Etihad Airways, the national airline of theUnited Arab Emirates, carried a record 8.29 million passengers in 2011, a 17 per cent increase on the previous year. The jump represented an extra 1.197 million passengers on the carrier’s global network covering 82 passenger and cargo destinations.

Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr James Hogan, said. “This result, achieved while much of the world was facing the economic crunch and oil prices remained high, is testament to our emergence as a formidable force in the international aviation arena. Through strategic expansion we launched eight new routes to Bangalore, Maldives, Seychelles, Chengdu, Dusseldorf, Tripoli, Shanghai and Nairobi last year.

Etihad Airways’ busiest route wasBangkokwith the airline carrying more than 500,000 passengers to the Thai capital during the year. 

This was closely followed byLondon(479,000),Manila(446,000), and Jeddah (289,000) which represented a staggering 48 per cent increase over 2010. 

{Then cameSydney, Frankfurt,Paris,Manchester,DohaandDublinto complete the list of the 10 most popular routes.} 

Etihad Airways currently operates 23 flights a week betweenAbu Dhabiand four Pakistani cities with daily flights toIslamabad,Karachi, andLahoreand two services a week to Peshawar.