It’s ‘exciting to be in Atlanta,’ Etihad Airways CEO says
A few months ago, Etihad Airways became the newest airline to fly into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
After the July launch with four flights per week, it will move to daily flights in November.
CEO Antonoaldo Neves was recently in Atlanta to check in on his newest U.S. market and sat down with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to discuss the company’s network transformation, its strategy and a new contract to test AI-empowered ticket pricing.
“It’s exciting to be in Atlanta,” he said. The company has been on a multiyear network restructure to boost connectivity through its hub in Abu Dhabi by increasing frequency to key markets and expanding others.
Adding new routes to destinations including Atlanta, its fifth American destination, and Charlotte — which launches next year — is part of it.
The Atlanta flights are “always full,” Neves said.
“If you want to come today from Atlanta to Colombo (Sri Lanka), we’re the shortest flight possible. If you want to go to Mumbai (India) from here, best connection. 17 hours,” he pointed out.
“Etihad has become the No. 1 in market share from India to Europe and from India to the U.S. because we redid the network,” he said.
The Emirati airline is owned by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ.
Etihad has not been shy about noting that Atlanta’s Indian-American population was a big draw for its new Georgia route.
Metro Atlanta’s Asian community has more than doubled in the past two decades, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission. People of Indian origin make up more than a third of that population — the largest group.
U.S. carriers, including Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, have also struggled to serve India given Russian airspace restrictions. Delta and its partners recently announced a new agreement with Indian airline IndiGo.
In a recent interview, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told the AJC that India is still on the list of destinations where the company hopes “to be launching direct service real soon out of Atlanta.”
Neves said there is space for many airlines to increase service to the subcontinent. “India is underserved today,” he said. “We need more.”
When it comes to competition from its now Atlanta airport peer, Delta, Neves said he has felt none. He said they are grateful for the airport’s willingness to open up gate space for them.
“We’re in a different market. ... There is space for everyone. And we’re trying to do something our competition don’t do,” he said.
“If I were flying to (Delta hub) Amsterdam, different story.”
Pricing and fares
Etihad is not yet offering its first-class options on Atlanta flights with private suites and “residence” apartment-like cabins, but over the next few years, he said the company will eventually do so as it builds out more planes with the layouts.
Etihad, like Delta and other airlines, has increasingly segmented its cabin fares and options. And that is “extremely important within the cabin,” he said.
“You have different people that are going to choose different things.”
Another dimension of technology and personalization Etihad is pursuing involves AI in ticket pricing.
Delta announced its own AI pricing experiment last fall — and has faced backlash from lawmakers and customers concerned about their personal data being weaponized to increase airline profits. The company says personal data has never been nor will ever be used.
Last week, Neves said, Etihad also got into the AI pricing game when he signed a “multimillion-dollar contract with a company specializing in AI deployment for them to start doing some trials with us in pricing.”
He’s instructing his team to look at three components of customer behavior to customize prices: How was their past experience with the airline, what is their potential as a customer, and what is their current engagement with Etihad?
“Let’s say Michael has a lot of potential to buy my tickets, and he’s not buying. He has no experience with the airline. And he has no engagement with the airline. I’m willing to give Michael a try and give him a discount,” Neves said.
Etihad’s daily service from Abu Dhabi to Atlanta will kick off in November. What happens next?
“It’s too early to tell,” Neves said.
“It’s our job to make sure these seven a week are sustainable, and it takes one or two years for a route to mature.”
THE CONCOURSE
This column has been adapted from the June edition of The Concourse, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s LinkedIn newsletter about all things Atlanta airport.
Keep up with the latest insider news about the world’s busiest airport by subscribing on the AJC’s LinkedIn page, linkedin.com/company/atlanta-journal-constitution.
About the Author
As a business reporter, Emma Hurt leads coverage of the Atlanta airport, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Norfolk Southern and other travel and logistics companies. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she worked as an editor and Atlanta reporter for Axios, a politics reporter for WABE News and a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
