Etihad Airways honoured with 2016 Treasury of the Year award

The Abu Dhabi-based airline’s treasury department was once again recognised for excellence in capital raising and to drive efficiency across the business.

Etihad Airways secured landmark funding agreements from the international financial community that raised over US$2.7 billion in the debt capital markets, as well as evolving its treasury systems infrastructure and streamlining processes to improve productivity.

In 2016, Etihad Airways drove the issuance of a second Etihad Airways Partners bond transaction of US$500m, together with a debut US$1.5 billion five-year Sukuk issuance, the largest ever non-sovereign Sukuk.

Etihad Airways also implemented leading edge treasury systems technology to drive greater efficiency, and radically reduced the number of suppliers for the bulk of its global transactional banking services to just two following a thorough evaluation of cash management capabilities.

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) was chosen as the airline’s Middle East strategic partner and Citi was named Etihad Airways’ international cash management bank affiliate in all other global markets.

James Hogan, Etihad Aviation Group President and chief executive officer, said: “As we continue to look at ways to enhance cost efficiencies, drive more benefits and improve global leverage for the business, our Group Chief Financial Officer James Rigney and his treasury team led by Ricky Thirion have developed a stronger framework of innovative transactions and processes for the business to remain more competitive

“We have evolved from a small airline in 2003 to a world-leading aviation and tourism group today, meaning our treasury needs and challenges have grown significantly with scale and complexity.”