By Federico Maccioni and Ahmed Elimam
DUBAI (Reuters) -Etihad Airways on Tuesday laid out a series of deals that will add 32 wide-body jets to its growing fleet, lifting targets for fleet size and passenger numbers by 2030.
The Abu Dhabi carrier is buying six A330-900s from Airbus and nine will be leased from Dublin-based lessor Avolon as part of the order, which was announced during the Dubai Airshow.
“Our plan is to get to 200 aircraft by 2030, more or less. And the 32 that we bought are instrumental for that,” CEO Antonoaldo Neves told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the event.
In recent years, airlines have struggled with aircraft deliveries amid increasing demand, as Boeing undergoes multiple crises and Airbus struggles with supply chain challenges.
Neves said the airline will start receiving the A330s by 2027 and recounted the company had to move at speed to secure the deliveries.
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The airline is boosting its fleet and network to better compete with bigger Gulf carriers, as Abu Dhabi diversifies its economy away from oil betting on sectors such as tourism.
It now aims to fly 37 million passengers every year by 2030. It had previously said it would target 30 million passengers with a fleet 170 aircraft by the same year.
Etihad also ordered seven Airbus A350-1000s, bringing its total for the type to 27 planes, and said it would add 10 A350F freighters to its fleet.
Neves, who declined to disclose financial details of the deal, said the order will be financed with the company’s own funds as part of a 37 billion dirham investment ($10.07 billion)in new aircraft over the next five years.
In May, it confirmed an order for 28 wide-body Boeing aircraft, including 777X.
Neves also announced that Etihad had picked U.S. communication company Viasat to provide high-speed connectivity services for its narrow-body fleet from the second quarter of next year, before expanding to the whole fleet.
($1 = 3.6729 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Federico Maccioni and Ahmed Elimam; Editing by Susan Fenton, Joe Bavier and Louise Heavens)
