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 golf 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, it intends to take the carrier public. The project appears to be already well advanced, as Bloomberg News, for example, reports, citing company circles, that the IPO should take place this year. Various options are currently being discussed.

The airline began operations on November 5, 2003. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi previously held a stake in Gulf Air. This carrier was originally a joint carrier of Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman. The latter state left in the early 1990s in favor of the newly founded Oman Air. In 2005, the emirate of Abu Dhabi said goodbye because it launched its own airline, Etihad, and in 2007 Qatar also left. Gulf Air is therefore “only” the national airline of Bahrain.

Until October 2022, Etihad Airways was directly owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The state holding company ADQ's participation was then postponed. If the IPO were actually carried out, it would amount to partial privatization and thus a paradigm shift. Previously, it was considered completely out of the question that the leadership of Abu Dhabi would want private co-owners. But this is not the only stock exchange project in this region, as Saudi Arabia is preparing to list the low-cost airline Flynas.

But it remains to be seen whether Etihad Airways will actually be listed on the stock exchange. The carrier Emirates Airlines, also based in the United Arab Emirates, was about to go public a few years ago. However, the project was canceled and has not (yet) been reactivated.