Etihad Airways is offering customers in the UAE discounted fares in business class, as part of a new sales promotion to highlight the airline’s award-winning premium services on the ground and in the sky.

The business class promotion applies to more than a dozen routes across Etihad’s global network, with return flights (excluding taxes, fees and charges) starting from Dh1,000 ($272.2), said the UAE national airline in a statement.

The destinations included in the promotion are: Bahrain (starting from Dh1,320), Bangkok (Dh4,500), Brussels (Dh7,070), Casablanca (Dh7,070), Doha (Dh1,330), Dammam (Dh1,560), Dublin (Dh7,070), Geneva (Dh7,070), Frankfurt (Dh7,070), Johannesburg (Dh7,070), Kuwait (Dh1,680), Manila (Dh5,280), Milan (Dh7,070), Muscat (Dh1,410) and Tehran (Dh1,000), it added.

To avail the offer, customers must book business class seats on selected routes by May 16. All outbound travel must be completed by June 25 and journeys completed by June 30, 2009.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ chief commercial officer, said: "Recent global awards, such as Skytrax, show that Etihad’s business class cabin is considered by air travellers to be the best in the world."

"This promotion aims to celebrate this fact and give many thousands of lucky travellers an opportunity to sample our award-winning premium service at very affordable prices," he noted.

Last week, Etihad Airways won the award for best business class at the Business Traveller Middle East awards. It was the second top award for business class in a matter of weeks.

In April, Etihad won the Skytrax World Airline Award for best business class following a global poll by 16 million air travellers. The airline won also the world’s best business class catering award.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline has recently completed a major service upgrade to its premium cabins across its fleet. The new ‘Inspired Service’ style is now available across the airline’s global network of more than 50 destinations.

This includes the introduction of a new cabin crew position called the onboard food and beverage manager, responsible for championing the quality, presentation and delivery of food and beverages on board, ensuring it is consistently to the highest standards, the statement added.

Passengers can eat whenever they wish during the flight, from a la carte fine dining menus or opt for kitchen style snacks, it said.

Etihad offers fully-flat beds in business class as well as more than 600 hours of on-demand entertainment provided via individual wide-screen video screens, operated by touch-screen technology.-TradeArabia News Service