Abu Dhabi, Oct 2 - Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (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 programme over the last six years as a key tool to manage jet fuel price risk, allowing its 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 programme began.

"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," James Hogan, president and chief executive officer of Etihad Airways, said while welcoming the award.

James Rigney, Etihad Airways' chief financial officer, said that hedging was about "creating a platform for certainty in planning", adding,"It is not intended as a tool to generate trading profits."

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

Earlier this year, Etihad Airways reported net profit of $42 million for 2012, up 300 percent from 2011.

It marked the second year of full net profitability for the airline which was launched in 2003. (IANS)