Etihad Airways plans to spend more than $7 billion by 2030 to refurbish its older Boeing 777 planes, buy new aircraft and update its products as part of a plan to double its size, its chief executive has said.
The airline will start a programme to retrofit its older 777 wide-bodies starting from 2026, as there is currently a two to three years-long wait to get new aircraft, Antonoaldo Neves told the Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Etihad has a fleet of nine Boeing 777 passenger aircraft, according to its website.
“We're going to be investing $7 billion in the next five years and the beauty of this is that we're going to be investing with our own cash flow generation, so we don't need any capital from outside to do that investment,” he said.
Asked about plans for a potential initial public listing, Mr Neves said that “no decision” has been made yet and that any decision will be made by its shareholder ADQ, Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company.
However, the airline's management is “working hard” to ensure the airline is ready if ADQ decides to list the company's shares, he added. This entails a strong business plan, profit margins, great customer service and governance framework.
"It's really important for airlines to be listed because in the end, although we don't need cash in the next five to six years to deploy the $7 billion capital, one day if we decide to accelerate and to grow even more, we may need capital. And having the ability to tap into different sources of capital to finance our growth may be important in the future," Mr Neves said.
Etihad Airways is on track for its third consecutive year of annual profit after it posted a 48 per cent increase in its first-half net income on the back of strong travel demand fuelled by a strategic network expansion and increased flight frequencies.
Profit after tax grew to Dh851 million ($232 million) from January to June, up from Dh575 million in the same time last year, the airline said last month.
In the first eight months of the year, the airline carried 12 million passengers, up from 8.9 million in the same period of 2023, according to its latest data. Load factor, a measure of how well an airline fills available seats, stood at 86 per cent during the period.
So far this month, Etihad Airways' load factor on some days is at between 90 per cent to 92 per cent and its "planes are very, very, very full", Mr Neves said.
New routes
The airline's investment is aimed at doubling its size by 2030, which includes doubling its fleet to 170 planes and tripling passenger numbers to 33 million by the end of the decade.
There are about 40 to 50 new destinations to be announced over the next five years. So that's about eight to 10 new destinations per year
Antonoaldo Neves,
Etihad Aviation Group chief executive
"We're going to be launching about eight to 10 new destinations every year," Mr Neves said on Wednesday.
The airline has launched 11 new destinations so far this year, most recently to Bali in June.
In September, Etihad Airways announced new routes to Prague and Warsaw that will start in the summer of 2025.
"In November, we're going to be announcing more destinations. So there are about 40 to 50 new destinations to be announced over the next five years. So that's about eight to 10 new destinations per year," Mr Neves said.
Etihad's inaugural flight to Boston - in pictures
Lie-flat business class seats
The airline is bringing back five of its Airbus A380 double-deckers into service following a grounding during the Covid-19 pandemic, and next year will introduce new A320 narrow-bodies with lie-flat seats in business class, Mr Neves said.
"In the narrow-body fleets, we're going to have a consistent product with lie-flat business class seats in 80 to 90 per cent of the planes," Mr Neves said.
The airline is also investing in upgrading its wide-body fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft. "Given the constraints that we have in the global aviation market, there are no planes available, if you want to buy a plane it's going to take two to three years to get the plane," he said.
"So we had to take the decision to bring back some 777s whose interiors are a little bit dated ... we're going to be retrofitting all those planes. And the retrofit starts in 2026. It looks far but it takes two years to get one brand new seat from the manufacturers."
With all of the changes, "I'd say by 2026 and 2027, you can expect a totally different airline", he added.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Where to Find Me by Alba Arikha
Alma Books
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