Etihad Airways said on Wednesday it had signed a codesharing agreement with Fiji Airways, allowing reciprocal ticket sales between the airlines, Arabian Business reported.

The Abu Dhabi-based carrier, owned by the emirate's government, which on Tuesday hailed record first-quarter cargo and passenger growth for a 27 percent increase in revenue to $1.4bn for the first three months of this year, said revenue from codeshare and equity partners increased by 23 percent to $223m, representing 22 percent of total revenue for the quarter.

Etihad said its codeshare and equity partnerships delivered 678,000 passengers onto Etihad Airways flights in Q1 - 25 percent higher than the same period last year.

The UAE flag carrier also said its fleet grew by 30 percent year-on-year to 95 aircraft. it employed 18,543 staff at the end of Q1 - an increase of 69 percent year-on-year that has been partly attributed to the acquisition of Abu Dhabi Airport Services (ADAS), Abu Dhabi In-Flight Catering (ADIFC) and Abu Dhabi Cargo Company (ADCC) in 2013.