three, Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar, are widely-known affectionately as the "Middle East Giants."
Etihad currently operates more than 1,000 flights per week, to over 120 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America, with a fleet of 107 Airbus and Boeing aircraft as of July 2025, making their total fleet size less than one-third of neighboring Emirates.
Origins and Founding
The emirate of Abu Dhabi was a joint owner of Gulf Air along with Bahrain, Qatar, and the Sultanate of Oman. Zayed International Airport was one of Gulf Air's bases and hubs from the 1970s until 2005, when the UAE withdrew from the airline. Gulf Air would remain as a two-state carrier until Oman's exit in 2007 to focus on Oman Air (and today, Gulf Air is solely owned by Bahrain). From there, starting in July 2003, future UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who wanted an airline for Abu Dhabi, issued an Amiri decree that established Etihad Airways as a national airline of the United Arab Emirates.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Nahyan founded the airline and utilized about AED500 million of start-up capital from the Emirati Sovereign Wealth Fund. Services were launched with a ceremonial flight to the nearby town of Al Ain on 5 November later that year. On 12th of November in 2003, Etihad commenced full-scale commercial operations by launching services to Beirut, Lebanon. This seems abrupt by comparison but honestly, this was the true foundation and beginnings of Etihad.
In terms of the beautiful etymology, Etihad quite literally means "union" or "unity" in Arabic, and represents the unity of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah).
Growth, Investments, and Losses
Etihad reported its first full-year net profit in 2011, US$14 million (about 21 million USD in 2025), in line with the strategic plan announced by CEO James Hogan in 2006. (James Reginald Hogan, for context, an Australian native is a member of the Royal Order of Australia, the founder of globalized investment firm, Knighthood Global, and of course, Etihad Airways' CEO).
In December 2011, Etihad announced it had acquired a 29.21% stake in Air Berlin, Europe's sixth-largest airline, and Hogan was appointed Vice Chairman, those of you who read my Euro wings article know-well what happened to Air Berlin but I'll cover their fate briefly below. It followed this up with minority stakes in various regional and global airlines:
- Air Seychelles (40%)
- Aer Lingus (2.987%)
- Virgin Australia (10%)
Later in late January of 2017, the Etihad Aviation Group Board of Directors announced that Hogan (along with Group CFO James Rigney) would be stepping down "in the second half of 2017" according to a press release. Peter Baumgartner, (former CEO of the airline), became the acting CEO as it faced mounting losses from its investments in the failing Air Berlin and the financially-losing Alitalia.
On the 2nd of May 2017, Alitalia officially filed for bankruptcy, leaving Italy without a flag carrier until ITA Airways was created in 2020, and ITA became majority-owned by Lufthansa Group, giving Germany a foothold in Italy through a 90% majority-share ownership in the Italian flag carrier and successor to Alitalia. Hogan and Rigney abruptly left Etihad later that month under mounting scrutiny. In July of that year, Etihad reported a loss of US$1.873 billion for 2016 (2.2 billion in 2025 dollars). On the 15th of August, Air Berlin ultimately filed for bankruptcy after Etihad withdrew its financial support, this opened the door for Lufthansa to capitalize on the market even further.
On 1 May 2021, it was announced that Etihad Airways sold its 40% stake in Air Seychelles back to the Government of Seychelles, giving up its extended African coast/Indian Ocean reach. Air Seychelles is now officially the flag carrier of the island African nation of the Seychelles.
On 13 May 2023, the Serbian Government announced it had finished acquiring 100% equity in Air Serbia, taking its flag carrier back after several years of buying back stakes from Etihad and stabilized after the Balkan Wars of the early to mid-1990s, when its home-base of Belgrade, Serbia was taken back from the nation of Yugoslavia, which no longer exists.
Etihad Today
By the 2020s, Etihad had become a sole-Middle Eastern carrier, focused exclusively on catering to travelers based in, or oriented around that part of the world (who invariably had a choice between Etihad, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Bahrain's Gulf Air, Middle East Airways -M.E.A.- based in Beirut, Lebanon, El Al, Israel's flag carrier, or Egypt Air based in Cairo). The carrier possessed global reach, but Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport remained Etihad's focal point.
In 2023, Etihad redeployed four of their ten jumbo jets onto their London-Heathrow (LHW) service, with later decisions that an additional A380 would return to the fleet.
Etihad Equity Alliance
Etihad's equity alliance (EEA) was composed of airlines in which Etihad had minority shareholdings. These consisted of stakes in:
- Air Berlin (defunct)
- Air Serbia (rebranded and locally-owned now)
- Air Seychelles (government flag carrier as of 2021)
- Alitalia (defunct)
- Virgin Australia (restructured after bankruptcy, without Etihad's financial involvement)
As of year-end 2023, Etihad has exited all of these holdings as mentioned and there is no more Etihad Group umbrella. With Virgin Australia's bankruptcy and subsequent restructuring, the company's shareholding in the airline ended in its entirety. In late December 2020, the government of Serbia recapitalised Air Serbia, increasing its stake to 82%, thus decreasing Etihad's stake to 18% with minority involvement at most and eventually, once Serbia owned all shares of their flag carrier, Etihad was eliminated as a minority owner entirely. The airline company was also a part of the now-disbanded Etihad Airways Partners alliance between 2015 and 2018.
Sponsorships and Cargo
Etihad is the sponsor of more than seventeen various sports franchises around the world, from various football (soccer) clubs, to hockey teams of the NHL, to basketball and even hyper car modeling, and racing teams.
