Spoilt for choice on Etihad

Etihad once again revolutionised the aviation industry by unveiling its fully customised Economy Class experience. Linda Celestino, Vice President— Guest Service and Delivery, Etihad, furnishes more details…

TT Bureau

Please tell us more about the ‘Choose Well’ campaign.
As part of the airline’s overall ‘Choose Well’ brand platform, the campaign will drive greater awareness of Etihad’s commitment to providing its guests with greater control, choice and value by personalising their travel experiences. We launched the evolution of our Economy Class product at Arabian Travel Market. Our ‘Choose Well’ campaign is about introducing more choice into the Economy Class. It is the nouveau Economy Class transformation. Our new narrow-body seats will be live streaming all our ISE content directly through the seats so that our guests can watch it on their own devices. Also, we have reinvested back into the Economy Class culinary products; so it’s a whole new range of fresh bistro styled dining. We have also launched Sweet or Salty, our inflight retail product. It’s all about adding more choice to the Economy Class experience.

What are the new cabin features?
Etihad is progressively upgrading the Economy cabins of its narrow-body fleet of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. These are used mainly on short-haul regional services, and further afield to 38 Etihad getaways within five hours of flight from Abu Dhabi. The airline is installing modern cabins featuring ergonomic Extra-spatial Design seats by UK-based Acro, an innovator in aircraft seat manufacturing. The next-generation seats are designed around the guest’s digital devices with fast-charging USB points and an adjustable phone and tablet holder. The first stage of enhancements to the Economy experience began in 2017 with new seating options.

Could you elaborate on the new inflight entertainment system?
Guests on narrow-body aircraft will be able to simply log on and connect via browser to wirelessly stream more than 300 hours of free inflight entertainment through Etihad’s onboard Panasonic eXW system directly to their own devices. To view a wider range of exciting entertainment and premium TV programming such as HBO and Universal shows, guests can simply download the new EBOX stream app prior to travel.

Can you share the new dining experience onboard the Economy Class?
On journeys of over three hours, the main course of the core complimentary dining service is now a larger, contemporary bistro-style meal with a focus on fresh seasonal ingredients. A new curved triangular base plate design reflects the heritage of Abu Dhabi and is made using recycled materials. The new cutlery is 85 per cent lighter, reducing aircraft weight and fuel burn.