Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has appointed Tony Douglas to replace long-serving group CEO James Hogan who stepped down from the role earlier this year.

Douglas, who joins Etihad Airways in January 2018, will be leading the national carrier at a critical juncture following a loss of $1.87bn against a revenue of $8.36bn in 2016.

The heavy losses have been attributed to one-off impairments, worth $1.06bn, on aircraft due to lower market value and early phase out of certain planes. The rest, at $808m, was due to asset charges and financial exposures to equity partners Alitalia and AirBerlin.

Etihad Airways’ passenger revenue is reported to have remained flat at $4.9bn in 2016 compared to 2015, while cargo revenue dipped from $1bn $0.9bn.

The airline has been undergoing a restructuring programme that led to the posts of CEO and CFO, among others, being vacated in 2017.

Douglas joins Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi Airports Company, where he served as CEO since 2013. He was also previously CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports.