Etihad Airways

2nd time flying with Etihad and found that the seats are getting smaller legroom disappearing and squashing in as many people as possible into the plane. Very disappointing and uncomfortable flights. The food was disgusting and a lack of beverages was rather disappointing. The airline crew were in a hurry to get everything done so they could disappear.

Melbourne - Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt and return. The flight between Abu Dhabi to Melbourne return is long painful and uncomfortable. The leg room on this flight was terrible and I would hate to be a tall person. I will not fly Etihad again on long flights and would rather pay more money and fly a different airline. I think Business class would be the way to fly with this airline or if they had Premium Economy.

Overall very disappointed with Etihad service. The seats were uncomfortable food choice was not good considering 14 hour flight to Toronto. I found the crew arrogant and unprofessional. Etihad has stopped including wet tissue in meal tray a very cheap move by them.

First time flying Etihad. Took four flights in total Manchester-Abu Dhabi-Nairobi and back. Really pleased with all sectors of this flight. I had requested a special meal on all four sectors and this was served to me. On one flight the snack box contained meat sandwiches and I'd requested vegetarian - the flight attendant instantly swapped it for a crew vegetarian meal. I was really pleased with this. Flying Nanny is a great idea. Crew immaculately turned out. The service was great. All flights had blankets pillows full meal service (even on 4 hour flight). A world apart from US carriers and the budget airlines currently in the UK.

London to Brisbane on 6/10/14 and returned to London from Perth on 3/10/14. After reading some of the reviews on this website I was fearing the worst. However everything was OK. The planes left and arrived on time. The service was fine. Drinks were available when needed. The meals were OK - no worse that any other airline economy class. Booking in luggage was easy and the staff were polite. My only gripe was that seats on the 777 from London to Abu Dhabi were a little cramped and the flight was full. I am over 6ft tall but I managed OK. The big upside was the cost of the trip. London-Brisbane-Perth-London (4 flights) cost £753.

Sao Paulo to Abu Dhabi then Abu Dhabi to Mumbai. I fly United internationally a lot from the US so I was eager to compare my first Etihad flight. I was in Economy on the A340 for both legs. Things didn't start off well. The check-in process in Sao Paulo took a full hour. Told that their system was running extremely slowly that day. Both flights were late taking off. About a hour each. The communicated progress pretty well. Food was good headset very nice blanket and pillows good quality and the entertainment options were good. I lucked out and had an entire row of four seats all to myself so I was able to lie down. I was disappointed by one of the flight attendants during the service. Despite the flight not being crowded she was quite surly. Dishing out drinks without even looking at the passengers terse frowns all around. The other flight attendants were fine. United gets poor marks for service but I think the service I experienced on board was comparable or less good than what I usually get on United. It's just one flight though. They collected headsets and turn off the entertainment way before the flight ends - 40 minutes. I can understand collecting the headsets but why turn off the movies so early? Will I fly Etihad again? I don't see why not but it wasn't the most amazing experience. Perhaps my expectations were too high since I'd heard and read so many good things.

EY 8 from Frankfurt to Abu Dhabi. Seat pitch a bit poor. Food served average. Entertainment system ok.

Perth to Sao Paul on Etihad via Abu Dhabi. Now economy travel is pretty basic on any airline. We had some positive and some negative experiences on this trip. The positives well the flight was delayed leaving Perth by about 4 hours how can this be a positive? Well flights can be delayed we received some food vouchers and when I complained about some consequential costs to us of this delay the customer relations people on the internet were very quick to respond and to offer compensation and they followed through. Negatives the communication at the airport could have been better (the ground staff were pretty invisible) all people want is some information about what is happening and know when the plane will depart having someone around taking the questions is the best way to keep people happy. The real negative was the legroom. I am comparing economy to the economy of other airlines on the trip we took and we travelled on 5 other airlines in economy. It makes quite a significant difference to the comfort of a long distance economy flight. The in cabin service on the two sectors was variable in quality and sometimes (in the evening ) you had to wave your arms to get some water or attention. It is a good airline and they were responsive to my concerns for which they get a 10 out of 10 but really tight legroom makes for an uncomfortable flight. I would fly with Etihad again probably not on such a long leg as Abu Dhabi to Sao Paulo.

Perth to Athens return in economy and we were pleased with the service of ground staff at both ends who assisted us with access to the lounges at the airports. In the plane the seating was fine and so was the entertainment. We were seated around row 30 in both directions and at meal times choices of meals had run out by this stage. The onboard staff were polite though very abrupt with their mannerisms. The flight was smooth and punctuality was great. As a Velocity member I will continue to fly with Etihad into Europe as I was pleased with the whole experience. There was a discounted offer to purchase a Business Class seat however at the end of our holiday 900 Euro each on top of what we had already paid was a lot. As a Platinum member perhaps a further discount may have enticed us. Economy seats could have had a footrest built in to help with the long flight. IFE sound was poor - I could not reduce the volume and there was a lot of background noise. It is also important to keep us hydrated irrespective of which seat you are in this did not happen unless one asked.

DEL-AUH Travelled on A300-200. The check-in process was below average long queue with only 3 check in counter opened for large number of Economy Class passengers. The handling agent staff were poor - shabby uniform and very low on personality. The flight was on time. The seats were comfortable on-board mobile network throughout the journey wifi equipped. I received the special meal which I had requested at the time of purchasing ticket. Flight attendants were attentive and took good care of all passengers including kids.