Etihad slims down as Abu Dhabi trims its air travel ambitions

Abu Dhabi has abandoned its goal of becoming a major air travel hub akin to Dubai and is instead reorganising its airline Etihad into a mid-sized carrier focused on direct flights in an attempt to return it to profit.

Recently-appointed Etihad Airways Group Chief Executive Tony Douglas said on Tuesday the state-owned airline was becoming “more rational” and would not shy away from dropping routes that were commercially unsustainable.

After years of rapid expansion, Etihad plunged to a loss in 2016 following a slowdown in passenger traffic growth and failed investments in foreign airlines such as Air Berlin and Alitalia.

It has been restructuring since, and on Tuesday said it had reorganised into seven business units directly reporting to Douglas, as opposed to individual businesses operating under a group structure set up by his predecessor.

Some senior and mid-management employees will lose their jobs and others will be moved into new positions, Douglas told Reuters by phone, declining to disclose the number of jobs likely to be affected.