The new commercial is based on the fact that Etihad Airways is the fastest growing airline in aviation history and during its first eight years of operation more people have switched to Etihad Airways than to any other global airline in history.
Titled ‘Why’, the commercial and campaign focuses on why more than 40 million people have chosen to fly with Etihad Airways rather than industry competitors.
The television commercial, featuring an Etihad wide-body aircraft performing a spectacular low-altitude fly-past filmed from locations at the beaches of Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, will be shown on pan-regional television media across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in addition to country specific stations in the UAE, France, Germany, Ireland, UK, the United States, India, Pakistan and Australia.
“The Etihad Airways success story is a phenomenal one that will probably never be repeated and is therefore relevant for the history of commercial aviation. The airline has evolved from an initial vision, to a fledgling start-up, to the award-winning airline that we are today,” Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, said.
“The marketing campaign shares some of the secrets of our success with a worldwide audience and shows how, in less than nine years of operations, we have carried more than 40 million passengers and become synonymous with providing customers with the highest levels of hospitality and service available on the ground and in the sky,” he added.
“Our home-base of Abu Dhabi has also experienced tremendous development during this period and we were thrilled to conduct the filming for the commercial at beach locations on the stunning Saadiyat Island.”
The synopsis of the commercial, which will be translated into Arabic, French, German and Chinese, shows people enjoying a day at the beach who are surprised to see an Etihad A340 fly past, trailing a giant message.
The tail fin message, and interest driven by the commercial, invites viewers to visit the specially developed online microsite and other digital platforms in order to find out more.
Special approval was given to Etihad Airways to allow the aircraft to fly at such a low level near the Saadiyat Island coastline. Crowds gathered to see the aircraft complete two fly-past sessions on 21 May.