Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways
increased its stake in Virgin Australia to 4.99 percent early Wednesday
morning, hours after announcing it had acquired a 3.96 percent stake in the
carrier.
The airline, which has
already bought stakes in three other carriers as it looks to compete with Gulf
rivals, said it planned to build up its stake in the Australian airline, CEO
James Hogan told Arabian Business.
“Our intention is to build
up our stake but we need to do it step by step as we need to get regulatory
approval,” he said. “The Australian market is a very strong market for us.”
Etihad is making
acquisitions in a bid to compete with larger rivals Qatar Airways and Emirates
Airline, which are increasingly challenging European, Asian and Australian
carriers on long-haul routes.
In December, Etihad raised
its stake in airberlin, Europe’s sixth-largest airline, from 2.9 percent to
29.2 percent for US$95m.
Last month it acquired a
3 percent stake in the Irish no-frills carrier Aer Lingus and in January bought a 40 percent
stake in Air Seychelles.
Virgin Atlantic is part
owned by British billionaire Richard Branson and Air New Zealand.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad
in April said first quarter revenues increased 28 percent year-on-year to
US$989m on the back of increased passengers, setting it on target to achieve a
second year of profitability.
“[It’s] a good start to the
year. There are always challenges but certainly I am bullish about the way
forward and very focused that we’ll achieve profitability again this year,” Hogan
said.
“We’re certainly looking at
being a US$5bn business this year, last year was just over US$4bn,” he added.
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