Etihad Plans Unique High Density Airbus A321LR... With First Class!

the airline is eliminating eight business class seats in order to install 42 more economy seats.

Terrible cabin utilization for business class, J/E space ratio of 1:5.4 is crazy.

I think these will be reconfigured A321NEOs that were previously at Bamboo Airways as when you book any of the AUH-BOM/DEL flights - the aircraft is listed as A321NEO as opposed to the A321LR listed for the other flights such as AUH-BKK/KBV.

Etihad is operating in one of the most competitive markets in the world, which means each player needs have a product that stands out. So the 'cabin utilisation' may had to be sacrificed for that matter, in the region where even Qatar Airways' A320s with Collins Diamond parallel seats are sometimes described as underwhelming.

Etihad A321LRs are probably the best narrow-body aircraft among the ME3, and quite comparable to some wide-body aircraft (and so does the airline use this aircraft for destinations where Emirates and Qatar send wide-bodies).

Let's wait and see where that "middle" bathroom will be situated.
If at all present.

This is the business class seat AA and UA should have installed on their XLRs rather than not listening to 20 years of complaints of pax to VS and NZ they they don't want to face away from the window

The lines between F, J and the proletariat classes are being blurred beyond comprehension.

Agree 100%….and their seats are super narrow too. How do airlines keep making these dumb mistakes?

these will have just token premium cabins but predominantly serve the mass market that flies between the Middle East and S. Asia.

The A321NEO is great for that market; almost 200 seats is a good chunk of what a widebody can carry w/ a product that is not bad for 3-4 hour flights.

The real issue is how long it takes for the Middle East airlines to stabilize from the present war.

Especially with rising fuel prices, the industry will need more-efficient narrowbodies with long-range and premium cabins (including lie-flat), so I say, this is welcome. That said, I'm not sure I'd route via AUH for a while...

It's not a true First Class as there aren't even bulkheads separating the Business Class cabin from First and both cabins share the lavatory... it is simply Etihad making a huge deal about a product that is simply Business Plus

At 38" and 2ab, removing 8 J gives space for only 30 Y seats at 6ab and 30".
The missing 12 seats likely come from the elimination of the pair of middle bathrooms and reduction of rear galley, illustrating the shorter haul scope. At 1:10 toilet/pax the front bathroom can serve the totality of the premium cabins. With 2 additional "Airspace" rear galley bathrooms Y would be at 1:62. Etihad sure wants to compete vs Indigo in Y.

>We’ve heard Etihad’s current management team suggest that they’d eventually like to have first class on all aircraft, though I haven’t heard any concrete plans

I'd make a guess that in future refurbishment of their 787/A350 aircraft, they will just create extra space by removing storage boxes from the bulkhead seats and make "First class" similar to A321LR so basically Business Suite with First class soft product.

Has the author ever been to the USA? This is only strange in your region. This is common industry economics. This setup is common on US domestic flights (except JetBlue). US carriers have a completely different look on international flights - depending on where you fly. Domestically, first and business seats were not in booths until JetBlue changed the practice. As for the seats facing the window, it'll be difficult to get an incapacitated person out (facing away from the window has better ingress/egress). Besides, having the window over your shoulder makes it easier to read the menu.

What are you talking about, dude?

The defining characteristic of "true First Class" is the SOFT PRODUCT, which (as clearly mentioned in the article) these aircraft will offer.

Hard product doesn't mean squat.

By your "logic," BA offers "true first" to its secondary US destinations like Nashville and New Orleans, since the aircraft it usually flies there have separate F seats and separate F bulkheads, despite the fact that they only offer Club soft service.