Etihad’s A380s arguably feature the world’s most stunning and revolutionary first class product, with their First Class Apartments. I was lucky enough to be on Etihad’s first A380 flight from Abu Dhabi to London, and subsequently on their first ever A380 flight from Abu Dhabi to New York.
I was excited to experience the A380 flying in the other direction, from New York to Abu Dhabi. In this installment I’ll focus a bit less on the seat (since I’ve covered it in great detail before), and a bit more on the flight itself.
Etihad 102
New York (JFK) – Abu Dhabi (AUH)
Saturday, December 26
Depart: 2:30PM
Arrive: 12:15PM (+1 day)
Duration: 12hr45min
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Seat: 3A (First Class Apartment)
We boarded through the upper deck door, which is located between the first and business class cabins. We were escorted to the left, into the stunning first class cabin. Even though this is a widebody, there’s a single aisle in the first class cabin, which makes the cabin feel that much more special.
Etihad A380 First Class Apartments
In this case I was booked in seat 3A, Ford was booked in seat 2H, and Matt was booked in seat 5H. I’ve written a post in the past about what I consider to be the best Etihad A380 First Class Apartments, so see that post for more. If you’re traveling with someone you’ll ideally want 3A & 4A, 3K & 4K, or 1H & 2H, due to them being connected. But we booked last minute, so we took what we could get.
Words can’t really do justice to how gorgeous the Etihad A380 First Class Apartment is, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Etihad A380 First Class Apartment, 3A
Etihad A380 First Class Apartment, 3A
Etihad A380 First Class Apartment, 3A
Since I was in seat 3A, I was in a rear facing window seat. The seats in the cabin alternate between being forward facing and rear facing, and also between being closer to the aisle and closer to the window.
Etihad First Class Apartment seat
View from my Etihad A380 First Class Apartment
Two rows in front of me was The Residence, Etihad’s famous three room suite with butler service. It was empty on this flight, as I find to be the norm.
Etihad’s A380 The Residence
Funny enough, seated in front of me was American Airlines guru JonNYC. This wasn’t planned at all, but rather we just connected the dots once we were both seated. Small world!
Once settled in, we were individually welcomed aboard by the onboard chef (from South Africa), food & beverage manager (from Portugal), and flight attendant (from India) who would be taking care of us.
Hugo, the food & beverage manager, quickly came by to offer us pre-departure beverages. Since the First Class Apartments are so big, all three of us sat in one “apartment” while we had drinks. We had champagne, which was served with hot towels, dates, and a welcome aboard note from the cabin manager.
Etihad first class pre-departure champagne
Cheers!
Shortly thereafter we were offered slippers and pajamas for the flight.
Etihad first class pajamas & slippers
While Etihad’s pajamas are fairly plain, they’re also quite comfortable.
Etihad first class pajamas & slippers
About 15 minutes after we settled in, Chef Gareth came by to present us with the menus for the flight. He returned about 15 minutes later to take orders. Unfortunately they had already run out of biryani by the time they took our orders. Fortunately there’s a ton of stuff on Etihad’s menu, so there’s no shortage of options.
At around 12:50PM (20 minutes after scheduled departure) the captain came on the PA to welcome everyone aboard and wish us a merry Christmas. He informed us there was a slight delay due to flow control, and that the delay could last another half an hour or so. He informed us of our flight time of 12hr5min, and promised to do everything he could to get us an arrival as close to on-time as possible.
Fortunately the crew did a great job keeping our champagne glasses nice and full throughout the delay, so we were happy to be spending more time on Etihad’s gorgeous A380.
Finally at around 3:20PM we began our pushback, 50 minutes behind schedule. All nine First Class Apartments were occupied.
We pushed next to an EL AL 747, Virgin Atlantic A340, and Emirates A380 (at last Virgin was in the middle in this case — I always chuckle when I see EL AL and Emirates parked immediately next to one another).
Terminal 4 JFK traffic
As we taxied the safety video began to play, starting with the typical travel prayer.
It was about 30 minutes from when we pushed back until we took off.
