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Etihad to showcase new first class at BITE

Etihad Airways will showcase the full range of its award-winning premium products and services at this year’s Bahrain International Travel Expo (BITE), which takes place which takes place between 14 and 16 May at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre.

13 May 2009

Etihad AirwaysEtihad AirwaysLoading..., the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will showcase its new first class at this year's Bahrain International Travel Expo (BITE), which takes place between 14 and 16 May at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre.

The eye-catching exhibition stand will also feature the Abu Dhabi-based airline's revamped first class and business class bed as well as highlight many of the recent in-flight and ground improvements it has introduced for its customers.

Maen Abdul Halim, Etihad AirwaysEtihad AirwaysLoading...' regional general manager Middle East, said: "We're anticipating a great deal of interest in our eye-catching stand, especially the new first class suite. The Bahrain International Travel Expo is one of the largest travel exhibitions in the Middle East and therefore an ideal opportunity for EtihadEtihadLoading... to showcase its award-winning products and services."

He added: "Visitors to BITE this year can see for themselves the high quality of the end-to-end travel experience we offer our premium customers which we believe really makes us stand out."

This is the second time that Etihad AirwaysEtihad AirwaysLoading... has exhibited at BITE, which is now in its fourth year. The annual event aims to showcase current travel trends, developments and emerging destinations around the world.

To mark Etihad AirwaysEtihad AirwaysLoading...' presence at this year's Bahrain International Travel Expo (BITE), the airline is offering Bahrain-based air travellers a range of special promotional fares.

These include return business class flights to Johannesburg for as little as 490 Bahraini Dinars (UAE 4,790 Dhs), Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in Australia for as little as 850 Bahraini Dinars (UAE 8,310 Dhs), Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Geneva and Milan in Europe for as little as 480 Bahraini Dinars (UAE 4,690 Dhs), Bangkok and Manila in Asia for as little as 410 Bahraini Dinars (UAE 4,010 Dhs).

The offer also includes economy return flights to some of Europe's most popular cities for as little as 89 Bahraini Dinars (UAE 870 Dhs) as well as to Bangkok in Thailand for as little as 99 Bahraini Dinars (UAE 970 Dhs).

The special sales promotion, available for a limited period during the three days of BITE (14, 15 and 16 May), cover flights from Bahrain and connecting through EtihadEtihadLoading...'s home base of Abu Dhabi.

The promotion ends on Saturday, 16 May and outbound travel must be completed by Thursday, 25 June for business class flights. For economy class flights, outbound travel must be completed by Sunday, 14 June and include a minimum stay of three days.

To demonstrate EtihadEtihadLoading...'s world class onboard service and cuisine, several of the airline's food and beverage managers, a new cabin crew position introduced by the airline for first and business class customers, will be on the BITE exhibition stand.

These new managers, most of whom joined the airline from five-star hotels around the world, are responsible for championing the quality, presentation and delivery of the airline's onboard catering, ensuring it is consistently to the highest standards.

Other displays will illustrate the exciting line-up of new EtihadEtihadLoading... routes set to be launched in the coming months and which include Istanbul, Athens, Larnaca and Chicago.

Members of the EtihadEtihadLoading... Holidays team will be available to discuss recent developments. The airline's rapidly expanding holiday division has recently re-launched its UAE inbound brochure and now has five sales shops across the country in Al Ain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. EtihadEtihadLoading... Holidays will be selling holiday packages to the public at the stand, including its latest destinations which include Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.

EtihadEtihadLoading... will have interactive demonstrations on the exhibition stand of the many rewards and benefits of its industry-acclaimed EtihadEtihadLoading... Guest loyalty programme.

Etihad AirwaysEtihad AirwaysLoading... created history recently by becoming the first airline in the world to win five World Travel Awards at the same ceremony.

The feat came in the 2009 World Travel Awards Middle East event held in Dubai. EtihadEtihadLoading... was given an extra award at the ceremony in recognition of being the organisation with the biggest impact on travel and tourism in the region, voted for by the guests, travel trade professionals, media and dignitaries present during the evening.

EtihadEtihadLoading...'s five main awards were for leading airline, leading first class, leading airline lounge, leading airline website and leading international marketing campaign.

Etihad AirwaysEtihad AirwaysLoading... also won awards for best business class and best cabin staff at the Business Traveller Middle East awards. It was the second year running that EtihadEtihadLoading... won the Business Traveller Middle East award for best cabin staff and the second top award for business class in a matter of weeks.

In April, EtihadEtihadLoading... won the Skytrax World Airline Award for best business class following a global poll by 16 million air travellers. The airline won also the world's best business class catering award.

The airline's loyalty programme, EtihadEtihadLoading... Guest, has also recently been voted best website, best member communication, best bonus promotion and best award redemption at the global 'Freddie' awards. The programme also claimed runners up spot in three other categories: best award, best customer service and programme of the year.

Etihad AirwaysEtihad AirwaysLoading... will be exhibiting at stand number F02 in Hall 01 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre.