The Etihad Business Class Experience: London to Abu Dhabi on the A350 and 787

Index to Genius1 Trip Reports

Back in late January last year I flew Etihad for the first time, on the carrier’s flagship route between London and their home base of Abu Dhabi. Since then, the airline has introduced a new soft product in collaboration with Armani on all routes (which commenced in December 2022 but didn’t make it to the London route until later in 2023), and of course has switched its hub operations to the new Terminal A at AUH in November last year. What follows is therefore a slightly retro look at Etihad’s Business Class product, but I hope is useful nonetheless.

Ahead in this report:
• Etihad First and Business Class Lounge at LHR
• LHR-AUH in Etihad Business Class on the A350-1000
• Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island
• Etihad Business Class Lounge at AUH T3
• AUH-LHR in Etihad Business Class on the 787-9



LHR-AUH

It was an early start as my Uber pulled up at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 and I headed to check in at Zone C. There was no queue at either of the two Business Class desks, and I was soon through Fast Track security and heading right in the direction of Gate 10, opposite which is the entrance to the Etihad lounge, one level below that of the gates. Opened in 2009 in the space of the former BA First lounge, the lounge was briefly a third party lounge between 2018 and its pandemic closure in 2020, before Etihad brought the lounge back in-house when they moved back to T4 post-pandemic in 2022. This is one of only three remaining outstation Etihad lounges worldwide, the others both being Chase-managed facilities at JFK and IAD.





For a 13+ year-old facility at the time of this visit, the lounge was in pretty good shape thanks in part to a partial refresh of furniture over the years, although the basic design is undeniably dated. The entrance to the lounge is via a spiral staircase or lift, with luggage storage available to the left of the reception desk. I was pleased to find I was only the second person in the lounge that morning to be welcomed by the friendly staff, meaning ample opportunity for a full photo tour.









The lounge opens out from reception to the main seating area, with a spaceship-like family room (or pod) immediately on the right and a variety of armchairs, high-back chairs and a single sofa beyond. Some of the furniture here looks a little cheap and out of place – in particular the high-back chairs and round tables between them. The lounge-facing wall of the curved family room is lined with shelving, on which are various pieces of art together with a few Etihad aircraft models. A second shelving partition creates a quiet seating area (or ‘library’) in the far corner.



















Washrooms can be accessed through sliding doors either side of the TV, with separate male and female prayer rooms along to the right of the washroom corridor, and three showers to the left. Until 2017, a Six Senses Spa occupied part of the shower area, although the three rooms that were once used for massages appear to now be used for storage. The design of the washrooms is quite moody, with ample use of dark-coloured mosaic and black marble wall and floor tiling. Amenities are unbranded. The shower rooms have a slightly lighter colour scheme with sandstone-coloured tiling, although a variant of the mosaic does make an appearance in the basin splashback.









On the other side of the lounge’s central curved dividing wall is a tended bar and – in what was formerly the Business Class dining area – additional armchair seating, including banquette seating. There’s a self-service water station here too with two flavours of infused water. The view from this part of the lounge and that from the previous lounge space is through an internal gate corridor to one of T4’s taxiways beyond – not exactly spectacular, but better than nothing. The lounge’s age shows not only in the design but in the lack of power sockets – the only ones readily accessible are at the bar.











The final section of the lounge features a well-stocked buffet and – in what was formerly the First Class lounge area – dining table seating, including an à la carte menu accessed via QR code. There’s no gate corridor to block the view here, although the gate infrastructure doesn’t make the view much better. When I visited for breakfast, there was an attractive range of pastries, cereal, yogurt, whole and cut fruit, salad, cold meat and cheese and hot dishes.















A sliding glass door in the corner is the entrance to a dedicated lounge and dining area for passengers travelling in the Residence on the A380 and other invited VVIP passengers. There used to be a business centre here too, although this seems to have been removed when the original VVIP room was expanded to cater for Residence passengers when that product was introduced with the A380 in 2014.

Once I’d finished with photos I was offered a drink at my seat by the proactive waiting team, a level of service which continued in the dining area. I found the height of the tables versus the chairs to be a little ill-matched, but this didn’t stop me from enjoying my eggs royale (ordered from the à la carte menu) with a couple of items from the buffet. The lounge was almost too quiet – some classical background music would’ve been welcome to set a more relaxing tone, as would slightly dimmer overhead lighting in places.









I found the Etihad lounge at LHR to be a relaxing experience certainly at the higher end of business class lounges in terms of food offering and service, although it is undeniably a dated space in need of refurbishment to remain competitive with the likes of Qatar Airways just down the concourse.

Boarding that morning was conveniently at Gate 10 just across from the lounge. This is one of four A380-capable gates at T4, although our flight today would be on A6-XWB, the airline’s first A350-1000 which first flew in 2019 but was delivered to Etihad in 2021, finally entering service in 2022. Two airbridges were in use, with Business Class passengers boarding through Door 1L into the 11-row single Business Class cabin sporting Etihad’s latest product based around the familiar Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat, with a door.









