Chelsea footballers visit World Travel Market

To mark its sponsorships of the Ferrari F1 team and the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which comes to the UAE capital next year, the airline displayed a full-size replica of a Formula 1 racing car on stand throughout the four-day exhibition.

The Etihad stand also hosted star players from premier league Chelsea Football Club who celebrated Etihad Airways' ongoing sponsorship of the west London club and were available for autographs and photographs.

Geert Boven, Etihad Airways' executive vice president of sales and services, said: "We are delighted to be exhibiting at World Travel Market this year at such an exciting time in Etihad's history.

"We are proud to have the opportunity to offer the travel industry a snapshot of Etihad's market leading product, rapidly expanding route network and world class sports sponsorships. Etihad is building a word-class brand and cementing its position as one of the world's top airlines."

The 150sqm stand was located adjacent to the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) stand and represents the Abu Dhabi-based airline's largest ever presence at the UK's premier travel trade fair.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline's eye-catching stand also features the airline's award-winning first and business class seats, and interactive demonstrations of the many rewards and benefits of its industry-acclaimed Etihad Guest loyalty programme.

Launched in August 2006, Etihad Guest now boasts more than 350,000 members worldwide and expects to exceed the half million mark by the end of 2008.

Etihad launched four new destinations so far in 2008, starting flights to Beijing in March, the Indian cities of Kozikhode (Calicut) and Chennia (Madras) as well as the Belarus capital city of Minsk in August.

The airline will launch non-stop flights in December from its Abu Dhabi base to Almaty in Kazakhstan and the Russian capital, Moscow, bringing to 50 the number of destinations across its network. Early in 2009, the airline will also begin flying to Melbourne and to Lagos in Nigeria.

Etihad also boosted its flying programme this October by adding a third daily flight from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi and, in the same month, also increased its existing daily service to Sydney to 11 flights per week.

Members of the Etihad Holidays team were also on hand to discuss recent developments. The airline's rapidly expanding holiday division has recently unveiled its new summer 2009 brochure and also re-launched its website, which now incorporates new features such as location maps, as well as the latest special offers.