Etihad introduces flying butlers

Etihad Airways, the flagship carrier of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, has trained a batch of 13 flying butlers who would serve premium passengers on Etihad’s new double-decker Airbus A380. There are 11 male and two female butlers, trained at the Savoy hotel in London and dressed impeccably in tailcoats and white gloves. The passenger segment targeted consists of guests using Etihad’s new $20,000-a-ticket three-room cabin on the A380 aircraft. The service will be available from December on the Abu Dhabi-London route. The Airbus A380 is a huge aircraft that allows the three majors airlines in the Middle East – Etihad, Emirates and Gulf Air – to offer extra facilities in premium cabins such as bars, showers and double beds.

Sean Davoren, head butler at the posh Savoy, said that Etihad’s flying butlers had “the discretion of a traditional English butler with the efficiency of a 21st-century personal assistant”. Of the 13 butlers, 10 are from Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, Tunisia, and three are from the United Kingdom.