Etihad Airways is introducing a series of changes to ground and inflight services. Among those changes is the option for economy passengers to bid online for adjacent seats. They can bid at the time of booking online and successful bids will be confirmed 30 hours prior to departure.

The airline is offering ‘Neighbour free seat” and is allowing passengers to bid for as many as three seats next to their own depending on the availability and seat configuration. The development comes in a bid to generate more revenue in what is becoming a tough market for airlines.

A recent report by IATA estimates a drop of 0.7 billion in revenues for carriers in Middle East as a function of multiple factors including uncertainty around US travel, electronics ban on some key routes and increased infrastructure charges. With average profit equating to USD 1.78 per passenger, airlines are exploring new ways to increase their headroom.

Adding fee for additional services allows the carrier to keep ticket prices competitive while exploring additional revenue channels. For services on ground, economy class passengers can pay for access to business lounges in multiple locations for a fee depending on the use. Along with this, the airline would also allow business class passengers to pay for access to first class lounges and a spa while flying from or transitioning through Abu Dhabi. The changes are another step in a direction where airlines look for what they can sell but aren’t selling already. The ‘Neighbour free seat’ will allow the Etihad to generate revenues even on empty seats.

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Following the ongoing diplomatic rift in the Gulf, Etihad Airways has announced that it will cancel all its flights to Qatar. This announcement comes after United Arab Emirates announced that it is cutting ties with Qatar following similar announcements by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The dispute between Qatar and the Gulf’s Arab countries started over apparent hack of Qatar’s state run news agency.

In an official announcement, Etihad Airways declared that all the flights to and from Doha will be suspended started June 6, 2017. They will operate as scheduled today June 5, 2017. The last flight from Abu Dhabi to Doha will depart as EY391 at 21:35 (local time) on 5 June. The last flight from Doha to Abu Dhabi will depart as EY398 at 22:50 (local time) on 5 June. The aircraft for these flights has been upgraded to a Boeing 777.‎ All customers who are booked on Etihad Airways flights to and from Doha are being provided with alternative options, including full refunds on unused tickets and free rebooking to the nearest alternate Etihad Airways destinations.The airline operates four returns flights to Doha daily and shared that the measure will be in place until further notice.

Other carriers from the three Gulf countries are also expected to make similar announcements soon. Doha airport is a major hub in the region along with Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It attracts significant traffic as Qatar Airways captured a chunk of travel linking Western countries with Australia and Asia.

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VR is increasing becoming the most popular medium for travel brands to inspire travellers and get in the spotlight. After some hotel brands exploring the medium, airlines are moving onto VR next. Air New Zealand offered virtual tours of its fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs. Now Etihad, with their brand ambassador Nicole Kidman, has come up with a VR experience aboard Etihad’s A380 superjumbo. They first introduced a promo video of the sae and few days back, introduced a full length VR video through YouTube and their mobile apps.

The video offers a 360 degree look inside the interior of the Airbus A380 which is headed from New York to Abu Dhabi during which the actress Nicole Kidman is seen preparing here lines for a movie role and wandering about the cabin. There is no clear story or message that is communicated through the video but it manages to highlight the experience of travelling with Etihad. It also gives a closer look into Ethihad’s private suite The Residence.

Nicole Kidman, Academy Award winning actress and Etihad Airways’ brand ambassador, said: “The film is a culmination of Etihad’s vision to tell the airline’s story in an extremely innovative way and a commitment to engaging with the public as has never been attempted by an airline before. It was a great challenge but one which has definitely paid off and it was great to be part of such an exciting project.”

YouTube supports Cardboard viewer for watching videos and the Reimagine experience by Ethihad makes use of that. Users can also watch the video on desktop and look around using their mouse pointer but that doesn’t offer an experience similar to the cardboard viewer. To offer an even better experience, they have introduced Reimagine app for Android and iOS devices on which the users can first download the VR video in high quality and then watch with or without a cardboard viewer. We took the Android app for a spin and came back quite impressed. The entire video is seamless and hasn’t got even the minor flaws generally seen in VR videos. An app for Samsung Gear VR is also coming soon. Etihad recently did a successful campaign with the actress and the Reimagine campaign is the next step forward.

Shane O’Hare, Etihad Airways’ Senior Vice President Marketing, said: “This immersive VR film is a massive step-change in the way we present the Etihad Airways brand and product to the consumer using highly innovative new mediums. Based on the success of our recent campaign with Nicole, the decision to take this partnership to the next level was an obvious one.”

The VR film took more than six months of effort and was filmed in Abu Dhabi. It has been recorded using a custom rig capable of shooting 6K videos. The video also features stereoscopic sound to further enhance the experience. The aircraft was highly customised to accommodate the camera and lights used to capture an experience as close to real as possible. The film was produced in association with Barbarian Group, a subsidiary of Cheil Worldwide and MediaMonks. You can see highlights of all the work that went into making the VR video in their ‘Making of film’ video.

You can head to vr.etihad.com to find more details about the video or download the app for your devices.

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