Etihad Airways

Poor service by crew inflight. Looks they are ignoring some customers or not well trained compared to other airlines. Seats were comfortable but bedroll was not available on each seat - you have to ask for it. Food quality was poor when I have already pre registered for food choice. There was no choice available as per normal business class, and it was pre decided same as economy class. The business class Lounge at Brussels airport had little seating space available and not comfortable at all.

Price was good, competition between Middle Eastern airlines has now knocked BA off the radar as far as the Perth - UK regional airports is concerned on both price and flying time. 2 flights rather than 3 flights is far better. Being able to fly directly into regional airports missing out Heathrow is a big plus. Seat comfort not great, then no economy seat is comfortable for 11 hours! I did find the seats very hard and I needed to sit on a pillow. The flight was extremely full - every seat taken, good for the airline but not good for passengers! Food a mixed bag, good dinner on way back but no breakfast served before arrival in Perth instead a chicken dinner meal? Would have preferred a cold breakfast - fruit or just a bread roll option. A potato sandwich was served as a snack before landing in Manchester. The pasta dish was good and the noodle dish was excellent. Ground staff did take a bottle of suntan lotion bought in duty free at Manchester fully sealed in a tamper proof bag with receipt showing, despite being assured by the shop assistant in Manchester that it would not be a problem transiting with it so long as it was in the tamper proof bag. Etihad please communicate with other airports re this if this is your policy! Another point on transiting, I fully understand the need for enhanced security at the gate however once you are in the gate you cannot go out and there is no water available or toilet facilities in the gate. Also better crowd control was needed at Manchester as when announced that rows 1 to 3 could board - literally more than half the passengers stood up and started to queue, despite being told several times not to!

Although the lounge that Etihad uses in Manila is somewhat basic, the service on board the flight more than compensates. The aircraft flown was a 2 class 777 and my only complaint is that the seat is rather narrow for a substantial Westerner. The seat was however lie flat and was quite comfortable although storage space for small items is lacking. The service onboard was excellent. The cabin crew were attentive and helpful. The choices available for both food and drink were plentiful and catered to all tastes. The IFE system offered enough choice in film and music although other airlines certainly offer more. I would certainly fly with Etihad again.

I booked Etihad for a return flight from Ireland to Phuket for our family. The leg room seemed less than other airlines I`ve travelled with for similar long distance flights. The food was poor. On our flight out of the options, one of the 3 was unavailable and they had only just started service. On the way back the dinner options were a chicken dish, a plain pasta option and fish option. After a third of passengers had been served the only option left was fish. We expected more than this and the 3 half glasses of wine we were given on each flight. On the upside the entertainment system was very good, the flights were on time and the transfers went without a hitch.

AUH-MNL, exemplary except the food, which is always a bit disappointing. Lovely flat bed seats, attentive and friendly service, great drinks selection and good IFE. Hard to fault, though they let themselves down on the food.

Flew EY653 AUH-CAI and return EY654 CAI-AUH. Check in at Etihad Air Mall in DXB was smooth and took the coach to AUH. First flight was smooth drinks were passing around all the time, though it is Ramadan. Meal was not good at all, it was a morning flight they served lunch. With small portions and not up to standards of other competition on the same sector. Crew were friendly though seemed new or a bit lost. Seats are comfortable on the A340. Headsets are top notch but not their entertainment system - not user friendly one and less options. And it doesn't work until half way of the flight and crew collect head sets almost an hour before landing. On the return flight it was almost empty. With a very cold cabin surprisingly there were no blankets on the flight to be offered . No drink rounds. Meal was just a Ramadan Iftar box with some bland sandwiches for a 4 hrs flight. No tea or coffee offered and crew just disappeared. They were very keen on selling their duty free products only. My entertainment system had a problem with the audio and informed the crew - she just apologised with no offer to transfer to another seat with the flight almost empty and many rows were totally deserted and I had to use the entertainment system on the seat next to me which was free as well. Still the seats were comfortable. Would use EY again only if the fares are very competitive. Transfer to DXB with their shuttle bus smooth both ways. However AUH airport is crowded and a bit confusing.

I flew from Milan to Abu Dhabi which is my first time on Etihad. The ground crew were very helpful in clarifying my doubts about excess baggage and gave me some time to transfer some items to my backpack. The onboard services were worth the money and the crew quite fast in helping. Flight was on-time arriving even though it departed 15 minutes late from Milan.

Excellant on outbound and return flights. Food and drink onboard very good, staff at check in, lounges and onboard were courteous and friendly. Seats were comfy and certainly better than economy, just don't expect a lay flat double bed!

I traveled on Etihad for the second time from HYD to PEK on a part of a business itinerary from Seattle to India and China, a business trip arranged by my work with couple of other travelers. This time Etihad ground handling didn't fail to disappoint. They offloaded my checked in bag in AUH and it reached one day after I landed in PEK. I had to continuously call ground handling to get updates. Etihad Airways bag tracking site didn't have any updates until the bag was delivered to my hotel. Cabin services are good in terms of food, legroom and staff, but that doesn't do you any good if they can't get your bags on the same flight.

Munich to Cochin via Abu Dhabi on 10th June 2015 and return Cochin to Munich on 14th June. On the first leg of my journey, I literally had to run to the gate for my second flight and I almost reached at the nick of time. The connection time was around 1.5 hours and my baggage was missing at Cochin. However, airport staff made arrangements to record my details and it was home delivered after almost 40 hours. I found out that the baggage of almost 15 to 20 passengers was not transferred to the second flight in Abu Dhabi. I thought this was a one-off incident as it was the first time ever my baggage was lost. On the second leg of my journey, my flight was to depart from Cochin at 4.40am on 14th June, but the flight arrived at around 5am and departed at around 6am. I was pretty sure that I was going to miss my flight as the connection time was again around 1.5 hours. I missed my flight and I was given a boarding pass for the next flight which departs at 2.10am on 15th June. This was almost 18 hours at the airport. I was given meal vouchers and a facility to sleep in a sleeping pod. The staff at the transfer desk said that they don’t have enough resources in the airport for staying and therefore gave me the sleeping pod. In fact I found that they have an airport hotel, which they could have made available for hapless passengers like me. I was not the only one and many like me were stranded. Etihad was handling this procedure of managing stranded passengers so efficiently that I think that their stranded-passenger-management system is much more efficient than their airline management and scheduling system. This seems to be a routine procedure for Etihad. I boarded my flight and it reached Munich and I was more than unpleasantly surprised to find out that my baggage is missing again. I got my baggage a few days later. The air stewardesses were a grumpy lot, maybe they are overworked, I don’t know. The food and service was not good and this is a completely overrated airline.