My seat (7A) was in the third row, and was set with a geometric-patterned cushion, an Aqua di Parma amenity kit and Etihad-branded hygiene kit (the latter still apparently being a thing in early 2023). A blanket was placed on the footrest, and the menu (with inserted wine card) was found in the literature pocket at shoulder height adjacent to an attractive mood light (the safety card being housed in the lower literature pocket).

Headphones were stored in one of the two storage compartments in the side ledge, with an additional storage compartment available at lower level that was also home to rather hidden USB-A and -C ports. Wireless charging is built into the side ledge and worked well. The armrest opened to reveal a bottle of Alain drinking (not mineral) water – somewhat cheap for a supposedly premium airline.





There are no overhead air vents, and the window blinds are manual rather than the electronic versions you’ll find on many A350s. The finish of the seat was smart and – unlike BA’s Club Suite which is based on the same platform – felt high quality, with plenty of muted gold trim and faux marble – elegant without being ostentatious (Emirates, I’m looking at you).

Pre-departure drinks choices of champagne, orange juice, water or lemon mint were offered from a tray along with a proper hot towel – great to see when the likes of Qatar Airways have switched to packaged wet towels pre-departure. The Cabin Manager welcomed each Business Class passenger individually and took post-takeoff drinks orders as a 6h20 flight time was announced by our captain.





After takeoff I checked out the washrooms, of which there are two either side of the forward galley for Business Class passengers. Whilst the fitout was smart with Etihad’s trademark pattern projected in light and copious use of black along with a mosaic-effect splashback and flooring, there were no special amenities that you might otherwise expect. They were also not kept particularly clean during the flight, and the paper towels were rough.





The Acqua di Parma amenity kit contained body lotion, eau de cologne, a dental kit, socks and an eye mask, but no lip balm. The separate hygiene kit contained two sanitising wipes, hand gel and – that most useful of travel companions – a snood. I have no idea why anybody would wear one of those, let alone in Etihad Business Class.









Shortly after takeoff from Runway 27R at Heathrow my chosen post-takeoff drink of mint tea was served. This was smartly presented on a tray along with a chocolate, fresh mint and (cold) nuts. Lunch orders were taken at the same time, with service commencing around 90 minutes afterwards. Whilst Etihad’s Dine Anytime concept wasn’t proactively offered, the service was quite well timed for a flight departing at 09:00.















The Arabic mezze was my chosen starter, accompanied by a Bellini. The table setup was smart, although the use of trays was something I wouldn’t have expected from Etihad – and something which has persisted in the Armani/Casa new concept soft product. I’m not sure why the bread to accompany the mezze was served in a plastic wrap, and the mezze itself was somewhat forgettable. The bread plate and cutlery was notably trendy though.







For my main course, the reasonably unimaginative roasted chicken breast was filling and of decent quality, if a little small in portion size. The crew brought fresh cutlery in a paper pouch when serving each course.





Both the cheese and my chosen dessert of apple crumble were served together whilst I was in the washroom; this was slightly annoying as normally I’d eat cheese followed by dessert, but I had to switch the order on this occasion given the hot dessert. The crumble was great, and the cheese was nicely presented but took some time to be cleared once finished.







A cappuccino completed lunch, served with a sweet.



Etihad’s E-BOX IFE system is pretty comprehensive, and on the A350 at least is responsive with the useful ability to view both the map and other content side by side. During the flight I watched two films (forgettable One Way and classic The Bodyguard) and an episode of Family Guy on the 18.5-inch touchscreen. A survey appeared automatically on the IFE towards the end of the flight. Chargeable wifi is available, although is data capped on even the most expensive plan.









As we neared Abu Dhabi I ordered Etihad’s famous steak sandwich from the all-day menu. I’m not quite sure what the fuss is about as this was ungenerous in its filling to the point that it was more bread than anything else.



Fast Track immigration cards were handed out to all terminating passengers as descent began.



The less said about the AUH arrival experience the better. Whilst we did at least get an airbridge gate (something of a rarity prior to the opening of Terminal A), the gate was at Terminal 1, the oldest part of the airport, which meant multiple level changes were required to reach immigration, which was cramped and seemingly half closed. The promised Fast Track was poorly signed and not well staffed, which resulted in some queueing before being permitted entry to the UAE.

Post-baggage reclaim it was a short walk to the Etihad Chauffeur lounge (the design of which matched that of the T3 Business Class lounges), from where we were escorted to our waiting car at the front of the terminal. Chauffeurs are complimentary to all Residence, First Class and selected Business Class passengers (those on Comfort or Deluxe fares), but must be pre-booked.