Etihad Airways has announced they will officially introduce New Year’s parties on flights crossing into the new year after their December 31st departure next week.
While most flights that change into the new year while en route have some sort of small procedure such as making an announcement and bringing around champagne, Etihad is now making this an official party.
It’s certainly a nice marketing effort someone on Etihad’s marketing has come up with and the effort isn’t all that much aside from organizing the hardware and maybe catering some extra F&B.
One thing is for sure, it does give passengers something to look forward to on these flights/
You can read up on Etihad’s marketing communique here.
With over 1.5 million passengers expected over the winter break, Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will be celebrating the festive season in the sky with a special-themed menu and props for guests on board selected flights.
Over the festive period, the classic festive themed menu will be available from 23 to 25 December on many routes including the US, UK, Canada, Lebanon, South Korea, the Philippines, the Seychelles, South Africa, Australia, and most destinations across Europe. The delicious menu includes festive favourites such as turkey roulade, chestnut stuffing and chocolate yule log with cherry compote.
For the first time, Etihad will be ushering in the New Year in style on its flights. On 31 December 2022, all flights crossing midnight in the sky will join in the countdown and celebrate the new year on board with customised fun props for guests, as well as celebratory giveaways. Celebratory drinks will also be served in the moments before midnight.
Etihad’s award-winning E-BOX inflight entertainment will feature a dedicated ‘Holiday Movies’ channel including festive classics such as Love Actually and Home Alone, as well as themed TV programming and music for the season.
Guests flying with Etihad Airways over the busy festive period can take advantage of convenient services like its quick self-service bag drop facility which provides a faster check-in experience allowing guests to skip the queues. Once checked-in online, the self-service facility allows travellers to seamlessly retrieve their booking, print the bag-tag and process their bags in less than two minutes.
Anyone flying with Etihad over this period is encouraged to share their experience tagging #Etihad and @Etihad.
The carrier will blend the NYE celebrations in with the other special details they have already planned for the festive season which includes Christmas-themed menus and other items. Of course, I imagine most of these will be noticeable in Business and First Class.
I’ve been on a couple of these flights over the years, usually when I had no particular plan or desire to attend an NYE party somewhere. I remember that Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways were the best experiences as they brought around champagne to everyone in First Class, on Cathay the crew even filled in handwritten cards while the pilots made an announcement.
Conclusion
If you’re flying on Etihad, departing on December 31st, and crossing into the new year somewhere while en route then the carrier is planning something special this year.
Etihad has advised that there will be activities, giveaways and special drinks served on these flights which should be quite fun. Of course for someone who booked a flight to get away from all this, it could also mean the opposite and I can imagine some people who plan to sleep through the flight won’t be all too happy to be woken up in the middle of it with a big bash for the new year. Experienced travelers would know that something is going to happen though, even if it’s a more tuned-down version normally.
Are you going to fly Etihad on New Year’s Eve?
