Etihad has been growing at a fast pace, even though they remain a ”boutique” airline compared to their UAE rival, Emirates.
Continue reading: Good News: Etihad Cutting Flights With Jet Airways Planes
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
@ Lucky: you mention "changes as of October 30, 2015" which are "10 months into the future". Either the aircraft swap already happened back in October or it has to be "2016".
Did Etihad paint the Jet Airways metal in Etihad colors?
Etihad flies Jet Airways A330s to Johannesburg, meaning...just no. Not an option for me.
Etihad has pretty ridiculous fleet diversity:
A319
A320
A321
A330-200
A330-300
A340-500
A340-600
A380
777-200LR
777-300ER
787-9
Orders for:
A320NEO
A321NEO
A350-900
A350-1000
777-8
777-9
787-10
Nice of them to keep us plane enthusiasts happy!
NOT FAIR! Jet's first class looks identical to me! The color tone is a bit soothing to me personally! I've been on Jet configured 77W Business and Etihad 77W Business, I guess Etihad's feels more private, but I found Jet's to be more spacious in terms of seat width. Both were 180 flat!
Jet's business did look outdated, but the quality of the material used looks better. Etihad's side tray looked below economy standards. The plastic looked very cheap. Overall, for a customer that mostly flies economy, all that matters is the seat pitch, which both the aircrafts suck at! Sad part is Qatar is going to follow the same routes EY/EK.
This is helpful only in theory since there is basically no award space on any flight from NA through the end of schedule.
Remind me again why somebody who doesn't have to go to Abu Dhabi would go out of their way to go to Abu Dhabi?
As for the availability: Don't trust the website, call the American Airline Australia number and check, you may be surprised. I went to Etihad's site and it said there were no business class seats from Dulles to Abu Dhabi on the date I wanted. I called American in Australia and got 2 seats booked on that date with no problem in just a few minutes. This was just today, it's not a thing of the past.
Hmm, spare 777s sitting around? Someone should tell Richard Anderson. He could probably get them for $1 each.
This is great news. My home airport is SFO. I refuse to fly the Jetihad flights. I usually use the LAX flight. The LAX flights have been fairly full during my last four flights. I am hopeful to see an A380 in the future. I feel that Etihad started with flawed service in / out is SFO using the Jet aircraft. In my humble opinion, it will take the True Etihad Aircraft to correct this issue.
Thanks Lucky for giving me hope.
Nick - We are flying Etihad business class from IAD to Abu Dhabi on May 11th. It's one-way because we're flying Qatar back.
Connecting in hkg. Flying first class on cx.
Should I get a larger layover just to check out the lounge or get to my destination as fast as I can. Which would you choose, why?
I think you are being a little unfair to Jet airline.. My family and I have flown their business class and first class products and they are great.. compared to some of the attitude and terrible seating arrangement on United, I would pick them anyday..
Oh and also, are you sure the first class pic of Jet you have put is actually jet airways ? There is a thai airways amenity kit on both seats..
I've been wanting to fly the SFO route but have not because of the Jet opperation. With UA and LH pulling back from the middle east, and TK not counting for UA PQD then the Jef issue has been an impediment to what seems the obvious routing now.
@ sameer - Jet Airways leases their aircraft to quite a few airlines as they themselves weren't able to make profit with them. While Etihad is one of them, Thai is another.
Lucky, from your Thai 2011 flight...
"These are planes they lease from Jet Airways, and it has 'one of my favorite first class products'."
I'm guessing that changed even when you didn't fly them after?
Russell says "I went to Etihad’s site and it said there were no business class seats from Dulles to Abu Dhabi on the date I wanted. I called American in Australia and got 2 seats booked on that date with no problem in just a few minutes. This was just today, it’s not a thing of the past." I say this is BS. If EY shows no GuestSeats, no AA office on earth can book GuestSeats for you.
Well, Chuck, I'll remember that when I'm flying to Abu Dhabi in May on Etihad business class on an awards ticket.
Lucky, I booked 2 biz seats using AA Miles from SFO-DUBAI-DELHI in May. The first thing that stood out for me, they were not 777-300ER's and didn't say "OPERATED BY JET AIRWAYS". My itinerary shows as 777-200LR's. Googled and found one one of the web pages, somebody mentioning they are doing the plane swap on April 25th 2016. So looks like they pushed it out early..
The one thing that was on my mind was Wi-Fi as i was alternatively looking for emirates award seats for the same itinerary, and i am glad you answered it with your post.
I am not sure if chauffer service will be available..
As of 1st November 2016 they are also scrapping the Jet Airways 777 from the Sao Paulo - Abu Dhabi - Sao Paulo route and using there A340-600 aircraft.
Its a bit old and worn out but definately better than the Jet Airways 777