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Etihad Airways’ executive team is close to completing its strategic review and setting a new 5- and 10-year plan after being rocked financially by what its CE calls “a perfect storm.” Etihad posted a net loss of US$1.87b for 2016, reversed from a net profit of $103m in 2015. Exceptional charges were major factors behind the deficit, including an $808m charge on assets and financial exposures to equity partners, mainly related to Alitalia and Airberlin, which are now both in bankruptcy and in which Etihad owned stakes. Etihad was also affected by a fall in oil prices, which led to more capacity in the Gulf market. On top of that, terrorist events in Europe, the Trump travel bans and the US’ 5-month ban on laptops and other electronic devices in the cabins of aircraft all impacted demand for travel on the Gulf airlines. <br/>

Emirates is open to cooperation with rival Etihad Airways in areas including procurement, its president Tim Clark said Wednesday, adding a full merger between the pair was unlikely but up to the owners. Emirates and Etihad have competed to build global networks from their respective hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, even as they battled overcapacity, security concerns and a fall in regional business travel. "I think there is value to be had working more closely with them," Clark said, adding there might be concerns from regulators in some foreign markets. "There are many areas that the airlines could work together on like procurement. But we have to go the first jump first to understand what it is we could do and I'm simply the manager of one of the businesses," he said. <br/>