Infosys-created Etihad website bags awards

UAE airline Etihad Airways has bagged four awards for its progressive web strategy. Significantly, the web strategy of the airline has been enabled by Bangalore-based IT major Infosys Technologies.

At the annual Pan Arab Web Awards, Etihad bagged the awards for Best Online Strategy and the Best International Standards Web Technology for 2007. Besides, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Web Awards in Dubai awarded the website the prestigious Golden Award in the Travel and Tourism category, along with the Strategy Web Award for 2006 to the airline.

According to sources, Etihad witnessed a dramatic increase in website traffic in the first 60 days of the website’s relaunch. The number of visitors shot up by almost 95 per cent. The average duration per visit on the new website has been reduced by 30 percent compared to the time spent on the old website, illustrating the simplified navigation of the new site.

These awards came at the culmination of a strategic redesign of the Etihad website, which included the integration of Etihad Guest - the carrier’s Frequent Flyer Reward Programme - and the addition of a new advanced booking engine.

Infosys implemented the redesign in August 2006 and also developed the multilingual capabilities for the website to increase Etihad’s presence across the globe.

According to Etihad, the awards prove that just how impressive, dynamic and user-friendly the site now is as a result of the collaboration with Infosys.

Etihad Airways is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates based in the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi. It currently offers flights to 43 destinations in the Middle East, Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.