Etihad Airways, the UAE’s national carrier, broke records with its 2013 passenger and cargo volume. The airline carried 12 million people, a 16 percent increase over its 2012 figure.

The airline’s top two routes were to Bangkok, with 742,759 passengers, and Manila, with 547,068, followed by London, with 544,564; Jeddah at 373,651 and Paris with 338,969.

Etihad carried 73 percent of the total 16.4 million passengers that went through Abu Dhabi airport last year. If you add the traffic carried by Etihad’s equity partner airlines, it brings Etihad’s share to 79 percent.

The airline is well known for its maverick ways, rejecting the standard airline alliance system in favor of a set of equity alliances with other airlines. James Hogan, the company’s CEO attributed the company’s success to his strategy.

“Our record-breaking numbers in 2013 reflect the continued success of our strategic master plan,” he said in a statement, “which focuses on three fundamental pillars; organic network growth, the forging of codeshare partnerships, and minority equity investments in other airlines. As the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, we also continued to support Abu Dhabi’s growth as a leading international travel hub, while facilitating trade to and from the country.”

As the national carrier of oil-rich UAE, the airline can afford to invest. And the investment strategy is paying off.