Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways generated a net profit of $103m on the back of revenues amounting to $9.02bn in 2015.

This marked the airline’s fifth consecutive year of net profitability, and the strongest so far in terms of financial results, according to CEO James Hogan.

Etihad saw earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $259m and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rentals (EBITDAR) of $1.4bn, representing 16 per cent of total revenues.

“Our profitability clearly demonstrates the success of our business strategy, based on organic growth boosted by our partnerships,” Hogan said in a statement.

The number of passengers carried by Etihad also rose by 18.9 per cent to reach 17.6 million in 2015.

The growth in passenger volume reportedly exceeded the firm’s capacity increase and outperformed regional market growth, which has seen a decline in load factors since mid-2014.

Other relevant statistics, such as revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), which measure passenger journeys, and available seat kilometres (ASK), which represent capacity, also grew by 21.3 per cent and 21 per cent respectively in 2015.

Etihad Airways added six new destinations in 2015: Kolkata; Madrid; Hong Kong; Entebbe; Edinburgh; and Dar es-Salaam. Its fleet also increased by 11 aircraft to reach a total of 121 as of the end of 2015.