Etihad Airways unveiled a new brand campaign built around Abu Dhabi‘s growth story and set out a plan to invest $20bn over the next 10 years in aircraft, products and guest experience, the airline said on August 31.
The campaign, “Beyond Borders”, ties the carrier’s expansion drive to the emirate that owns it, as Etihad presses one of the industry’s most aggressive growth strategies and positions Abu Dhabi against larger Gulf rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways for connecting traffic. The airline describes itself as the world’s fastest-growing carrier.
Alongside the spending pledge, Etihad said it aimed to grow its network to more than 150 destinations, deepen partnerships routing traffic through Abu Dhabi, and expand its fleet and products.
“Every route we fly, every guest we carry and every partnership we build reflects the same ambition that Abu Dhabi was built from,” said Chief Executive Officer Antonoaldo Neves. “This city gave us an identity, a purpose, and a reason to reach further, and everything we’ve built as an airline over the past 23 years reflects that.”
Etihad, the national carrier of the UAE, was founded in 2003 and is wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi government through its ADQ holding company. It has expanded rapidly under a turnaround strategy after years of losses tied to earlier equity stakes in overseas airlines.
Neves said the campaign would shape how the airline grows in the years ahead. “Beyond Borders is the lens we look through at the start of every journey and the attitude we use to break through every barrier; where others stop at the border, we go beyond it,” he said.