Location a boon for aviation

abu dhabi — Abu Dhabi’s geography is advantageous for its aviation and tourism sectors, with twothirds of the world’s population living within a 6-hour radius, Etihad Airways Aviation Group CEO Tony Douglas said on Monday.

“There is a huge tourism proposition on offer here in Abu Dhabi. The geography plays to our advantage as well. Two-thirds of the world’s population lives within a 6-hour radius,” he said.

“One [China] observes a GDP growing in excess of 7 per cent. India has a middle class with disposable income and desire for air travel.”

The CEO said Etihad has learnt lessons from investments in partner airlines Alitalia and AirBerlin. Etihad had recorded a $1.87 billion worth of loss in 2016, with $808 million charge on certain assets and financial exposures to equity partners, mainly related to Alitalia and AirBerlin. “I certainly made mistakes. The important thing is to learn and move on.”

However, Douglas added: “We are not frightened of collaboration. We will choose wisely. We will look at them on a case-by-case basis.”

Talking about expansion plans, he said: “In our line of business, the

Two-thirds of the world’s population lives within a 6-hour radius Tony Douglas, CEO of Etihad Airways Aviation Group

network is all important. The network is dependent on destination capacity. The fundamentals are in place so that anyone who has an innovative and competitive product can continue to grow. The pace of growth remains to be seen but we remain very optimistic.”

Etihad turns 15 in November and the challenge is to keep getting better, he said.