Listen mate, I can't really talk about Gulf Air, you know that and so do I," he says in a friendly manner taking me to one side of the terminal. I've clearly been warned but at least this time he's happy. Last time James Hogan and I met was when I managed to shut half the runway off at Bahrain airport so that my photographer and I could take some cover shots of the Australian executive sitting in a leather chair in front of one of his flying falcons. On that occasion he wasn't happy at all and understandably so. His then PR manager hadn't warned him that he was being bussed over to runway three to sit outside in the squally wind with thousands of tonnes of aluminium whooshing over his head. Fair point.

Since then, however, he's moved on and in some style. And despite dragging him through four customs barriers, the chief of Abu Dhabi police and sitting him down in a first class seat of a jet itching to take off for Frankfurt the smile on James Hogan's face has well and truly returned.

The turning point came in October last year. After four and a half years of groundbreaking change management and continued success with one of the region's oldest and best known airlines, he was poached, pure and simple, by the UAE's national airline and youngest commercial player on the scene, Etihad.

The main problem however, came a few months after his Abu Dhabi arrival. Once the cracks began to appear in Gulf Air's financial fuselage people automatically and rather wrongly, but equally rapidly, began to put two and four together. Had Hogan jumped ship because he knew the Omani government was preparing to drop Gulf Air and leave it to the Bahrainis? The rumours started flying. Hogan naturally denies any of this. He tells me that he'd done his bit, his mandate had been followed to the letter and he'd done everything asked of the board. What could any airline wish for? He adds that his move to Etihad was a decision based entirely on career progression - to discover and overcome new challenges. Like so many successful CEOs he had done all he could with the business, Etihad had spotted that and sourced one, if not the most forward looking and progressive western CEOs in the aviation industry.

"So do you really think I look happier?" he asks inquisitively. "Of course I do. Last time we met in Bahrain you had a hacking cough and were working all hours under the sun," I reply honestly. And he likes what he hears. That's the trick with James Hogan, be honest and upfront and you'll get a fair crack of the whip and a decent answer in return.

So what's changed? The answer is as clear as Hogan and his board's mandate - it begins with an E and ends with a D.

"First off I spent four and a half years at Gulf Air challenging myself and the airline. I went there for three years but ended up staying a little bit longer. Luckily when I resigned this opportunity became available," he says.

Hogan had always followed Etihad's progress very carefully he adds. "When I step back and look back at what has been achieved at Etihad it's quite extraordinary how such a small team of people have set up a global airline so fast. Aircraft, rebranding, countless destinations, the list goes on.

"When I first met the key principles in Abu Dhabi, their vision for the future was very exciting. And when you look at what's happening here and in the UAE it was a great opportunity and there was nowhere else I wanted to go."

Hogan says he enjoyed "every single second" of the Gulf Air experience and that he is not enjoying seeing such a "great brand", and now rival, go through financial strife. "They're [Gulf Air] going through some rough times at the moment but I'm no longer involved. People are going to jump to conclusions but I'm not in the business of listening to things that aren't true. The airline is still close to my heart and they'll sort it out I'm sure."

Forget the critics, I explain, just look at the position he and his new airline are in. "They approached me," Hogan replies swiftly, denying any corporate wrongdoing. "I'd been following Etihad's progress and the offer was clarity on mandate built on what had been achieved and consolidating to a degree over the next few years. By the end of this year we'll have 34 aircraft and we have 26 (including three cargo freighters) today."

Hogan's highlight so far has been signing a massive US$2.2bn deal with Airbus and its president Louis Gallois at the Paris Air show ‘Le Bourget' last week for 12 new wide-body aircraft including four A340-600s, five A330 passenger aircraft and three A330 freighters. This might not sound as glamorous as Emirates' now gigantic 55 A380 super jumbo order but Hogan's not after that. He knows that as a new airline Etihad has to bide its time, play the right card at every turn and follow the plan to the last detail. Rather impressively for a carrier that is only four years old, when the new planes are delivered between 2008 and 2011 it will increase the UAE national airline's fleet to a colossal 46 aircraft since its launch in 2003 and that doesn't include the four A380s on order for 2013. On top of that it is also considering "evaluating" whether to introduce several narrow-bodied aircraft (either the A320 or Boeing 737) to cater for its GCC network.

