Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has been named Corporate Risk Manager of the Year at the Energy Risk Awards Asia in recognition of its highly effective fuel hedging strategy.

The airline has built up its fuel hedging program over the last six years as a key tool to manage jet fuel price risk, allowing management to plan effectively.  

Last year, Etihad Airways managed a fuel hedging portfolio of around 23.8 million barrels, up from only 6.5 million barrels in 2007 when the program started.

James Hogan, president and chief executive officer, welcomed the award: “In the turbulent oil markets of the last five years, we have been able to manage our risk and minimise oil price volatility effectively by forward hedging most of our fuel requirements, in both the short- and medium-term.

“The airline’s fuel hedging policy and strategy was designed to create a stable environment for the management of the airline.”

James Rigney, Etihad Airways’ chief financial officer, said: “Hedging is about creating a platform for certainty in planning. It is not intended as a tool to generate trading profits. That said, our deliberate policy of hedging significant portions of our risk consistently year after year since 2007 has been a key component of our journey to profitability.

“We are delighted that this award recognises the impact that our treasury team has had on the business.”

Etihad Airways currently has 80 per cent of its fuel needs for the remainder of 2013 hedged, and has hedged 65 per cent of 2014’s needs and 35 per cent of 2015’s requirements.

The hedging is spread across more than 20 counter-parties around the world, five of which were added in the last 12 months.

Earlier this year, Etihad Airways reported net profit of US$ 42 million for 2012, up 300 per cent on 2011 and marking the second year of full net profitability for the airline, which launched in 2003. The airline is once again on track to record a profit in 2013.

Energy Risk a is a specialised publication, offering a dedicated view of financial, political and regulatory risk in the world's oil, gas, electricity, coal, emissions, freight and weather markets.

Its awards are held annually to recognise world class businesses within the energy trading and management sectors. – TradeArabia News Service