By Hadeel Al Sayegh, Andres Gonzalez and Federico Maccioni
DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) -Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways plans to make its stock market debut no sooner than 2025, two people familiar with the matter said, in potentially the first IPO of a major Gulf airline as the UAE's capital ramps up effort to become a global travel hub.
Etihad, owned by sovereign wealth fund ADQ, had considered listing this year, the people said.
However, it wants to present investors with 2024 financial results that will show a strong performance, one of the people said. Geopolitical instability in the region has also weighed on timing, the second person said.
ADQ declined to comment. A spokesperson for Etihad said it "does not comment on rumour or speculation".
Etihad, which started operations in 2003, spent billions of dollars buying minority stakes in other carriers to create larger network through its Abu Dhabi hub and better compete with Gulf peers Emirates and Qatar Airways. But that strategy unravelled as many of those airlines ran into financial trouble.
After a management shake-up and years of paring back operations, Etihad has expanded under new CEO Antonoaldo Neves.
Under its "Journey 2030" strategy, it plans to bolster Abu Dhabi's role as a travel hub connecting Asia and Europe.
Targets include expanding destinations to more than 125 airports by 2030 from over 70 today, and boosting its fleet to over 160 aircraft from around 90 now.
Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport opened a multibillion-dollar new terminal last year that tripled annual capacity to 45 million passengers.
"Our mandate is clear: to deliver extraordinary customer service and sustainable profitability, as the foundation for Etihad's contribution to Abu Dhabi's aspirations," Neves was quoted as saying last November.
The airline last month reported a 48% increase in half-year after tax profit, with passenger numbers rising 38% to 8.7 million. That followed full-year net profits in 2022 and 2023.
Neves told Reuters in March that Etihad was improving transparency, governance and its balance sheet to be ready for an IPO should ADQ decide to list it.
Etihad also faces delays in receiving new aircraft from planemakers Airbus and Boeing (NYSE:BA), which have forced some airlines to scale back growth plans.
That comes amid a boom in international travel since the pandemic, which governments in the Gulf are riding to pursue reforms aimed at diversifying their economies away from fossil fuels.
The measures include privatising state assets including airlines, and a potential Etihad listing would add to the regional flurry of IPOs in recent years.
The president of bigger rival Emirates said in 2021 the Dubai government was considering an IPO of the airline, and Flynas in Saudi Arabia is looking to list as soon as this year, Bloomberg reported. Flynas declined to comment.
($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)