Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1165935
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 SEPTEMBER 2019 21 COMMERCIAL EMIRATES has clinched its third consecutive award for Best Entertainment at the 2020 Passenger Choice Awards held during the APEX EXPO in Los Angeles, USA. The airline was also given a Five-Star Global Airline Official Airline Rating, the highest rating in the first airline rating program based solely on verified and certified passenger feedback. Emirates' winning streak has been due to its continual inno- vations in inflight entertain- ment, setting the benchmark for customer experience. The airline has been at the fore- front of the industry from be- ing the first airline to install TV screens in every seat in 1992 to allowing customers to create and sync bespoke entertainment playlists on its mobile app since last year. Today, Emirates provides one of the most comprehen- sive and state-of-the-art en- tertainment and communi- cations services in the skies. ice, its award-winning inflight entertainment system, now offers over 4,500 channels of entertainment, including well over 1000 world mov- ies – more than any other airline. Customers across all classes are treated to the larg- est screens in the industry for each cabin at 13.3 inches for Economy Class, 23 inches for Business Class and 32 inches in First Class. In addition to the unmatched variety of content, Emirates has also been investing to pro- vide connectivity and Live TV for its customers. Over 176 Emirates aircraft are equipped with Live TV and at any time 70,000 passengers and sport enthusiasts could be watching global sporting events live at 40,000 feet. Customers can al- so enjoy a selection of interna- tional news channels live such as CNN, BBC World News, Sky News, Euro News, CNBC, and NHK World. Wi-Fi connectivity is avail- able on all Emirates aircraft. Customers in all cabin classes receive 20MB of free Wi-Fi data or unlimited use of mes- saging apps for 2 hours allow- ing them to log on and stay in touch with friends, family or colleagues. Emirates Sky- wards members enjoy special benefits depending on their membership tier and class of travel, including free Wi-Fi when travelling in First Class or Business Class. The APEX Passenger Choice Awards are based on passen- ger feedback gathered through APEX's partnership with Trip- It® from Concur®, the world's highest-rated travel-organiz- ing app. Using a five-star scale, more than one million flights were rated by passengers across nearly 600 airlines from around the world between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019. Emirates wins third consecutive Best Entertainment award at the 2020 APEX Passenger Choice Awards Pic Best Entrainment Award – Emirates has clinched its third consecutive award for Best Entertainment at the 2020 Passenger Choice Awards held during the APEX EXPO in Los Angeles, USA on Monday ABANTE and MAPFRE have signed a strategic alliance to create an independent platform for financial advisory services and the distribution of the most competitive products in the Spanish market. The insurance group will take a 10 percent stake in Abante through a capi- tal increase, and will retain the option to acquire a further 10 percent, up to a maximum of 20 percent, within a period of three years. The terms of this alliance will allow Abante to continue devel- oping its advisory and planning model through the incorpora- tion of additional resources and the capacities of an established group while maintaining its in- dependence, which has been one of its defining hallmarks since its creation. MAPFRE will participate in the growth of the private banking market and consolidate its leadership posi- tion in asset management. MAPFRE, which will become a strategic insurance partner of Abante, will incorporate insur- ance products and solutions into Abante's Financial Advi- sory and Life Financial Planning services. Also envisaged is the development of new products focused on providing solutions to the challenges brought about by longevity and the financial uncertainties it provokes. Both companies will work jointly on the design, creation and distribution of traditional, new and alternative financial products, such as venture capi- tal, real estate, debt and others considered attractive to both in- dividuals and institutions. The resources contributed by MAPFRE will be assigned in their entirety to developing this alliance and will facilitate the necessary investment to con- tinue working on the digitali- zation of the financial advisory service. Corporate transactions in the Spanish financial market and the internationalization of Abante's private banking model in Latin America, where MAP- FRE leads the Non-Life seg- ment, will also be considered. Antonio Huertas, chairman and CEO of MAPFRE, said that "this significant agreement un- derpins our strategic focus in the asset management world." "Joining forces with such a pres- tigious partner as Abante, who have a long track record in the industry, makes the objective of becoming independent leaders in the sector in the medium- term eminently feasible, ena- bling us to compete in the distri- bution of financial products in the same way as any other finan- cial institution or private bank," he added. Santiago Satrústegui, president of Abante noted that "partnering with MAPFRE is an enormous opportunity for Abante, in that it reinforces our capital structure and allows us to invest more and do so better, as well as develop new products that would have been compli- cated to roll out alone." "The agreement means that we main- tain our independence as far as capital and managing the com- pany is concerned; our iden- tity, our brand and our values represent a clear competitive advantage for Abante and were something we never wanted to concede," he added. Abante and MAPFRE sign agreement to offer their clients quality asset management and advisory services The insurance group will hold 10 percent of the capital of the independent financial company, with the option to increase its shareholding to 20 percent within three years