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00:00 We did, I mean, 4 million more passengers year on year. We improved aircraft utilization,
00:07 much more efficient, and that in the end leads to profitability. So we could do EBITDA, right,
00:13 operating profits about 1.4, 1.5 billion dirhams, with about 400, 500 billion dirhams in terms of
00:24 net income. So the airline is expanding its margin, it's getting to the point where we're
00:29 getting even more excited about the perspectives for the future. Operating profit has improved
00:35 substantially, also an improvement in net profit, but still relatively modest by industry standards.
00:42 Is that a fair assumption? That's a fair assumption. I think we can do better, we can do
00:46 much better. But if you compare to our history, I mean, for us it's a big, big leap, right? It's a
00:51 big improvement. So we have a lot of opportunities to keep improving our margins. And this is
00:58 aviation, you don't do everything in two, three years, right? It's a journey, right, to get there.
01:02 So I'm very proud about the numbers because the numbers, they come from real efficiency. For
01:06 instance, we cut cost and improved customer service at the same time. For a unit cost,
01:12 went down by seven points, which is a lot, 7%, right? At the same time, NPS, it's a coincidence,
01:18 improved by seven points in summer peak. So I'm very excited about the opportunities that we have
01:24 ahead of us. As we add more flights, as we structure the new banks, as we get new generation
01:30 aircraft, margins are going to further expand. But you're right, most airlines in the world are
01:35 making money. When it comes to that margin expansion, you and I have spoken before about
01:39 the opportunities to increase on the revenue side. Talk to me about specifically what you're doing on
01:45 the cost side and how you're cutting those costs in order to improve margins. Can you give me some
01:50 examples of what you're doing? The biggest cost an airline has, and nobody wants to talk about
01:55 that, is an empty seat. That's a huge cost. Every empty seat is like perishable in the supermarket,
02:02 right? I lose it, right? Etihad, I mean, improved a lot last year in terms of aircraft utilization.
02:09 We grew about 30% last year. 75% of that growth came from flying planes that were not flying
02:18 what they should be flying. Planes that were parked, planes that were grounded, planes that we
02:22 own, that were sitting there without producing revenue. So as you use your assets, your unit cost
02:30 goes down because in the end, you have more revenue to divide by the same base of planes
02:37 that you have. So one big thing is efficiency, right? We're improving efficiency a lot. We had
02:42 great on-time performance last year, 85% on-time performance. This is less people not connecting.
02:49 This is happier customers, right? This is providing us the ability to lower our costs.
02:55 And we also attacked very clearly inflation. So one thing that we did, we renegotiated most of our
03:03 suppliers last year that were providing us handling services, catering services. So we
03:10 saved more than $150 million last year in contract renegotiation. We managed to block the effect of
03:17 inflation in our cost last year, which is amazing. So at the same time, efficiency and growth,
03:23 diluting fixed costs, right? Together with renegotiating contracts.
03:29 There's cost pressures right across the industry now. And I know this is something that Etihad
03:33 is not unique in facing. So how would you compare and contrast some of the cost issues that you're
03:38 facing today relative to years past? I mean, it's a lot, right? The pressure is
03:43 much bigger, right? But it's much easier for an airline that is growing to renegotiate contracts
03:50 than an airline that is not growing. So if I have more volume to offer to my suppliers,
03:55 they can give me a lower unit cost. So for Etihad, it's actually an opportunity for us,
04:02 right? Because we can try to negotiate better terms with the suppliers because we're growing.