Etihad Airways woes deepen

London: Etihad Airways posted a loss of $1.28 billion in 2018, extending the deficit over three years to $4.8 billion, as the Gulf carrier pushes ahead with a cost-cutting plan to stabilize the balance sheet.

The Abu Dhabi company, which has abandoned an attempt to build a global network of airline investments after a string of failures, cancelled a further nine unprofitable routes last year, it said in an emailed statement on Thursday. The review comes alongside a reduced delivery of new planes, with deals to slash $21.4 billion of orders agreed with Boeing and Airbus last month. CEO Tony Douglas said progress is being made in “streamlining our cost base.”