Taxiing JFK Airport
It took about five minutes for us to start up our engines, the taxi out to runway 4L took about 15 minutes, and from there we had about a 10 minute wait before we were cleared for takeoff.
Queuing for takeoff JFK Airport
Number three for takeoff JFK Airport
Eventually we were cleared onto the runway, and immediately began our takeoff roll.
Taking off JFK Airport
Taking off JFK Airport
It was a fairly long takeoff roll, as you might expect, and a very smooth climb out of JFK.
Taking off JFK Airport
View after takeoff from JFK
View after takeoff from JFK
While it wasn’t the nicest day below the clouds, it was gorgeous above, as is the norm.
View on our climb out
15 minutes after takeoff the meal service began. The menu read as follows:
The beverage list read as follows:
I just want to note how brilliant Etihad’s menu is overall. I love the fact that they have such a customizable menu, where you can select your protein, sides, sauces, etc. Assuming they don’t run out of options, it’s fantastic to have this sort of flexibility.
Hugo told us to let him know when we were ready to eat. After our time in the lounge and extended ground delay we were feeling rather, ahem, refreshed, so decided to have the meal right away so we could nap.
We asked Hugo if we could all dine in one “apartment,” which he agreed to. “I’ve served two people in one before, but three will be a new challenge. I’m up for it.”
We were first brought three trays with our champagne glasses, along with mixed nuts, olives, and veggie crisps.
Etihad first class drink service
Etihad first class snacks
I appreciate that in first class Etihad brings out the glasses, and then brings out the bottle, at which point they serve you.
Champagne… champagne for everyone!
At that point it came time for our tables to be set, which was a fun challenge for Hugo.
Efficient table setting in the Etihad First Class Apartment
We were offered a selection from the breadbasket — I selected pretzel and garlic bread.
Etihad first class bread — garlic & pretzel bread
We were offered a delicious amuse bouche, consisting of salmon.
Etihad first class dinner service — amuse bouche
As a starter I ordered the Arabic mezze, which tasted great, though I really think Etihad could work on the presentation a bit. It’s not that the chef did a bad job or anything, but that’s just the standard way they serve it nowadays.
Etihad first class dinner starter — Arabic mezze
Ford had the red lentil soup.
Etihad first class dinner starter — red lentil soup
Meanwhile Matt had the smoked duck breast.
Etihad first class dinner starter — smoked duck breast
After the appetizers we were offered a yuzu sorbet as a palate cleanser, which was refreshing.
Etihad first class palate cleanser — yuzu sorbet
For the main course I ordered the grilled halibut with green beans and mixed vegetables, which was accompanied by garlic and herb butter.
Etihad first class dinner main course — halibut
Ford ordered chicken breast with green beans and mixed vegetables, served with tomato sauce.
Etihad first class dinner main course — chicken breast
Matt had the beef tenderloin with green beans and mixed vegetables, served with bearnaise sauce.
Etihad first class dinner main course — beef tenderloin
All three mains were fantastic. You’ve gotta love how customizable Etihad makes their meals. I can’t think of any other airline where you can just about custom order any main course.
We were quite full at this point, so just ordered a dessert taster to share, which included warm lemon pudding, berry jelly, and white chocolate yogurt cake. All three were delicious.
Etihad first class dinner — dessert sampler
The meal was done about two hours into the flight, and service throughout was fantastic. Despite some turbulence and confined space on the one tray we were sharing, the crew did a great job taking care of us.
After that it was bed time, as we were hoping to be somewhat well rested for Abu Dhabi the following day.
The crew did a fabulous job with the turndown service. Does this look like an inviting place to sleep on a plane, or what?
Etihad A380 First Class Apartment turndown service
Etihad A380 First Class Apartment turndown service
I got a solid four hours of sleep, and woke up over Spain.
View enroute to Abu Dhabi
We were just reaching the halfway point of our flight.
Progress to Abu Dhabi
Okay, I may have had one or two too many glasses of champagne between the lounge and flight, so I woke up feeling thirsty. Very, very, very thirsty. Five bottles of water later, I was feeling much better.
The thirst is real…
Ford woke up around the same time, though Matt slept almost the whole way to Abu Dhabi. To deal with our mild hangover, we decided to have a snack.
Snack time in Etihad first class
I ordered the leek and mushroom quiche, which was great.
Etihad snack — leek and mushroom quiche
Ford ordered the watercress soup to start, and then grilled chicken once again as his main.
Etihad snack — watercress soup
Etihad snack — grilled chicken breast
At this point we were feeling much better, so we headed back to The Lobby, located between first & business class. It’s a cool space, though as a first class passenger doesn’t serve all that much of a purpose, given how big each suite is. Nonetheless we sat there for a while chatting.
The Lobby on the Etihad A380
I ordered a cappuccino while in The Lobby, along with an apricot and almond tart.
Etihad snack — cappuccino accompanied by apricot and almond tart
After that I decided to nap a bit longer. When I returned to my seat I was impressed to find that the crew had refreshed my suite without me asking.
Turndown service once again!
I managed to nap for about an hour, and then decided to shower. Showering on a plane never gets old, so as usual I giggled throughout most of the five minute shower in pure amazement at being able to shower on a plane. I still think that Etihad’s shower isn’t quite as nice as the one offered by Emirates on the A380. Though that’s perhaps the ultimate first world comparison.
Etihad A380 first class shower
While I didn’t watch any TV shows or movies on this flight, I did enjoy watching the tail camera, because at this point we were flying straight towards the sun.
Tail camera enroute to Abu Dhabi
I ordered a coffee to try and wake up a bit more, and it was served with some baklava.
Etihad first class coffee and baklava
Soon enough we were about 90 minutes out of Abu Dhabi, so the crew came around to see if we wanted anything to eat.
Tail camera enroute to Abu Dhabi
I wasn’t in a breakfast mood, really, but did order an afternoon tea selection with English breakfast tea.
Etihad first class afternoon tea
Etihad first class afternoon tea
This consisted of a couple of small sandwiches, along with two scones, served with cream and fresh strawberries.
Etihad first class afternoon tea — sandwiches
The only thing which could have been better is if they served actual clotted cream, rather than just cream.
Etihad first class afternoon tea — scones
Matt woke up around this time and took a picture of his breakfast, which included fresh fruit and scrambled eggs.
Etihad first class fresh fruit
Etihad first class scrambled eggs
Soon enough we were in the final stretch of our journey, slowly approaching Bahrain.
Airshow enroute to Abu Dhabi
Airshow enroute to Abu Dhabi
Airshow enroute to Abu Dhabi
Around this time, the captain came on the PA to provide us with updated arrival information. He anticipated we would land at around 12:55PM, which was 40 minutes after our scheduled arrival time.
Airshow enroute to Abu Dhabi
The crew handed out fast track arrival cards, and slowly began preparing the cabin for landing.
Fast track landing card for Abu Dhabi
The seatbelt sign was turned on at around 12:40PM, as we could start to see the coast of the UAE.
View on approach into Abu Dhabi
As usual, the coastal areas are actually quite beautiful, while further inland the landscape is a bit less inspiring.
View on approach into Abu Dhabi
View on approach into Abu Dhabi
View on approach into Abu Dhabi
View on final approach into Abu Dhabi
Finally at 12:55PM we had a smooth touchdown in Abu Dhabi, and a 15 minute taxi to the gate.
Taxiing Abu Dhabi
Taxiing Abu Dhabi
One of the benefits of flying the A380 is that you’ll almost always get a gate, while most other Etihad planes park at remote stands. We pulled up to the terminal at 1:10PM.
Taxiing Abu Dhabi
Pulling into gate at Abu Dhabi Airport
I was impressed by the number of cleaners standing on the apron waiting for us to deplane so they could clean the plane.
Cleaners waiting for our arrival
Etihad First Class Apartment bottom line
This was another fantastic flight on Etihad. It’s especially fun when you have three of the nine seats for your party. Etihad’s A380 first class hard product is unlike any other in the world.
As far as Etihad’s soft product goes, I love the variety of dishes they have, so you can truly customize your meal however you’d like. This crew was fantastic as well, and was attentive and friendly.
This was probably one of my top 10 most fun flights ever!
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.