Etihad Airways has reported a strong recovery in passenger operations along with a significant improvement in financial performance, posting a much-reduced loss of US$476 million for 2021 compared to a loss of US$1.70 billion in 2020. The airline carried 3.5 million passengers in 2021, with an average seat load factor of 39.6 percent but passenger loads doubled in the second half of the year, reaching 70.1 percent in December as travel demand peaked during the winter holiday period. The airline said it recorded a particularly strong surge in passenger volumes in the fourth quarter following the September relaxation of mandatory quarantine periods in Abu Dhabi. Network capacity came in at 37.21 billion ASKs for the year, with the airline connecting Abu Dhabi to 71 passenger and cargo destinations across 47 countries. Etihad Airways launched or restarted operations to 13 destinations in 2021, most notably introducing scheduled services to Tel Aviv following the normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel. Etihad Airways posted passenger revenues of $1.07 billion in 2021, down by 14 percent year-on-year as ongoing travel restrictions and new variants of the virus dampened demand. READ: Tens of thousands watching jumbo tankers close to Ukraine. READ: Emirates threatens to cancel 777-9s READ: World’s favorite aircraft, the AN225, destroyed by Russia  SEE: Magnificent drone photos of the AN225. But passenger revenues bounced back in the last quarter of the year, recovering to 50 percent of 2019 levels in December. Cargo operations continued to outperform expectations, with a 27 percent year-on-year increase in freight carried in 2021 coupled with a rise in cargo revenues of 49 percent to $1.73 billion, the highest figure in the airline's history. Tony Douglas, (below) Group Chief Executive Officer, commented: "In another year of global uncertainty, Etihad Airways has continued to move forward, strengthen its business, and build on its world-class travel proposition. "As always, this has been thanks to our remarkable people who have gone above and beyond to make the most of every opportunity. Despite the slowdown caused by Omicron, we are confident that the spring and summer season will continue to see a resurgence in travel as more people return to the skies. “We look forward to our guests being able to experience our state-of-the-art Airbus A350s when they debut later this year, taking pride of place alongside our Boeing 787s. With one of the most fuel-efficient fleets in the world and with sustainability at the very top of our agenda, we will continue to pave the way for more sustainable flying in 2022 and beyond.” Through the year operating costs decreased by a further $110 million, despite a $197 million increase in fuel costs driven by rallying oil prices. Fixed overhead costs and finance costs also recorded a significant reduction, decreasing by 14 percent or $110 million and 20 percent or $90 million respectively. Overall, Etihad Airways recorded a core operating loss of $476 million for fiscal year 2021, representing a 72 percent improvement compared to 2020 ($1.70 billion) and a 41 percent improvement against pre-pandemic results in 2019 of $802 million. EBITDA improved by more than $1 billion, turning to a positive $408 million from a negative $651 million in 2020. Adam Boukadida, Chief Financial Officer, said: "Despite Covid-19 suppressing global travel demand for a second year running, we have continued to transform Etihad Airways into a more efficient business, delivering additional line-by-line savings and further optimizing our cost base. Our record cargo operations have provided much-needed uplift, helping to more than double monthly operating revenue between January and December. “Pushing the frontiers of sustainable financing, we issued the first-ever sustainability-linked ESG loan in aviation, while at the same time reducing our outstanding debt by more than 20 percent. All these factors combined resulted in a strong year-end liquidity position, aligned to our pre-pandemic levels, and in a steadfast 'A with a stable outlook' credit rating reaffirmed by Fitch."