中新网阿布扎比10月15日电 (记者 潘旭临)阿提哈德航空公司14日在位于阿布扎比的创新中心内向来访的中国媒体展示了最先进的多款超豪华实体舱位模型，这些具有独创设计理念的舱位将于今年12月在阿提哈德航空投入运营的空客A380和波音787梦幻客机上使用，以此提升市场的竞争力。
阿提哈德航空品牌大使丹妮•米洛不久前向全世界媒体公布了该公司对空客A380和波音787梦幻客机舱位的设计成果，这些设计工作就是在这家创新中心完成，包括由阿提哈德公司独创的阿提哈德–空中官邸™、公寓头等舱、套间头等舱和灵动经济舱位的1：1实体模型，达到与实际舱位同样的真实效果。
阿提哈德航空此次将在空客A380推出的“空中官邸™”舱位十分抢眼，它由一个休息室、双人卧室和一个带淋浴的卫生间组成。投入运营后，该舱位以空间为单位销售，价格为2.1万美元，可同时容纳两名乘客使用。
据悉，为实现对最新机型舱位的创新设计理念，阿提哈德航空公司专门成立了设计团队，通过精心设计、巧妙布局，最大限度地利用了机舱内所有空间。
为提高空乘人员的适应能力，创新中心专设创新培训学校，这个学校由全球最大的A380和B787客舱服务与安全训练舱组成。该训练舱长约30米，高4-6米，功能齐全，并按照空客公司与波音公司提供的各类数据进行建造。培训工作针对在空客A380和波音787梦幻客机上的乘务人员，其中包括专门为高端舱位配备的空中厨师、餐饮经理，以及为全机舱服务的幼儿保姆等。通过培训，客舱所有工作人员具备为旅客提供最高标准的安全与舒适服务所需的技能。
除训练舱之外，培训学校还设有10间户外训练教室。为实现各种与独特产品和优质体验相关的创意观点化为现实。该中心还专门设立一间产品概念室，研究人员可在此快速完成有关产品的初步构想。
阿提哈德航空首席商务官Peter Baumgartner先生表示：“作为世界领先的航空公司，我们时刻走在创新的前沿。这些先进的新型设施更有助于我们为旅客提供最为优质的产品和服务，同时也体现了阿提哈德航空高瞻远瞩的目光。”
Cabin crew retrained as butlers at London’s prestigious Savoy Hotel will wear tailcoats and white cotton gloves for their new role pampering some of the world’s wealthiest flyers on Etihad Airways PJSC’s superjumbo aircraft.
Thirteen “flying butlers” have completed a three-week course on etiquette, protocol, valet skills and concierge services and are ready to attend passengers in what will be the airline industry’s swankiest cabin, the US$20,000-a-trip, three-room Residence with double bed, living area and shower cubicle.
Etihad is introducing the luxury product on its first A380 double-deckers as the third-biggest Gulf carrier vies for top-paying travellers with Emirates, the No. 1 operator of the Airbus Group NV plane, Qatar Airways and global rivals including Singapore Airlines Ltd.
The butlers were previously in-flight chefs or food and beverage managers and have undergone training and work experience at the Savoy, where the two-bed Royal Suite costs 12,000 pounds (US$19,000) a night, plus instruction at the London School of Hospitality and Tourism.
“The flying butlers will provide a level of service that no traveller has ever experienced in commercial aviation,” Abu Dhabi-based Etihad’s Aubrey Tiedt, vice president for guest services, said in a statement today.
The 13 staff, 11 men and two women, are unique at Etihad in wearing brown tails and white gloves used to shine cutlery, and will combine “the discretion of a traditional English butler with the efficiency of a 21st century personal assistant,” said Savoy Head Butler Sean Davoren, who led the course.
Private-Jet Chic
Etihad’s first A380 will enter commercial service on the Abu Dhabi-London Heathrow route on Dec. 27. With the superjumbo joining the fleet years after debuting with other premium carriers, Chief Executive Officer James Hogan has said the planes’ premium berths will borrow concepts from private-jet travel in order to make the biggest splash.
In addition to The Residence, the A380s will feature nine first-class “apartments” on the upper deck that Hogan says will be 74% bigger than currently, with a full-flat bed and separate reclining lounge-style seat. Customers for the premium offerings, which can also be chartered en bloc, could include wealthy families and government delegations, he says.
Dubai-based Emirates has had the A380 since 2008, with around 50 planes in the fleet and a total of 140 on order.
Qatar Airways is buying 10 planes, with the first starting operations on the Doha-London route last week and two more due this year. CEO Akbar Al Baker said at a handover ceremony at Airbus’s Toulouse base that he favors a conservative approach to service standards in premium cabins and that the company will “do enough to maintain the class — and be profitable.”