Elevating luxury beyond the cabin

Etihad Airways is synonymous with elegance in the air. The cabin experience is refined, attentive, and meticulously considered. But digitally, the experience wasn’t operating at the same altitude.From booking to boarding, high-value travellers expect something different. Not extravagance. Not noise. Effortlessness.

Our brief was clear: make every digital interaction feel as seamless and elevated as the in-flight service. Designing for the hardest audience to impress

We began with the travellers who matter most — premium customers whose expectations are shaped by the best hotels, the best retailers, the best private services in the world. They are time-poor, selective, and discerning.

The research approach had to match their standards.Invites were handcrafted. Sessions were held in private, premium settings. Senior researchers led bespoke conversations designed to feel less like research and more like concierge dialogue. Respect was embedded into the process.

What we learned reshaped the brief. Digital luxury isn’t about abundance. It’s about ease. It’s about removing friction so completely that the system feels invisible.

Connecting CX and UX

We brought customer experience and product experience together as one system.

CX mapped the entire journey — from awareness and search to arrival and post-flight engagement — identifying emotional peaks, anxiety points, and moments of decision. UX translated those insights into interactions that felt intuitive, responsive, and rewarding. Every detail mattered. Microcopy. Load time. Upgrade flows. Payment friction. The experience needed to feel anticipatory, not reactive. Building a personalised ecosystem

Journey mapping led to a suite of personalised digital products designed to adapt to each traveller. Content, recommendations, and offers were tailored dynamically based on preference and behaviour. Add-ons such as private transfers, lounge access, or bespoke dining surfaced intelligently during booking, rather than being buried in menus. Frequent flyers received proactive flight suggestions informed by past travel patterns. Behind the scenes, data insights powered both the interface and the operational backbone.

This wasn’t cosmetic personalisation. It was systemic. To deliver it, we worked across strategy, operations, technology, and brand — redefining service protocols and building new operating models to support the promise internally. Luxury can’t just exist at the interface. It must be supported by infrastructure.

The outcome

The result was a digital journey that finally matched the brand’s premium positioning. Conversion within the booking engine increased by 50 points. Incremental revenue grew by 25% year-on-year. Over five years, the transformation delivered $400 million in business impact. But beyond the metrics, something more important shifted. The digital experience no longer felt transactional. It felt curated.

My role

I helped bridge vision and execution — leading research and design strategy while aligning operating models and system integration across teams. This wasn’t simply a UX redesign. It was the design of a luxury system. Because true luxury isn’t surface deep.It’s engineered end to end.