Etihad Airways has posted surging full-year profits for 2025 as the Abu Dhabi-based carrier continues to rapidly roll out new capacity to destinations across Europe and Asia. EBITDAR earnings rose by 37% to Dh6.3 billion ($1.7 billion) and post-tax profit reached Dh2.6 billion, up by nearly half in 2024, while the profit margin stood at 8.4%, up by 1.5% on 2024. That’s nearly double the industry-wide profit margin of 3.9%, as compiled by IATA. Etihad’s growth has been fueled by an ongoing expansion of its capacity, up by more than a fifth in 2025. Meanwhile demand “remained strong”, it states, with the load factor rising by 2 percentage points to 88.3%. Strong sales have encouraged the airline to push more of its Airbus A380s back into service, having withdrawn the superjumbo from active flying during the pandemic. Data shows that it retains just two A380s in storage out of a fleet of nine jets, having returned two back into service within the past 12 months. At the same time, it has begun to introduce the smaller A321LR into its fleet, with 13 now flying with the carrier, data shows. These are being operated on what would normally be widebody routes such as to Thailand and northern Europe and are fitted with first and business class seats. Over the past several years Etihad’s business model has transitioned from one focused on rapid geographical expansion designed to attract transfer passengers to a more disciplined strategy, often targeting smaller, medium-sized markets. As part of this, new routes launched last year include Atlanta, Prague, Warsaw, Addis Ababa, Phnom Penh, Hanoi and Hong Kong. "2025 has been a defining year for Etihad, delivering our strongest performance across every key metric and marking our fourth consecutive year of profitability," states Antonoaldo Neves, chief executive. "These results confirm that our strategy is working – growing sustainably, strengthening our financial position, and continuing to deliver a high-quality experience for our guests." Having been burnt taking equity stakes in several airlines pre-pandemic, such as Alitalia and Air Berlin, the carrier has also initiated a strategy of increasing codeshares with other carriers, increasing its reach. This has seen it form partnerships with Ethiopian Airlines, China Eastern, and Air France-KLM.

Last year was the UK's busiest ever for air passenger numbers, as 302 million travellers passed through the country's airports, according to the latest data from the Civil Aviation Authority. Passenger numbers were up 2% on the 295 million of 2024, continuing a long-term trajectory that has tripled UK air travel since 1989. The figure surpasses that for 2019, when 300 million people passed through UK airports. CAA data indicates that 73% of flights operated on time in 2025. This is slightly below pre-pandemic standards but represents an improvement of six percentage points on 2024. "A record year for passenger numbers underlines the importance of boosting airport capacity as we progress our work to prepare for a third runway at Heathrow, and drive forward approved expansion plans at Gatwick and Luton," states UK aviation minister Keir Mather. The most popular destinations last year from the UK were Dublin, Alicante, Dubai, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca. The other destinations with the largest increases in passenger numbers were Milan Linate (453,000 more passengers), Krakow (326,000) and Malta (301,000).

Airline alliance Oneworld has appointed Ole Orver as its new chief executive, effective 1 April. Orver, formerly Finnair's chief commercial officer, succeeds Nat Pieper at Oneworld's helm. In October, Pieper was recruited by Oneworld member American Airlines to become its commercial chief. "We are pleased to welcome Ole as CEO of Oneworld as the alliance leads the world in redefining the full breadth of value it provides to member airlines and their customers," states American's chief executive Robert Isom, who chairs Oneworld's board. Orver was with Oneworld member Finnair for six years before departing in April 2025, his LinkedIn profile shows.