Etihad Airways reported on Thursday a 17 percent increase in profit for the financial year ending December 31, 2014 that it said was largely driven by its airline investment strategy.

The airline made $73 million in 2014, according to an emailed statement, compared to $62 million profit in previously reported for 2013. Revenue was $7.6 billion, up 24.5 per cent compared to the $6.1 billion in revenues for 2013.

“A key driver of Etihad Airways’ growth in 2014 was its partnership strategy, based on wide-ranging codeshares and its unique approach of minority equity investments in strategically important airlines,” the airline said.

Etihad’s equity and codeshare strategy contributed $1.1 billion to the airline in 2014, up 34 per cent, representing 24 per cent of the airlines total passenger revenues. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier carried a total of 14.8 million passengers, up 28.7 per cent compared to the previous year.

Etihad held stakes in seven airlines as of December 31, 2014 after completing deals last year to take a 49 per cent stake in both Italy’s Alitalia and in Air Serbia. Earlier this year, Etihad received approval from the Swiss government to take a stake in Swiss-based European regional carrier Darwin Airline (operating as Etihad Regional).

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