Etihad has got its groove back…I enjoyed a fabulous flight onboard the new Airbus A350-1000 in business class from Istanbul to Abu Dhabi and am happy to report that all hope is not lost for the troubled airline.
Etihad Airways A350-1000 Business Class – My First Impressions
Etihad made a number of bad investments and struggled in the years leading up to the pandemic. During the pandemic, it sidelined its flagship A380 aircraft and many of us wondered if the glory days were forever over.
I am pleased to report that I had not just a good, but an amazing flight onboard a brand new A350 jet which fully restores my confidence in the Abu Dhabi-based carrier.
Service was over-the-top good…the lovely Amalia was a gem, providing gracious, attentive, and professional service throughout the flight and working harder than I’ve ever seen a flight attendant work (Etihad offers meal on an on-demand basis in business class).
Both Amalia and Olija were among the kindest flight attendants I have ever had the pleasure of flying with.
The new A350 cabin is really beautiful…I’d even call it stunning. The A350-1000 is one big and spacious premium cabin between doors one and two, with closed-door suites and little touches like lamps and a lack of center overhead bins that make it look so classy. I love the color scheme and find this perhaps the most beautiful business class cabin in the world.
The seat is also very comfortable and suite quite convenient with wireless mobile phone charging and high-speed USB-A and USB-C chargers. High speed wi-fi is also provisioned onboard.
I love the mood lighting as well.
I chose to eat lunch after takeoff and was treated to a delightful multi-course feast, including Arabic mezze, curry butter crusted sea bass, fresh fruit, and finally vanilla mousse aseeda with cappuccino. A delicious meal that was also beautifully presented.
CONCLUSION
My only regret is that the Istanbul – Abu Dhabi flight only four hours…I look forward to going out of my way to fly this aircraft on a longhaul flight.
There’s a lot more to share about this flight. I’ll have further details on the service, menu, IFE, and other amenities in my full review.
It’s rare you’ll get a smile out of me, but this flight really made me happy.
I have had four flights on Etihad in the past two months and found them to be exceptional. Service was polished and food was very good. Not quite Qatar level but not horribly far off. I do believe they will emerge a much better carrier in the coming few years. If the new terminal at AUH opens, even better.
With that, I am really shocked that last week Ben at OMAAT oddly stated in a post that “Etihad is now a LCC.” How in the world did he come up with that?
I can’t speak to the Y product, but the J product is quite premium and now I want to book the 789 in F!
I flew it to IAD and it was a very nice flight. No, it’s not EK F with all the bells and whistles, but it was certainly comfortable and a most enjoyable flight.
Ben has lost touch with reality IMO.
Looking forward to the read. I’ve read a fair bit of less than flattering things about Etihad’s business class and would like your thoughts on how much difference the A350 makes in the experience.
I’ve never had a bad flight on Etihad, but was not all that impressed by the A330 and especially the A320 in business class (especially when compared to Qatar). But this flight really has made me an Etihad fan once again.
Would like to try it, but I have no real desire to go to Abu Dhabi as an end destination, so it will have to be something like a JFK->AUH>SE Asia. This is also my problem with Qatar and Doha.
Even if they had a TATL 5th freedom flight or something similar, I don’t think the 7hr flight is enough to fully enjoy these things.
Jan, I actually took a rest stop in Abu Dhabi for a few days in May to kiteboard and found it to be far more interesting and pleasurable than Dubai (as an example). The museums were incredible, great hotels, restaurants and the beaches were really lovely…much better than other areas of the UAE. While I wouldn’t consider it for a two week vacation, it certainly made for a wonderful 4 day stopover between Oz and the U.S. Oh, and the Park Hyatt is one of my top 5 PH’s in the world. And is a vast step up from the tired PH in Dubai. Do consider at least a few days stopover to enjoy it.
I don’t not believe you, as I heard the same about Abu Dhabi, but ultimately I’ll have to weigh in if booking EY to east/SE Asia is worth it compared to opting for a more direct (and also) fantastic airline like an ANA or SQ F,
Agreed. ANA over anything in my book. But I’m finding t-pac flights really difficult the past two months for redemptions in F. Living in DC though it’s not that much of a stretch to route via the M/E where I am finding much more as of late to S/E Asia. Oman Air from BKK-LHR in F was my latest using Aeroplan and was really fun. Alas, no time for a stopover in Oman as I really want to spend some time there.
Matthew, why do you wear a blazer when flying?
Because I like to.
Blazer? Looks more like a frumpy, poorly fitted smock. Matthew – you love to talk about your new “diet”. Maybe time to invest in some updated clothing to show off that svelte new physique!
