Etihad Airways has become the latest airline to ground their Airbus A380 fleet (update: at this point Etihad’s entire fleet is grounded, since the UAE has imposed a flight ban for 14 days, starting March 25, 2020).
Continue reading: Etihad Airways Grounds A380 Fleet
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
While not an apartment and with no shower, Etihad ‘s B787-9 1st Class is quite nice! 🙂
I’ve enjoyed it a few times
Booked my apartment last year for October. Fingers crossed it's back by then. Have my doubts.
Its a real pity because the first class apartments of EY were one of the best if not the best one not to forget the shower...787 is no where in comparison...
Ben - would you happen to know if the major credit cards' travel insurance cover any cancellations as a result of not wanting / able to take a trip in the coming weeks?
Do you think EY can make money if I paid a $1000 to social distance the night in the Residence. No need for butler or fancy meal. Just the room, the shower, and some take out dinner.
@SK
I take it you haven't flown etihad a380 in first before. The bed sorry the slab of concrete is extremely uncomfortable to sleep on long distance and the seat well your literally upright the entire flight.
Food is mediocre and the shower and bar compared to emirates is a joke.
Anyway I can't believe all these about points redemption and upcoming flights seriously people get a grip of the bigger problem with China VIRUS!
I had the opportunity to fly on Etihad's A380s once (Business Studio). Very comfortable, but the service seemed to me forced.
Hope these airlines can survive the next few months.
I had my flight chnaged from the Airbus 380 to that of the Boeing 777. Do you think Etihad should compensate me for not giving the aircraft they had initially planned on giving? I booked a business class in June and the business class in 777 sucks, it’s just like the economy with premium benefits.
The Residence was the greatest flying experience I ever had (even better than my very first flight). It is sad but understandable. I would not be flying it anytime soon (I was planning on 2022 but now...............) though so can't complain.
The A380 remains my fave plane edging our The Queen. I don't mind some of the others not flying them but hope Etihad and BA keep flying them for years and years. Let's hope this virus doesn't change flying forever. 🙁
Etihad First Class is amazing! We flew CDG-AUH, and after a few days AUH-ICN. The privacy of your own apartment, with amazing spaciousness, and only 8 First Class seats with two bathrooms, one with a shower, is the best in the business. Great food, wines, caviar, attention to detail, and wonderful friendly flight attendants made our flights memorable. The pajamas are my wife’s favorites, and she double purposed them by wearing them to the mosque. In Abu Dhabi there is a First Class terminal. You clear immigration and security in minutes. The First Class lounge has a spa for a message, formal dining room, even a gym. We‘ve flown LH, KE, TG, BA, OZ, AA First Class, and Etihad is by FAR the best of all. Hope they get the A380 back in air once the craziness of the Corona virus is over.
Thousands of planes are being grounded around the world. Is A380 some kind of exception?
You can only throw good money after bad when times are good. Why would you operate that whale when the 787 or 350 cam match its seat mile costs at half the trip costs, especially when you have less than 100 people on it?
This isn’t new. They took the A380 out a few weeks ago on the Seoul route at least.
This article is incorrect - the EY012 ex-LHR is a 388 and will continue to fly into April.
It's all about the cargo volume, and this where the A380 sucks.
Great for passengers, not so much for cargo.
In the grander scheme of things, I know I hardly am in a position to complain, but this affected me directly unfortunately. I was in the middle of a 5 week vacation in India, Nepal and the rest of that region when things got really bad and had to make the decision to come home ASAP. I was originally scheduled to take Etihad's Apartment back to NY in April - an award flight that I had been working towards and looking forward to for a long long time. I hope i have not lost out on my opportunity to finally fly that product and that it returns to the sky again after the virus settles down. As disappointing as giving up this award was, fortunately Qatar opened up plenty of award space from KTH to BOS via DOH (in addition to only $1600 flights) for their Qsuites for last minute flights home (got out just in time before almost everything shut down) so I am thankful I still got to experience that incredible product. But like I said, in the grander scheme of things, I am most fortunate to just have gotten home safely and know i have no room to complain given what so many others in this world are dealing with now. For anyone else still trying to travel home, I wish you all the best!