Etihad also operates, in conjunction with DHL Freight, Etihad Cargo. They operate a small cargo fleet of Boeing 777F freighters, and Airbus A330F freighters, though as of 2014, all five A330F aircraft have been entirely sold to DHL while Etihad Cargo continues to operate them.
Cabin Offerings
Now, to sum this article up, we'll go over Etihad's incredibly unique cabin offerings.
With the introduction of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787, new cabins were introduced, their names being: The Residence (aboard the A380 only), the First Apartments (also aboard A380 only), First Suite (on the 787-9 only), Business Studio and Economy Smart seat (on both aircraft). The rest of the fleet will gradually be retrofitted with these cabins except for the Residence and First Apartment cabins, which are exclusive to the Airbus A380.
The Residence
The Residence was the only three-room cabin on any airline when it was introduced in December 2014. Even now in 2026, people, passengers, crew, aviation enthusiasts, and simple fans talk widely about The Residence, ranking it second in the sky, next only to Singapore Airlines' Suites on their own A380s.
The Residence accommodates either one or two people, in a space of 125 square feet (11.6 m2). It features a private living room, bedroom, and bathroom. It features a 60.6-inch (154 cm)-wide two-seater reclining sofa and 32-inch (81 cm) TV monitor in the lounge; an on-suite bathroom with shower, an 82-inch (210 cm)-long, 47.5-inch (121 cm)-wide double bed in the bedroom which also includes a 27-inch (69 cm) TV monitor, and formerly, before the pandemic, included a personal butler.
First Class Suites - The Apartment
First Class suites are only offered on Airbus A380s, positioned just behind The Residence offering and are named "The Apartment." There are nine suites in total, configured 1-1 across a single aisle, and take up a total area of 39 square feet (3.6 m2) each. Each one features a 30.3-inch (77 cm)-wide reclining chair; a full-length ottoman which can be transformed into a bed; a 24-inch (61 cm) TV monitor which can swing to align itself to the ottoman so that it can be viewed from the bed; a vanity cabinet; and a bar with assorted chilled drinks. In 2015, this class was named the world's best first-class due to its innovation.
First Suite (Boeing 787-9)
Some Boeing 787-9s offer eight First Suites. The service includes a 26-inch (66 cm)-wide reclining lounge chair (which converts into an 80.5-inch (204 cm) fully flat bed); dining table; and a 24-inch (61 cm) TV monitor. All covers are designed by Porsche interior-designer Poltrona Frau, also used by Singapore Airlines. There is a personal wardrobe, along with total privacy with high-height sliding doors.
Business Studio
The "Business Studio" is on both aircraft models, with 70 seats on the Airbus A380s, 28 on the Boeing 787-9s, and 32 on the Boeing 787-10s. The studio seats include a 22-inch (56 cm)-wide reclining chair, which converts into a fully flat bed, and an 18-inch (46 cm) TV monitor. All have leather covers tailored by the noted Poltrona Frau team. It is featured in a 1-2-1 seating style so all seats have direct aisle access.
Economy Smart
Economy Smart is the lowest class of service offered by Etihad. These seats feature a 17-inch (43 cm)-wide seat on the Boeing 787s and 19-inch (48 cm)-wide seat on the Airbus A380s, with a 31-to-33-inch (79 to 84 cm) pitch and 6-inch (15 cm) recline. There is also an 11-inch (28 cm) touch screen fitted with Etihad's entertainment system. It uses a 3-4-3 seating style on the Airbus A380s, and 3-3-3 seating style on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
COVID-19 Response and Recovery
In February of 2021, in the height of the COVID pandemic, Etihad Airways vaccinated all its operating pilots and cabin crew against COVID-19, the very first airline in the world to vaccinate all its operating pilots and cabin crew; the choice for the crews was indeed simple: get the vaccine, or get a different job. Since most of Etihad's flights were grounded between March and June 2020, the airline's passenger traffic dropped by 76% to a mere 4.2 million paying passengers in 2020; vaccines were seen as a way to remedy a flagging problem.
In July 2022, Etihad announced a record-breaking first-half profitability of $296 million. This was achieved due to the increased passenger travel demand. Etihad carried 3 million more passengers in the first half of 2022, compared to the first half of 2021. In October 2022 Etihad Airways was transferred ownership over to the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ. Etihad, low-cost carrier Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Airports, Etihad Holidays (Etihad's short-lived exclusively low-cost leisure-focused subsidiary), and more were all brought into common ownership under the Etihad Group corporate umbrella. Although the airline had grounded its fleet of ten luxurious Airbus A380-800 aircraft with no initial plans to redeploy the aircraft, it was decided that they would ultimately return to service, a profit-based decision illustrated by offerings only the A380 possessed.
Etihad Guest Loyalty Program
Etihad Guest is the airline's frequent flyer program, launched on 30 August 2006. It offers a discount web shop for members and multiple benefits such as extra baggage and priority check-in for frequent fliers. Points may also be redeemed for tickets or class upgrades. As part of an agreement between Etihad and the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Community Development, senior Emirati citizens get instant access to Etihad's loyalty program and are entitled to perks of more air miles, discounted tickets, priority check-in, and extra baggage.
As part of a partnership with American Airlines, American Airline loyalty program AAdvantage may be redeemed for tickets on Etihad. Similar partnership exists for the Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) loyalty program Eurobonds, where members can earn and spend bonus points on selected flights. Etihad guest loyalty members are rewarded with Etihad miles when they book accommodations through booking.com as a result of a deal signed between third-party hotel provider booking.com and Etihad Airways in 2019.
As of 2026, Etihad Airways has not suffered any fatal/lethal accidents during passenger operations, in its entire history.
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