I’m actually working on a post on this – don’t recall mentioning it recently, but all my clothes are now too big for me.
I’m in the same position. Lost 25lbs through quite a bit of effort and now nothing fits properly. Have to say, it’s a very nice problem to have.
Because he is a wanker, have your read his writing?
For me Etihad live in a different universe to the other ME airlines and are up there with Singapore and Cathay as the best in the business. I love F on the A380 – more so than F on the Singapore A380 and part of that is because Ethihad staff have personality and warmth in a way that Singapore girl lacks it.
The A350 does look great and really pushes their 789s into second place or less than that. It would be nice to see them bring many more A350s on stream and sideline the 789 to secondary routes but sadly, I don’t see it happening.
I really want to travel with this airline to any develop country for a holiday when I’m on my leaves. And you routing Namibia-United States of America ..
Etihad does not serve Windhoek. Maybe try Qatar Airways via Doha, which is also excellent?
I still rate etihad f as my best flight ever.
Although the j leaves a lot to be desired on certain routes. Ie ord to Doha. It’s an old 787 and it’s really sub par.
You mean AUH?
Yes sorry. AUH.
I haven’t flown them since pre Covid and it looks like they are using an a350 now on this route.
Enjoyed 4 Etihad flights in this year but mostly in the older but still comfortable business product. The service was exemplary and the food was pretty good with excellent presentation.
The only possible negatives I think prospective passengers ought to consider are:
1) Etihad business cabins tend to be full since they auction available seats
2) It’s not fun arriving at Abu Dhabi at midnight when it’s still sticky and hot
3) All but the first & final flights required bussing to planes.
4) Not all Etihad lounges are open yet so they will gift 3,000 miles to their FFP.
Yes, I also encountered the closed lounge in AUH. So annoying.
What alternative did they give you (if any)?
I used that fairly drab Abu Dhabi Lounge in the old terminal.
great writeup. I used to be a huge fan of etihad but sadly their entire service has crumbled on two flights I took last month it was sad. they have the money for hard product but neglect the soft product. just waiting for the EK merger
It’s now being operated to ORD and JFK! Such good news!
I’m flying AUH-CAI in a few weeks, but it’s unfortunately on an A321. Hopefully the service and food will be good. My other options were MS or a connection in DOH on QR, which would have been worth it for regional F benefits, but the flight times sucked.
I’d be so tempted to do QR just for Al Safwa. Will be publishing an updated review as part of the trip reports and I really love that lounge.
I don’t get the gushing over “lack of center overhead bins that make it look so classy.” No bins means you might not have easy access to your stuff. Lemme guess, you like to close the door to feel more claustrophobic to counteract the open feeling of having no center bins?
I’m not a big fan of doors, so no, your hypothesis is incorrect:
https://liveandletsfly.com/business-class-doors/
Sorry, I used ‘you’ but intended to address all of those who vexingly embrace this dichotomy, Schlappig included.
Why do you write first impressions, I often find they ruin the full review when it comes out and wouldn’t it beore efficient to only write full reviews or do you FI because they target a different audience, say one from Google searches rather than longtime readers ?
First impressions are far better trafficked than my real reviews. It seems people have short attention spans, but in their defense these mini-reviews distill down the essentials. So I write first impressions for my audience and then I write the full trip report for myself, so that I have a memory of the flight and because I enjoy doing it. It’s not exactly a money-maker in terms of time spent, but my detailed trip reports are the heart of this blog, at least from my view. Sadly, most people seem to prefer the shorter reviews. Plus, I can get the first impressions posts written more quickly, as my backlog of trip reports means that trip reports are often running late (hopefully not stale or moldy) by the time the full reviews are actually published. Like this whole monster trip to the Middle East is going to be the largest trip report series ever written on LALF. But it’s going to take a ton of time.
So first impressions are essentially like what the ”clickbait” or Credit card posts are to LALL or omaat respectively, but with reviews.
You should cover more aviation news if you enjoy writing it as your take is different enjoyable reading.
You don’t have to read the “first impression” posts…
You write the best reviews. I only have one request: Please inform the reader of whether the airline and/or airport and/or lounge forces the customer to wear a mask. This is an important consideration. I avoid all entities and places where masks are mandatory, if at all possible.
Fair enough. I’ll start doing so in the full reports. Yes, masks were required on this flight. I removed mine briefly for the picture.
Can you also detail how you booked the flight? Cash? Miles? If miles, what program did you use?
Was in Egypt. Booked via Aeroplan as part of a larger itinerary. Details to come.
You really needed to end your post with: ‘This post was proudly sponsored by Etihad.’
But it wasn’t….
Hey Matthew, do the bulkhead (row 5) business class seats have more footwell space?