BiziBB
Feb 7, 08, 4:52 pm
James Hogan is talking up Etihad in Ireland to generate publicity about its new capacity on the DUB route - and is clearly focused on the F / J seats.
Interesting expansion plans - the rest of the article is on raising the airline's profile, recognition and customer loyalty, so hopefully the quoted info is useful for everyone else.
Elsewhere in the article, Hogan hoses down the interviewer's question about a focus on DUB-AUH-JFK as EY isn't focusing on the US side.
(Mrs B was most impressed with our recent flight, so I'm interested in any feedback on transits through AUH these days. Cheers!)
Feeling on top of the world :: Interview James Hogan, chief executive, Etihad (http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/feeling-on-top-of-the-world--interview-james-hogan-chief-executive-etihad-1283460.html) [Irish Independent]
...Hogan's good mood has more to do with Etihad's Irish performance than the gifts so kindly bestowed by mother nature.
A year into its Irish operations, Etihad says it has succeeded in filling about 80pc of the Abu Dhabi-bound seats on offer.
The crucially important up-the-front seats, responsible for vast swathes of airline's revenues, have been "practically full", Hogan says.
It's an impressive performance, particularly in the Irish context where Aer Lingus filled just 71pc of its long-haul seats in December. So impressive, in fact, that Etihad has increased its service from four times a week to daily, effective December 13.
People can use those flights to fly direct to Abu Dhabi. More usually, though, they make the comparatively stress-free onward connections to Etihad's 40-plus destinations in Asia and Australia.
"Our main markets are the Asian subcontinent, North Africa, China," he says. "In lots of those areas regulation is the only thing holding back demand. I'm a premium airline. I'm visiting friends and relatives. I'm in the world of religious traffic, it's a different market."
As for oil, Hogan says he's hedged for all of 2008 and is now hedging into 2009 and 2010, a position which makes Etihad the envy of many European airlines.
Undeterred then, and backed by the considerable financial fire power of the UAE government, Hogan is happily talking to Boeing and Airbus about a possible 100-aircraft order, with deliveries starting in 2011.
Immediate expansion plans will be targeted at upping frequency on existing routes to attract those vitally important business passengers. As for the future of the Irish operations, Hogan wouldn't rule out additional flights. "We have a big investment in Dublin and we have to make that work," he says. "In two years we will look at adding more capacity to Dublin, or maybe Cork or Shannon or Belfast.
Interesting expansion plans - the rest of the article is on raising the airline's profile, recognition and customer loyalty, so hopefully the quoted info is useful for everyone else.
Elsewhere in the article, Hogan hoses down the interviewer's question about a focus on DUB-AUH-JFK as EY isn't focusing on the US side.
(Mrs B was most impressed with our recent flight, so I'm interested in any feedback on transits through AUH these days. Cheers!)
Feeling on top of the world :: Interview James Hogan, chief executive, Etihad (http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/feeling-on-top-of-the-world--interview-james-hogan-chief-executive-etihad-1283460.html) [Irish Independent]
...Hogan's good mood has more to do with Etihad's Irish performance than the gifts so kindly bestowed by mother nature.
A year into its Irish operations, Etihad says it has succeeded in filling about 80pc of the Abu Dhabi-bound seats on offer.
The crucially important up-the-front seats, responsible for vast swathes of airline's revenues, have been "practically full", Hogan says.
It's an impressive performance, particularly in the Irish context where Aer Lingus filled just 71pc of its long-haul seats in December. So impressive, in fact, that Etihad has increased its service from four times a week to daily, effective December 13.
People can use those flights to fly direct to Abu Dhabi. More usually, though, they make the comparatively stress-free onward connections to Etihad's 40-plus destinations in Asia and Australia.
"Our main markets are the Asian subcontinent, North Africa, China," he says. "In lots of those areas regulation is the only thing holding back demand. I'm a premium airline. I'm visiting friends and relatives. I'm in the world of religious traffic, it's a different market."
As for oil, Hogan says he's hedged for all of 2008 and is now hedging into 2009 and 2010, a position which makes Etihad the envy of many European airlines.
Undeterred then, and backed by the considerable financial fire power of the UAE government, Hogan is happily talking to Boeing and Airbus about a possible 100-aircraft order, with deliveries starting in 2011.
Immediate expansion plans will be targeted at upping frequency on existing routes to attract those vitally important business passengers. As for the future of the Irish operations, Hogan wouldn't rule out additional flights. "We have a big investment in Dublin and we have to make that work," he says. "In two years we will look at adding more capacity to Dublin, or maybe Cork or Shannon or Belfast.