Etihad Airways has ‘no plans’ to introduce premium economy

Martin Drew, SVP global sales & cargo at the Abu Dhabi-based carrier told Arabian Business that he has confidence that demand for first and business class travel will always remain.

Emirates on Wednesday announced they will install premium-economy cabins in three of its existing Airbus SE A380 superjumbos as it prepares for an anticipated shift in demand once the airline industry emerges from the coronavirus crisis.

The world’s biggest long-haul airline will retrofit the seats – which offer more room than coach at a cheaper price than business class – into planes supplied by Amedeo Air Four Plus Ltd., the leasing firm said in a statement.

Martin Drew, SVP global sales & cargo, Etihad Airways

The class was first introduced at Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. and Taiwan’s EVA Air in the early 1990s. Superjumbo operators including British Airways, Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Qantas Airways Ltd. have long offered the product on their planes, while Deutsche Lufthansa AG introduced it in 2015.

However, Drew insisted Etihad would not be following suit. He said: “We currently have no plans to introduce a premium economy product. However, it’s something that we continue to evaluate and if we see an opportunity to bring in a product like that it’s certainly something we will do, but at the moment we have no plans to introduce premium economy products.”

The almost necessary surge in video technology such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams as a result of Covid-enforced border closures and travel restrictions, has led many industry experts to predict the death of business and first class travel with, at best, a recovery forecast for somewhere in the region of 2025.

Billionaire Bill Gates told CNBC in November that “over 50 percent of business travel and over 30 percent of days in the office would go away” post-Covid.

However, flush with cash and a record number of air miles after a year on the ground, leisure travellers are splurging on premium seats for their first trips back. They’re not just after the plated food, champagne and little cosmetics that typically come with the higher fares.

Rather, they’re trying to minimise the risk of catching Covid in the cheek-to-cheek jostle of coach.

Drew said they had experienced “fairly decent” demand for their premium seats, despite the overall depressed state of the market.

He said: “There’s always going to be demand for premium travel, in terms of business class, first class. Certainly I think in this part of the world, there’s always going to be demand for first class.

“In terms of premium travel in general, be it for leisure, be it for business, especially for a lot of the routes which we operate which are long haul and ultra-long haul, people want that additional comfort. I think also as well, with everything that’s gone on with the pandemic, when I look at our premium seat design you have that privacy, so there’s also that peace of mind from a social distancing perspective.

“I think business travel will return, it’s just when that will happen and to what extent. Without doubt it’s going to be a gradual return and it’s certainly going to take longer than VFR (visiting friends and relatives) and leisure. But for us there’s always going to be good demand for premium travel.”