Etihad Airways explores virtual reality
Etihad Airways is exploring the world of virtual reality films at this year’s Zurich film festival. Visitors to the festival will be able to watch the airline’s 360-degree, virtual reality movie starring Nicole Kidman – the five-minute feature, which is called Reimagine, showcases the Airbus A380 as it flies between New York and Abu Dhabi.
Kidman is shown rehearsing for a role that she is on the way to Abu Dhabi to film, experiencing The Residence, Etihad’s three-room suite. And if you can’t make it along to the film festival when it opens on 22 September, check out the ‘making of’ video, which shows the complexities involved with putting the project together.
Virtual reality movies might seem a strange venture for the UAE’s national airline but, as CEO Peter Baumgartner explains, its relationship with the film festival ‘underscores our active support of global cultural events, engagement in the local communities we serve and it reinforces our long-term commitment to the Swiss market’.
Etihad Airways is also sponsoring the Audience Award. Festival visitors vote for their favourite film and have the opportunity to win two Business Class return-flights to Abu Dhabi or two Economy Class return-flights with airberlin to a destination in the USA. The director of the winning film will be awarded two Business Class return-flights with Etihad Airways to Abu Dhabi and three nights in a five-star hotel.
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Read the September 2016 issue of Business Review Middle East magazine
