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Abu Dhabi-based Etihad is reportedly slimming down, imposing a radical fleet restructure that will ground its entire fleet of 10 Airbus A380s indefinitely and shed its long-range Boeing 777-300ERs by the end of this year.

The airline, which has already got rid of its Airbus A330 fleet, will structure its new fleet around just two highly fuel efficient widebody twinjets. The new fleet will consist of 40 B787-9 and B787-10 Dreamliners, augmented by Airbus A350-1000s.

Reuters quoted Etihad chief executive Tony Douglas telling the online World Aviation Festival that the state-owned airline would become “a very focused, a very disciplined operating model” based on Dreamliners and the A350-1000.

Etihad plans to move back into profit in 2023 as part of a five-year restructuring plan. The industry-wide collapse in passenger demand, triggered by the Covid pandemic, has not spared Gulf carriers, spurring Etihad to speed up its restructure.

Etihad’s fleet includes 39 Dreamliners and 19 B777s. It has converted some of the latter to cargo. The airline has taken delivery of five of 20 A350s it has ordered.

Etihad has also ordered the B777X jet, which features new GE9X engines, new composite wings with folding wingtips, greater cabin width and seating capacity, and technologies from the Boeing 787. Douglas said it was too early to say how this would fit into its future fleet plans.

Managing editor of Simple Flying, Joanna Bailey, has pointed out that some of Etihad’s 777-300ERs are just six or seven years old.

Glory days. Etihad places its new seats on display at the Arabian Travel Mart 2019 in Dubai

Nasdaq.com recently carried a Reuters report, in which Air Seychelles chief executive Remco Althius said Etihad had entered talks to divest its 40% stake in Air Seychelles. The move would leave the Seychelles government sole shareholder of Air Seychelles.

Etihad B787-9 Dreamliner. Source: Etihad

Some years ago, long before the pandemic struck, Etihad pursued a vigorous strategy of investing in other airlines, spending huge amounts of money buying minority stakes in carriers in Europe, India – and in Virgin Australia.

Times have changed.

Written by Peter Needham