The state airline of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Etihad Airways, could soon go public. If the plan is actually implemented, it would be the first Gulf carrier to have its shares listed on a marketplace. Etihad Airways is currently fully owned by the state holding company ADQ. According to local media reports, the company intends to take the carrier public. The project already appears to be well advanced, as Bloomberg News, for example, reports, citing company sources, that the IPO is to take place this year. Various options are currently being discussed. The airline began flight operations on November 5, 2003. Previously, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi had a stake in Gulf Air. This carrier was originally a joint carrier of Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman. The latter state withdrew in the early 1990s in favor of the newly founded Oman Air. In 2005, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi said goodbye because it had launched its own airline, Etihad, and in 2007 Qatar also pulled out. Gulf Air is now "only" the national airline of Bahrain. Until October 2022, Etihad Airways was directly owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. After that, the stake was transferred to the state holding company ADQ. If the IPO actually goes ahead, it would be tantamount to a partial privatization and thus a paradigm shift. Previously, it was considered completely out of the question that the Abu Dhabi management would want private co-owners. But this is not the only stock market project in this region, because Saudi Arabia is preparing the
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