There’s some better news for Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad Airways

The airline has halved its operating loss to $400 million USD for the first half of the year.

In 2020 at the height of the pandemic the airline recorded a loss of a whopping $800 million.

Etihad says it had cut operating costs by 27 percent, helping the airline recover from a turbulent time in aviation.

Passenger numbers still down in the Middle East

Over the last six months, the airline has carried 1 million passengers who on average filled 24.9% of plane seats, down from 3.5 million passengers and 71% of seats filled in the first half of 2020.

Tony Douglas, CEO of Etihad, says the “curveball of the Delta variant disrupting the global recovery in air travel.”

But the carrier, which competes with nearby Dubai’s Emirates and Qatar Airways, stressed it’s ready to reap the benefits of a rebound after slashing year-on-year operational costs.

Etihad is one of the Middle East’s top carriers but was wracked by financial losses even before the pandemic clobbered the aviation industry worldwide.