What Hogan is best at, however, and what the carriers he has worked with in the past have used to their advantage, is his skill of leading and hiring a team of successful managers to head a multitude of airline elements and combine them into a successful end product; the seat in which you sit, eat, watch films, sleep and work for up to 14 hours direct to either New York or Sydney. He keeps an eye on every system, every element, every manager and every minute detail of the airline commanding respect and authority from every member of staff we meet as we walk through to the plane along the corridors of the airport. His management style hasn't changed since his days in Manama; it's simply a new, exciting and progressive challenge to build Etihad into the world's best global airline.

"When you have 34 aircraft you have to make sure your network is right, select the right destinations, you have to find the right partners, cabin crew and staff in those countries as well as sending out the right proposition in the marketplace," he explains, constantly thinking strategically.

"The key, as we develop the next three years, is to continue to consolidate what's been done, what I call putting the glue in the business. The glue can be experience in local planning, experience in revenue management, experience in training, strengthening our operations, strengthening our network, strengthening our in-flight proposition. Over the next 12 to 23 months we will evolve to become one of the best airlines in the world, if not the best."

I ask Hogan whether he has more freedom in his role but the question doesn't seem to register, he is 100% focused on the job in hand and continually repeats that his mandate is the clearest and most exciting it has ever been. "Etihad has a plan and we're going to stick to it."

The airline is under no illusion that is it is one of the new kids on the block and that over the next three years it won't make a penny in profit.

Etihad's CFO James Rigney says that part of his mandate was to financially restructure the airline.

"We had to decide what sort of cash we needed, what debt financing we needed, and so on. We said to ourselves lets get the issue capital right, so we sat down with the board and worked out the financial requirements of the airline.

"Three years of proven losses into another three years of proven losses - how do we manage that on top of the capital expenditure required? As we have the aircraft come in how do we finance them?"

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Hogan confidently backs up his former head of corporate strategy at Gulf Air by saying the airline will break even by 2010 - once again quoting the crucial mandate and task he has been set and is implementing over the next 36 months.

"We will break even by 2010, a strategy we have presented to the board and one they have accepted. At the same time we've been able to capitalise the airline properly to give us the funds and resources to do our job effectively. To me the mandate is very clear: Build a business that can stand on its own two feet and a brand that supports the development of a hub."

The business, tourism and investment opportunities that lie ahead for Hogan and his crew, and more importantly the emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a whole that Etihad represents, are incredible. "One of the things I talk to European journalists about is what most people forget - we're an airbridge between Europe and Asia and the Middle East," says the Australian CEO.

"Today 65% of our business is transit traffic, anywhere from America to Europe to Abu Dhabi and beyond to India and Asia. Alongside this you have a major Etihad terminal being added to the existing airport by 2010 that will be able to take up to 20 million passengers," he adds.

The backbone and airline's major shareholder is the Abu Dhabi government that is planning to spend around US$260bn worth of investment for roads, rail, infrastructure and a whole range of hotels and tourism projects - another clue as to why Hogan is happier than this time last year. The airline is evolving and evolving fast.

"We came close to five million (4.5 million) passengers last year. A lot of our destinations are 70%-plus full with our current average seat factor at 65%, having risen from 2005 when it was 60%," says Hogan.

"Sydney's a winner, New York's a winner, Toronto's a winner. So we're immature as an airline but we're developing fast and we can see the maturity of the business coming through."

Hogan is acutely aware of the business's international potential, particularly with new markets opening up all the time. "When you look at our catchment area of the Middle East, Indian subcontinent and North Africa the combined population is as great as China. And with 300 million middle class people in India we can't wait until the Indian airlines open up so we can fly into the secondary cities.

