Etihad Airways says to trim its workforce to reduce costs

Etihad Airways said Sunday it is cutting jobs in some parts of its business as a part of its restructuring. An Etihad Airways spokesman said that a majority of those affected by the headcount reduction are through "natural attrition" and the vacancies will not be filled. He declined to comment on the number of jobs affected. This would involve restructuring in different parts of its business in order to reduce costs, improve productivity and revenue, Etihad said. The airline said it was operating in an "increasingly competitive landscape," against a backdrop of "weakened global economic conditions." Etihad, in a bid to strengthen its European network, struck a code sharing deal last week with Lufthansa, which allowed the German carrier to jointly sell tickets with Etihad on some routes. <br/>