My flight from Beirut to Abu Dhabi was scheduled to depart at 2:30 pm.
Continue reading: Review: Etihad 787-9 & A320 Economy Class Beirut To Abu Dhabi To Muscat
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
"While the crews on Emirates and Qatar were mostly Indian or Southeast Asian, Etihad’s crew on this flight was European or African. Do Etihad’s crews have different backgrounds than those at Emirates and Qatar, or was this purely a coincidence?"
I am not sure it's a coincidence since this is my experience with the ME3 as well. There seems to be heavy preference for white European females with Etihad, but I haven't flown them enough to make the generalization.
I don't think that you were behind an Etihad A380 in Abu Dhabi, or at least, that's not a picture of one.
From my previous exp, Etihad no longer provided noise cancelling headset in at class. They delivered in-ear ear plug style headset on my November trip from AUH to DEL
Great to have an economy review and this is really helpful - the bottom line sums it up!
I commend you for taking these flights to provide us with these reviews but honestly I don't think they're a fair comparison whatsoever. You're flying all different aircraft of all different purposes and ages, and you didn't take a single actual long-haul flight on EY or fly their 777 which is most common. A fairer comparison would have been all three 777s maybe or something but this definitely does not match up entirely.
Just for reference, the other side Just for reference, the side of the headrests on 787s and A380s that does not stick out can be pushed out, though it does not extend as far out as the fixed side.
I just can’t get past how beautiful the 787 wing is. Flown it plenty times but still look at it like a high school sweetheart.
"Not on Etihad. When I got to the gate an hour before departure, the flight was already boarding. Not only that, but the departure time on the screen was 2:05 pm. I asked why it had changed. The response was something along the lines of “we arrived early, so why not leave early.”"
Ok, I'm sorry, but this? Sounds like utter BS.
It seems that on Etihads newest planes (e.g. A380, 787) the seats are less comfortable than on older planes such as the A320. I recently flew Etihad in business on their A380 and A320 and the seats on the A380 were like an ironing board, whereas on the A320 they cradled the human figure and I slept longer on the recliner seat during the day than on the lie-flat bed on a red-eye.
Very refreshing review and hope that we can have more coverage of the economy cabins....it starts to get a bit tedious reading the same herringbone seating and Brut Champagne stuff all the time.
Point 1 - James Hogan (recently "retired" chief at Etihad) was formerly the boss at Gulf Air in Manama. Bahrain's old Emir had a penchant for blond European women and Gulf Air cabin crew were almost exclusively of that mode (all foreigners living in Bahrain were allowed access to his private beach complex). Perhaps Mr Hogan was indoctrinated and carried forward that recruitment policy to Abu Dhabi?
Point 2 - I work and travel extensively throughout the Middle East and can confidently say that the economy Qatar product is currently the best available.
Point 3 - What? Finnair ? I frequently need to fly with them to Asia and although their hub airport in Helsinki is incredibe, the airline service in economy is truely "Cattle Class" deplorable. Food is often like slurry ("al dente" is perhaps not understood in Finland) and their flight crew will never forgive you if you disturb their reading newspapers or relaxing in the back galley. Meanwhile, filthy toilets are left uncleaned with staff not even prepared to close the door after inconsiderate passengers have left them open. Requesting a top up of their precious Nordic blueberry juice is even met with cold frowns that would freeze you to death. No, no no!
Are you saying you find it odd that AF use a 777 to the Middle East? You've left me confused.
"It’s common for flights to depart behind schedule, or unofficially leave a few minutes early. Not on Etihad."
I had this happen to me last week out of India (HYD) with Etihad. We pushed back 15 minutes early and were in the air a few minutes before the scheduled departure time. First time for every thing: early departure, great cabin crew, good food, smooth flight, very early arrival in AUH!
Nice review, Daniel!
Thanks for the nice review, Daniel! I enjoy this series a lot. It's pretty unique content in the aviation blogging world.
Also great to see the catty old queens who hiss at everyone slightly acquainted to Lucky seem to have missed this post. I guess it actually paid off to call them out.
Daniel,
Thank you very much for this good thorough review including plentiful and excellent pictures.
I'm retired and ever ready to travel...except not so much any more. What was once a pleasure -- even sometimes enchanting -- is now seldom acceptable with less than business class. More and more I find that "economy" is misery. Airlines have made it a self-service grind of overcrowding where passengers are likely to be tripped up at any time for not following often unclear DIY procedures.
Despite assiduous FF mile gathering I am always on the lookout for survivable economy opportunities. Scrut the brut de brut, I want comfortable seats, less constricted breathing space and just plain humane treatment -- hard and soft product in their terms, human decency in mine.
Your excellent review provided me with a lot of information and impressions to work with.
Daniel. A rare treat to get an economy class review. You are dead-on about the human crowds at these middle eastern hubs. I had the same "bathroom" issue flying from DBX, on Emirates, about five years ago.