Look: Etihad Airways to turn obsolete aircraft parts into art

Abu Dhabi - It is displaying the art pieces at its headquarters and hopes to commission similar work in the future.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has partnered with local designers to upcycle obsolete aircraft cabin interiors into pieces of art, as an environmentally friendly alternative of dealing with waste.

Carpet and fabric rolls, emergency equipment, sidewalls and windows, and Economy and Business class seats are just some of the old aircraft parts Azza Al Qubaisi and Christine Wilson used to design art installations for Etihad Airways.

Terry Daly, executive director of Guest Experience, Brand & Marketing said: “End-of-life parts that were destined for landfill have been repurposed into beautiful art instillations by skilled artists who used rare and unwanted aircraft scraps. By collaborating with artists from the local community, our goal is to not only showcase talent within the region, but to further encourage sustainable innovation that’s good for the environment”.

Born in Abu Dhabi, Emirati sculptor Azza Al Qubaisi’s first art piece used seat floor mounting rails as a building motif to create symmetric geometric formations that can be displayed free standing or suspended from the ceiling.

“Visiting Etihad’s warehouse of aircraft parts during the Covid-19 pandemic brought back memories of travelling around the world and discovering different cultures," she said. "I was thrilled to have unlimited access to amazing materials that I could upcycle or melt into art for my ‘Seeking Identity’ sculpture series."

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