Etihad Airways has surpassed its target of carrying 10 million passengers in 2012. The airline carried a total of 10.29 million passengers in the year - a 22 per cent increase from 8.41 million passengers in 2011. The airline has a global network that covers 87 of its own passenger and cargo destinations, and 245 code-share destinations.

According to the official statement of the airline, passenger growth for Etihad Airways is mirrored by its equity partners. By the end of 2012, airberlin carried around 33.4 million passengers, Virgin Australia 19.5 million passengers, Aer Lingus nearly 11 million passengers, and Air Seychelles 241,000 passengers.

Etihad Airways and its equity partners collectively carried more than 74 million passengers in 2012, with cooperation between the five airlines greatly contributing to passenger growth.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Etihad Airways has achieved significant expansion in 2012 and therefore it’s very satisfying to pass our target of flying more than 10 million passengers during a year for the first time.

Etihad Airways’ busiest route was Bangkok with the airline carrying nearly 691,000 passengers to the Thai capital during the year, a 38 per cent increase on 2011.This was closely followed by Manila, Heathrow and Jeddah. Sydney, Paris, Frankfurt, Manchester, Doha and Dublin complete the list of the 10 most popular routes of the airline.