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Etihad Airways has unveiled its ambitious plans for the future, targeting a more than fourfold increase in traffic to carry 25m passengers a year by 2020.

Speaking to the American media in New York, Etihad chief executive James Hogan also revealed that the airline plans to double the number of cities in its network from 50 to 100 over the next 12 years.

Earlier this year, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier ordered more than 100 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, a move that Mr Hogan said was indicative of its business intentions.

'Etihad is already a substantial business and we signalled our intentions for the future by making recently one of the largest ever commercial aircraft orders,' he said.

'Our projections to 2020 reflect that order and the scale of our ambitions, closely aligned to the growth of Abu Dhabi as an economic and tourism powerhouse.'

The airline is on target to carry some 6m passengers in 2008, having already transported more than 4m people in the first nine months of the year.

Etihad experienced the busiest summer period in its short history this year, with more than 1.6m people using its services between June and August.

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