"I think it'll be another two years before people like JetAir and Kingfisher get the approval to fly to the Gulf, and we can then get the reciprocal rights to fly people back into India. That's good for business because that takes the pressure off the congestion of Delhi and Bombay and other major airports."

But Hogan isn't just looking forward to potential destinations. He has a lot more on his mind.

"We believe we have the equipment that's being ordered by the end of this year; we have the facility to build a strong global network using Abu Dhabi as a base; we're fortunate that we're a new airline in this region in the sense that we have new IT systems, training programmes and we have outsourced a lot of that," her says.

"I'm really keen to work hard and screw down the cost base. We're very focused. In our game it's the utilisation of the aircraft, the seat factor, the yield and then its about screwing down your costs. Because we have new aircraft, we've got good control over our maintenance costs and we're fortunate to have Gamco behind our offices and near the airport - a state-of-the-art maintenance facility on our doorstep."

The long list of destinations was predominantly put in place during the debut Etihad CEO, Robert Strodel's brief 18-month tenure at the airline. Strodel, despite suddenly resigning in May last year, managed to launch 31 destinations during his short stopover, but there is a distinct difference between the two execs. When I met the Austrian he was a chain-smoking bundle of nerves who clearly knew his fate was sealed - four days after we spoke he was let go. The Australian, however, feeds on the fast pace and the ambitions one of the world's fastest growing airlines has in its sights.

"I didn't know him [Strodel], Hogan quickly replies. "You know how I work and my style - it's to make sure that the people who work for me have the autonomy to do a good job and that the right processes are in place. My job is to make sure that people are accountable," he says assertively.

"Being a new airline we have executives from all over the world who come from all sorts of different airlines and we've bonded very well as a team. I never reflect on the past because whoever was there before me had a completely different mandate at a different point in time. All I can do is go forward, that's what I do - I look ahead. My objective is to develop one of the best airlines in the world and that's what I intend to do. The processes are in place now achieve that."

The airline, as everyone on the Etihad staff list is commonly aware, is in its next phase and in need of someone of Hogan's experience to drive it forward. It's a simple message: follow the plan with no slip ups along the way and the airline will make money, move too fast too soon and in the wrong direction and mistakes will be made - a prime reason why Hogan pushed back the introduction of Etihad's four on-order Airbus A380 super jumbos.

"When we look at our fleet plan and the number of passengers that we're carrying we do need an aircraft like the A380 but we don't need it until 2009, we probably need it around 2013 so you push that purchase back," he explains.

"We didn't have a plan to introduce them earlier. When we were analysing how we were going to develop we just thought it was way too early to take those aircraft onboard. Most people that have taken A380s are operating 747s today so its obviously an easy step up. For Emirates with its full 777's it's an easy step up, plus it's a huge leap for us.

"We're running a seat factor of around 64 to 65% and we have a long way to go. At 78% they can but for us at 65% to step up, that's a major step up."

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2007 will mark Etihad's last year of aircraft purchases for some time. Hogan's job is to now develop and consolidate the business; solidify its 43 routes; up the seat factor; take staff training to new heights such as the two new simulators he has recently purchased alongside Etihad's first batch of Emirati trainee pilots; ensure the IT systems are running smoothly; expand the brand internationally; and bring the airline into the black in 2010.

"You have to make sure that the decision you make at the start is the right one. We have to make sure that whatever we bring in has longevity, has the ability to grow and is able to take bolt ons for the next 15, 20 years, giving us the flexibility to adapt and add as time goes on. Now we have the ability to develop the business over the next three to four years. The plan has now been put in place.

"Now, have you ever driven down the M4 in London, you know when you go down towards the Sainsbury's area, there's a huge Etihad billboard and then there's the Etihad ads on the black cabs..."

Now that's what I call happy.