Etihad First Class: What Does The Future Hold?

A lot has changed at Etihad in the past several years — the airline has new management, a new hub terminal, and new aspirations. Etihad management has changed its tune quite a bit over time when it comes to the future of offering first class, so I wanted to look at the latest updates on that.

Etihad’s current first class footprint

We’ve seen airlines take different approaches when it comes to offering international first class (on planes that also have business class). Some airline executives continue to think that there’s a market for first class, while others seem to think that business class is the future, and maybe even a business class plus product.

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When it comes to Etihad’s current fleet, the airline has a first class cabin on a grand total of nine aircraft:

• Etihad offers first class on all four of its Airbus A380s; these were initially supposed to be retired at the start of the pandemic, but the airline made the decision to put them back into service, and they’re expected to stick around until around 2032
• Etihad offers first class on five of its Boeing 787-9s; this makes up only a small percentage of the carrier’s 787 fleet, as the airline already has over 40 of these jets, with nearly 30 more on order

It’s worth noting that over the years, the percentage of the carrier’s fleet with first class has decreased drastically. Back in the day, the airline had first class on some of its A330s, A340s, and 777s, but those planes are no longer flying (Etihad still flies some 777s, but without first class).

Etihad management evolves on first class

In the past decade, Etihad has had three different management teams, with three very different strategies. Looking at the two previous CEOs:

• In the James Hogan era (when Etihad was lighting money on fire), Etihad continued to see value in offering first class on some, but not all, of its aircraft
• In the Tony Douglas era (when Etihad tried to shrink into profitability), Etihad maintained its small first class footprint, but Douglas made it clear that first class had no future at the airline, and the airline instead wanted to offer a great business class product (this is a philosophy Douglas has maintained at Riyadh Air)

Since late 2022, Antonoaldo Neves has been the CEO of Etihad, so how does he feel about the future of first class? Well, per an interview with aeroTELEGRAPH, Neves has simply stated that “first class is an important product for Etihad,” and the airline hasn’t yet decided whether to offer first class on future aircraft deliveries.

Now, the important context here is that “future aircraft deliveries” refers to planes delivered in 2030 and beyond, which are orders that haven’t yet been finalized. Etihad has a bunch of Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s on order, which will be delivered in the coming years, and those won’t feature first class.

However, Etihad plans to eventually order either more Airbus A350-1000s or Boeing 777-9s, as the new long haul flagship aircraft. These are expected in 2030 and beyond, and these are the planes where Etihad may offer first class. These planes would replace A380s, plus the older 787s.

My take on Etihad’s first class plans

It sounds like the current plan is for Etihad’s first class footprint to basically stay the same until 2030 or so. Maybe we’ll see Etihad bring back a couple more A380s, but aside from that, there’s no plan to install first class on any other jets currently on order.

Now, it’s worth acknowledging that this approach could easily change. We see airlines take new directions all the time, whether under the same management team, or a different one. For example, Qatar Airways’ previous CEO insisted that first class was stupid and that it would be discontinued at the airline, while the company’s new CEO is now working on developing a new first class.

Is there a business case to be made for Etihad introducing first class on a more widespread basis? I mean, I’d probably speculate that there isn’t for the most part, at least in a traditional sense:

• Etihad doesn’t actually seem to sell that many first class seats, so I can’t imagine the product is that profitable for the airline
• Part of the issue is probably that those simply connecting in the UAE and flying first class would almost always choose Emirates over Etihad, given that the former offers first class on a vast majority of its aircraft, while the latter doesn’t
• Now, I think there could be merit to a super efficient and boutique first class cabin on some jets, where it’s essentially a decent upsell opportunity from business class with limited opportunity cost; but that doesn’t seem to be the direction Etihad is headed

Bottom line

Etihad’s CEO says that first class is an important product for the airline, but there are no firm plans to expand the cabin’s footprint beyond the nine current jets that have such a cabin (all A380s, plus select 787s). So while the long term future of first class at Etihad is up in the air, that’s already a positive change compared to the previous management team, which insisted that first class was a thing of the past.

I’m curious to see how Etihad’s first class plans evolve…

What do you think the future holds for Etihad first class?