DUBAI  - Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways narrowed losses to $870 million in 2019 as capacity cuts helped it sell more overall seats even though it carried fewer passengers, it said on Thursday.

It is the fourth consecutive annual loss for the state-owned carrier, which has now accumulated losses of $5.62 billion since 2016.

Etihad said it significantly reduced operating costs, helped by lower fuel prices, narrowing the loss from $1.28 billion in 2018. Revenue fell 5.1% to $5.6 billion.

The airline carried 17.5 million passengers, slightly fewer than the 17.8 million in the previous year. It filled an average of 78.7% of seats, compared to 76.4% in 2018. This was helped by a 6% reduction in capacity.

The airline said the performance had been better than its own internal projections.

"There’s still some way to go but progress made in 2019, and cumulatively since 2017, has instilled in us a renewed vigour and determination to push ahead and implement the changes needed to continue this positive trajectory," Chief Executive Tony Douglas said in a statement.

Etihad is the midst of a five year restructuring and has significantly downsized operations in recent years that has seen it cut jobs, routes and billions of dollars in aircraft orders.

It has said it expects to return to profitability in 2023.

The airline now focuses on point-to-point traffic, though once had ambitions to compete head-to-head with major Gulf hub carriers Emirates and Qatar Airways.

The airline on Wednesday said it was asking cabin crew to take holidays earlier this year due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus that has led to a drop in travel demand.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Kim Coghill) ((Alexander.Cornwell@thomsonreuters.com;))