DUBAI – Etihad chief executive James Hogan has conceded that intense competition on flights from Australia to the Arabian Gulf is having an impact on the airline’s yields.
“Seat factor is not the issue – yield is,†said Hogan.
Routes from south-east Asia and the GCC countries were providing better yields but flights from Europe and Australia were heavily discounted, Hogan said.
Hogan said he expected economic conditions to remain tough for airlines in the second quarter, as premium traffic continued to ease.
Nevertheless, he said the airline’s business class cabin was achieving an average 75 percent load factor across the network.
Etihad has taken the wraps off a new first class cabin product. The new cabin has 12 individual suites and an 80.5-inch fully flat bed and will make its debut with the arrival of an A340 in August. The rest of the fleet will be retro-fitted.
