Etihad unveils overhauled premium expertise in partnership with Armani/Casa

Editor’s notice: Etihad Airways offered Zach Griff with a free flight from Abu Dhabi to Chicago and a one-night resort keep. All opinions expressed are solely his and weren’t topic to assessment by the airline.

Airways wish to throw huge events for inaugural flights, new planes and retrofitted cabins.

Nonetheless, it’s not typically that we see carriers spend hundreds of {dollars} towards the revealing of a revamped delicate product for its business-class cabins. (“Delicate product” refers to all of the gadgets that are not bodily connected to an plane, similar to glassware, duvets and pillows.)

In latest weeks, Etihad Airways has been teasing a serious reveal described as one thing “greater than what meets the attention” and that “one thing is about to vary.”

Nicely, the wait is lastly over, and no, the airline isn’t becoming a member of the Star Alliance or bringing again its Airbus A380s (no less than not but).

As an alternative, the flag provider of the United Arab Emirates is making huge upgrades to the onboard expertise — so huge that it determined to throw a launch get together (and invite TPG) to have a good time the event.

The airline’s overhauled business-class delicate product is designed in partnership with Armani/Casa, marking the primary time this storied Italian design home is teaming up with an airline.

The collaboration, dubbed “The Constellation Assortment,” attracts inspiration from the starry night time sky within the desert of the United Arab Emirates. You will discover a constant geometric sample all through the dishware and bedding that’s designed to resemble stars and constellations, Turky Alhammadi, head of product and hospitality, instructed TPG on the launch occasion.

At first look, the brand new glassware, cutlery, dishware and bedding look fairly posh, with out being too over-the-top. An understated class permeates your entire assortment, making these items really feel like they could possibly be a part of one’s house.

My favourite addition is the brand new salt and pepper holder. The coin-shaped design seems to be nice in inexperienced, and the embossed Giorgio Armani brand provides an expensive contact. (Notice that these things aren’t souvenirs — Etihad will reuse all of the dishes and bedding after every flight.)

Along with the dishware, the gathering contains three new items of bedding: a thick quilt, a luxurious pillow and a color-coordinated memory-foam mattress pad.

The brand new bedding felt delicate and opulent through the hands-on expertise on the media preview. The addition of a supportive mattress pad will likely be welcome information for these flying on a few of the airline’s longest flights to North America and Australia.

It wasn’t instantly clear if Etihad would introduce slippers or pajamas on board its flights — two facilities that distinguish a few of the finest delicate merchandise supplied in enterprise class.

Likewise, Etihad will proceed to supply amenity kits by Acqua di Parma in the intervening time, although I think about the long-term plan can be to introduce an Armani-branded package.

Whereas “The Constellation Assortment” begins rolling out on flights beginning in December, the airline will embark on a monthslong mission to carry the brand new partnership to all of its premium expertise touchpoints, targeted at first on the airline’s lounges, Alhammadi instructed TPG. “It is all about being constant,” he stated.

The revamped delicate product will likely be accessible in all Etihad business-class cabins, no matter which plane kind is working the journey. Moreover, the provider is not making adjustments to its first-class providing, which it nonetheless sells on a couple of routes operated by a subset of Boeing 777s and 787 Dreamliners.

Together with the brand new crockery, Etihad will revamp the business-class menu to incorporate new meals choices and a refreshed tackle present favorites, such because the Arabic mezze. The airline displayed a few of the new decisions on a protracted desk on the media occasion, however it did not present printed descriptions of what every dish was.

That stated, if the completed product seems to be something just like the staged demonstration, flyers will likely be in for a deal with (actually and figuratively) with the brand new meals choices.

Some aviation observers have been anticipating Etihad to make a “greater” announcement. Two common theories have been that the airline was becoming a member of the Star Alliance or that the airline was bringing again its Airbus A380 fleet from long-term storage.

Tony Douglas, group chief govt officer, acknowledged that some may’ve overhyped the airline’s social media clues. “It has been fascinating listening to the quantity of infinite hypothesis,” he stated, seemingly referencing the bloggers and observers who thought that the airline had one thing totally different to announce.

His deputies later defined that the provider used social media teasers to get folks enthusiastic about this yearslong mission led by the product and buyer expertise groups. It is a celebration of arduous work and plenty of lengthy days, Etihad workers instructed TPG on the occasion.

Whereas it could be robust to get enthusiastic about new dishware or bedding in your subsequent flight, Etihad hopes that this new assortment will complement the enhancements it has already made to the arduous product to finally ship a “past Enterprise” onboard expertise.

Earlier this 12 months, the provider inaugurated its Airbus A350-1000 fleet, which incorporates a brand-new business-class seat for the airline. Etihad personalized the extremely practical Collins Aerospace Tremendous Diamond product with snazzy sconces, eye-catching temper lighting and refined gold accents.

The cabin itself seems to be nice, and it represents an enormous evolution ahead for the provider’s premium expertise. The brand new cabin design mixed with the Armani/Casa partnership will make sitting on the pointy finish of one among Etihad’s latest jets an much more luxurious expertise.