Starting next month, Etihad's economy passengers will have new options such as purchasing extra seats at cheaper rates while being able to pay for access to luxury services that were previously only available to business and first class passengers. Roland Magunia for The National
Starting next month, Etihad's economy passengers will have new options such as purchasing extra seats at cheaper rates while being able to pay for access to luxury services that were previously only aShow more

Etihad will let you keep the middle seat empty – for a price



Etihad Airways has unveiled plans designed to make it possible for the airline to up-sell luxury travel perks to its budget travellers including allowing economy class passengers to pay extra to sit next to empty seats.

In an announcement yesterday, Etihad said its new “neighbour free” seat option would enable passengers to bid for up to three empty seats next to their original seat.

The extra seats option will be available from July 3 with successful bids confirmed 30 hours before departure.

Other changes include giving economy passengers the option of paying to use Etihad’s chauffeur services and paying fees of Dh370 or more for access to Etihad’s business class lounge at Abu Dhabi International. Business class customers will also be able to upgrade to the First-Class lounge and spa at 10 locations.

However, the airline said that it will end the chauffeur service it had previously provided free of charge to premium guests at airports around the world and only offer free transfers to first and business class customers at its Abu Dhabi hub.

Instead, all customers will be able to pay for airport transfers at specially negotiated rates in all cities to which Etihad flies.

Nonetheless, guests travelling in Etihad’s super luxury The Residence suites on its Airbus A380 fleet will continue to receive complimentary chauffeur services on all routes on which the aircraft is operated – Abu Dhabi, London, Paris, Sydney and New York.

“The decision by Etihad Airways to change its offering has been taken to provide increased choice and to ensure fares remain as low and as competitive as possible, while retaining best-in-class service for all guests, in all cabins,” said Mohammed Al Bulooki, Etihad’s executive vice president of commercial.

“This change is being put in place as the airline looks to evolve its product proposition while continuing to match individual customer requirements,” Mr Al Bulooki said.

According to Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, Etihad’s strategy, including the neighbour free option, shows a unique and innovative approach to seat pricing.

“It could be that the cost of selling that seat to a passenger to block out is worth more than a fare paying passenger on a particular flight/route,” he said.

“The real potency of what Etihad has done is with the economy class seating and being able to buy that extra space – I can definitely see other carriers copying this move. It allows for extra space, that bit more privacy and ease of movement in the cabin too.”

Earlier this year Emirates opened its Dubai International Airport business-class lounges to paying guests.

“It’s a great revenue generating avenue and they’d be mad not to channel it to their advantage,” said Mr Ahmad.

lbarnard@thenational.ae

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg:

Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')

Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate

Poland Statement
All people fleeing from Ukraine before the armed conflict are allowed to enter Poland. Our country shelters every person whose life is in danger - regardless of their nationality.

The dominant group of refugees in Poland are citizens of Ukraine, but among the people checked by the Border Guard are also citizens of the USA, Nigeria, India, Georgia and other countries.

All persons admitted to Poland are verified by the Border Guard. In relation to those who are in doubt, e.g. do not have documents, Border Guard officers apply appropriate checking procedures.

No person who has received refuge in Poland will be sent back to a country torn by war.

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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi

One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier. 

It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.  

“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October

Sweet%20Tooth
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Sting & Shaggy

44/876

(Interscope)

MO
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The%20Afghan%20connection
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THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars

Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins

Company profile

Name: Infinite8

Based: Dubai

Launch year: 2017

Number of employees: 90

Sector: Online gaming industry

Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Brief scores:

Barcelona 3

Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'

Rayo Vallecano 1

De Tomas Gomez 24'

SHADOWS%20AND%20LIGHT%3A%20THE%20EXTRAORDINARY%20LIFE%20OF%20JAMES%20MCBEY
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'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai, 
HBKU Press 

Know your cyber adversaries

Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.

Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.

Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.

Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.

Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.

Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.

Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.

Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.

Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.

Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.

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