'Best Business Class' Skytrax award for Etihad Airways

The national airline of the UAE also won the world's best business class catering award.

The annual World Airline Awards, run by UK-based consultancy Skytrax, was conducted during a 10-month period among 97 different nationalities from around the world.

The public poll took into account all aspects of the air travel experience - on the ground, at the airport and on-board - as well as the quality of customer service delivered by each airline's staff.

Etihad's business class was placed fifth in the 2008 Skytrax survey and tenth in 2007. The 2009 award was presented to the Abu Dhabi-based airline at a special ceremony held in Hamburg, Germany.

Edward Plaisted, Chief Executive of Skytrax, said, "For Etihad Airways to win the accolade of having the best business class experience when the airline flew its first aircraft just over five years ago is a remarkable success. This category of the awards is one of the most closely contested, and an area of great competition amongst the world's leading airlines."

"These awards clearly demonstrate the huge value of Etihad's desire to focus and invest in quality customer service," he added.

"At a time of global financial crisis and its inherent impact on the airline industry, it is heartening to see that Etihad are seeking to build passenger loyalty by creating a raft of quality product and service standards that a customer will genuinely want to come back to," Plaisted said.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways' Chief Commercial Officer said, "In the last year, Etihad has invested substantially in its business class product and service, both in the air and on the ground, and we are justifiably proud to know that the award was selected by the airline industry's most important audience - its customers."

During the last 18 months, Etihad Airways has progressively introduced a new in-flight service style, seeking to provide the airline's premium customers with service individually tailored to their needs.

Etihad Airways' business class cabin offers passengers a fully flat bed on every aircraft in the airline's fleet of 29 wide-bodied aircraft.

Mr Baumgartner added, "Whilst our flatbed and new inspired service are clearly the focal points, we believe it is the consistency and high quality of the end-to-end travel experience we are able to offer our business class customers that really make us stand out."

Business class passengers can take advantage of an in-seat massager and more than 600 hours of on-demand entertainment provided via individual 15 inch screens, operated by touch-screen technology.

Passengers can eat on demand anytime from an a la carte fine dining menu or opt for kitchen style snacks.

Etihad has also introduced a new cabin crew position called the onboard food and beverage manager. These new managers, most of whom joined the airline from five-star hospitality background, are responsible for championing the quality, presentation and delivery of food and beverages on board, ensuring it is consistently to the highest standards.

Business class customers flying from Etihad's home base, Abu Dhabi airport, can take advantage of a dedicated concierge service, which ensures that their complimentary limousine service is met kerb-side and they are then escorted quickly inside to the airline's dedicated premium check-in zone.

Etihad Airways has premium lounges at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, where business class customers can enjoy a range of services including all-day fine dining, dedicated meeting facilities, a 'wi-fi' area, well-being spa and a family room for children.

The airline has plans to introduce new dedicated lounges in a number of key overseas destinations, starting in 2009 with Frankfurt and London Heathrow airports.

The luxury service is also available to business class customers at several of Etihad's key global destinations, as well as Abu Dhabi, including London Heathrow, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Manchester, Munich, New York, Paris, Sydney and Toronto.

The 2009 Skytrax accolade builds upon a series of top awards that Etihad received during 2008, including "world's leading first class airline" at the World Travel Awards; 'airline of the year' at the British Travel Awards; 'leading airline', 'leading first class' and 'leading travel website' at the Middle East World Travel Awards; 'best cabin staff' and 'best economy class' at the Business Traveller (Middle East) awards; and 'best website' at the Pan Arab Web awards.