During my current wild review trip, I had the chance to check out Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A. This is Abu Dhabi’s new terminal, which opened as of November 2023, and it’s an exciting addition, as the home of Etihad Airways.
Previously, one of the downsides of traveling with Etihad was that Abu Dhabi Airport was kind of dumpy, but that’s no longer the case.
In this post I wanted to share my thoughts on the new terminal. All-in-all, I’m really impressed — the terminal has stunning architecture and is easy to navigate, though don’t expect any amenities that will blow you away.
The basics of Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A
Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A (initially referred to as the Midfield Terminal) has been a long time coming. Construction on the terminal started back in 2012, but the project stalled for an extended period of time, as Etihad underwent a business transformation.
With Etihad once again trying to grow sustainably and establish itself as a premium airline, we finally saw the new terminal open in late 2023.
Abu Dhabi Airport’s new Terminal A is 780,000 square meters (around 8.4 million square feet), and can handle 11,000 passengers per hour, plus 79 planes simultaneously. The terminal has 49 numbered gates, though that doesn’t account for remote stands, and also doesn’t account for some gates being able to accommodate two smaller planes at once.
Abu Dhabi Terminal A is able to serve up to 45 million passengers per year. For the time being, all flights at Abu Dhabi Airport are departing from the new Terminal A. Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 have been closed, though if demand increases in the future, we could see the reopening of Terminal 3.
Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A layout & design
Below you can see a map of Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A (thanks to “merely another passerby” for creating this, since there aren’t otherwise any maps of the terminal that I’ve seen). As you can see below, the terminal has one main central area, and then there are four wings with gates.
I do find the whole naming and numbering convention to be illogical. The airport terminals used to have numbers (Terminal 1 & Terminal 3), and now have letters (Terminal A). It’s weird to name the terminal after a letter, and then also have different parts of the terminal named after letters. So Terminal A has the A gates, B gates, C, gates, and D gates, which just seems unnecessarily confusing. Maybe that’s just me, though.
Anyway, Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A has gorgeous architecture, in particular in the central airside area that connects all of the gate areas. What I love about the terminal is that it feels quite grand, without feeling overwhelmingly large. It’s not like Istanbul Airport in terms of scale, so it still feels like a boutique hub.
Thanks to the terminal having a larger central areas and then smaller individual piers, it’s never too far to get from the central security checkpoint (whether departing from Abu Dhabi or in transit) to any gate, which is great.
In comparison to the huge central area, the individual piers with gates are quite narrow. They have moving sidewalks in one direction only (which is fair enough, because unless you’re walking just to explore the terminal, there’s never a need to go in the other direction on the departures level.).
The terminal has a wide variety of seating options, beyond just your typical cluster of chairs in gate areas, which I’m sure passengers without lounge access appreciate.
Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A amenities & features
Aside from pretty architecture, Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A doesn’t have any standout features, in my opinion. There are no waterfalls, or movie theaters, or multi-million dollar teddy bears, or butterfly gardens. One thing that stood out to me is that the general shopping and dining didn’t seem as high-end and extensive as at some of the other Gulf hubs, like Doha Hamad Airport.
Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I always question the economics of high-end outlets at airports, when many premium passengers have lounge access, and therefore are less likely to visit restaurants in terminals, and are less likely to just stroll around and visit stores.
Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A seems to have a fairly limited selection of dining options, most of which are consolidated on the upper level in the central part of the terminal.
For example, there’s a “Food Park,” with a TGI Fridays, Burger King, and Texas Chicken.
As far as shopping goes, the airport does have some luxury brands, but not as many as you’ll find in other airports.
Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A lounges
I’ll be writing full reviews of these lounges in the near future, but Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A has two sets of lounge options. For Etihad passengers, there’s the Etihad First & Business Lounge. This lounge is spread across three floors, and is massive.
The layout of the lounge is unconventional, though I’m not necessarily sure I mind. In terms of proportions, this has to be the longest and narrowest lounge in the world. It seems like when the terminal was designed, lounges were almost considered as an afterthought, because the space dedicated to lounges is unlike what I’ve seen at any other airport.
There’s a dedicated Etihad First Lounge, which is pretty and has great a la carte dining, but otherwise doesn’t have any standout features.
Then the Etihad Business Lounge has quite a few amenities, including multiple dining areas, a beautiful bar, a relaxation area, showers, and much more.
One other great improvement is that there are a few gates that offer direct boarding from the lounge, and A380 and other premium flights typically get these gates.
Personally I think the new business class lounge is a big improvement over the old one, both in terms of capacity and design. Meanwhile I’m not sure I feel the same way about the first class lounge. The new first class lounge doesn’t have a bar, doesn’t have a gym, and has much less impressive VIP rooms. It does otherwise have an elegant design, though.
The terminal’s other lounge is the Pearl Lounge, which is the contract lounge for all other airlines, and it’s also open to Priority Pass members. While I wouldn’t say it’s amazing, it does have a nice terrace area, and is quite large, so it’s good by Priority Pass standards.
I’d say the biggest shortcoming of the new terminal is that there’s not yet a transit hotel, as that’s always a useful feature for an extended layover. Does anyone know if there are plans for a transit hotel in the future? I Haven’t heard anything, though it does seem like there are some multi-story structures in the terminal with windows. Does anyone know if these are just offices, or what?
Bottom line
Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A finally opened as of November 2023. The terminal is currently the only one in operation at Abu Dhabi Airport, and it’s a game changer for Etihad. Etihad went from having one of the least impressive hubs in the region, to having a beautiful new terminal that’s easy to navigate and beautiful.
While the terminal isn’t going to change your life in terms of the amenities, it has great design, is easy enough to navigate, and the airport is now also less reliant on remote stands, which is also great.
What do you make of Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A?
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