Etihad defends cheap flight deals after criticism

Etihad Airways has defended a series of flight deals it launched on Monday after customers complained to Arabian Business that the promotional prices were "misleading" and "inaccurate".

Among the 48 hour e-deals campaign customers were told they could get a return flight to Heathrow between May 4-5 and May 18 for AED200 ($54), plus surcharges and taxes.

However, once the online booking process was complete the final price quoted totalled AED1,375 - almost seven times the promotional price - and just AED500 less than the same standard economy special return fare.

A total of AED720 was added to the ‘fare’ as surcharges for fuel, airport taxes and other fees, while another AED455 was added as ‘tax’, to cover Abu Dhabi’s own airport tax, according to an Etihad call centre handler.

Other deals included flights to Amman and Bahrain for AED40 that ended up costing AED705 once additional fees and taxes have been added.

The discrepancies have led dozens of customers to contact Arabian Business to complain.

Website user Ahmed said: “Paying the various taxes on flights is not an option, so why are airlines in this part of the world not transparent, and publish the actual amount to be paid by the end user?”

“Misleading as always,” said another comment posted by Mak. “Are we really that silly to buy into this?,” he added.

Etihad customer, Heba Hashem, said: “AED1,390 is quite cheap for a London flight although falsely attracting people to a completely different price is not the way to do it."

“I hope Etihad can extend those flights till end of May,” she wrote.

On Wednesday an Etihad Airways spokesperson confirmed that the prices quoted in the e-deal promotion were for fares only, and did not include “additional taxes, fees and charges”.

“As with most tactical promotions, and as specified, conditions applied. However, even when these additional charges are included the fares still offer excellent value for money and are considerably lower than the usual fare,” he said.

The spokesperson added that the promotions were intended to stimulate the market during the traditionally slow month of May.

Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan told Arabian Business at the Arabian Travel Market 2009 conference in Dubai on Tuesday that “seat factor” was not the issue, but “yield” was.

"Seat factor isn't the factor, it's yield at the moment. We are seeing discounting out there worldwide. The challenge for us is to stimulate the markets, stimulate demand and we are doing that at the moment, as are all airlines, and managing our costs very tightly," Hogan told the media.

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