Etihad Airways

I had been traveling Etihad for the past 3 years twice a year Business Class KWI-AUH-MNL back and forth. Food comfort and cabin crew are superb. Leaves and arrives on time. Now my only issue was when I am flying AUH-KWI. At Abu Dhabi Airport terminal waiting area Business Class passengers were being treated as Economy Class. For the past 2 flights going back to Kuwait I experienced that there is no special or separate bus for Business Class passengers. We were all being mixed with Economy Class passengers on a single bus. Before Business Class passengers always had a separate bus and had priority on boarding the bus and plane. There used to be a lane for Business Class. As I had mentioned for the past 2 flights I had AUH-KWI this does not happen anymore. I am now thinking of going back to Emirates or Qatar Airways on my next flight to Manila.

I have been doing the same trip in 1st class (Seoul-Paris/London-Abu Dhabi-Seoul) with Etihad every year for several years but have seen standards declining sharply in 2013 and 2014. At every boarding I had to actively look for someone so I could hand them my coat. No welcome aboard and guiding to my seat and nobody addresses me by my name anymore. The Champagne used to be Bollinger but has been downgraded to something cheaper. The quality of the food can vary dramatically depending on the skills of the on-board chef. Despite my request for breakfast yesterday I was not woken up in time and had to do without! The worst perhaps is the chauffeur pick-up which stressed me enormously. Nobody called me to arrange a time for pick-up in London so I had to call the UAE to arrange it myself. They did not send any text message or email confirmation despite another call to request it. The pick-up was confirmed (orally) for 6.30 am but I was woken up by the driver at 5.15 am. My flight was at 10.30 am and I was a 15 minute-drive away from the airport! On the next leg of the journey Etihad left me a message that a pick-up had been arranged for me in Dubai but the time turned out to be less than 3 hours before take-off and it takes at least 90 minutes to go from Dubai to Abu Dhabi if there is no traffic. It took me countless calls to Etihad. Luckily the driver came on time. All in all I do not envisage traveling 1st class with Etihad again.

Manchester-Singapore-Sydney via Abu Dhabi. First time flying with Etihad and impressed with their service. Planes are modern and the seats in cattle class are acceptable. The in-flight entertainment is ok but not spectacular being too limited in content for long haul. Emirates are better in this context. Abu Dhabi is not one of the better airports to change through and isn't well organised. Each time involved a bus trip to the aircraft. I think it is an airline trying to climb up the ladder and the service was the standout. I would happily use them again.

I've had a much better experience on half a dozen long haul flights with Etihad lately than I've ever had on Malaysian and Singapore. Abu Dhabi is perhaps not the best hub to transfer through but the Etihad aeroplanes are up to date well serviced and the staff are friendly and competent if not outstanding. Travelling with a child on this airline was a breeze and they have special staff roles and extra services to help with kids.

Business class MEL-AUH then economy AUH-LHR. Business class LHR-AUH and again J class from AUH-MEL. Originally booked the entire trip in economy but bidded using Etihad's online upgrade auction that is sent out to select customers. I was successful in all 3 bids. Quick note about economy - the 777-300ER aircraft used a 3-4-3 seating as a lot of airlines are doing these days. The seating is horrible and a massive step down from J of course. Leg room was just adequate. The business class legs were great. The individual 'suites' are very private although the window seats are better and more private than the aisle seats. Seat was comfortable and very comfortable when in 'relax' mode. My only complaint was the bed. Fully reclined the bed is 185cm and I am 184cm. There is no scope for letting your feet hang out over the end of the bed. For a premium product the bed simply isn't long enough for someone who only slightly above average in height. However due to some careful manoeuvring I did manage to get plenty of sleep. Overall the airline was fantastic although transiting between terminals in Abu Dhabi is a pain. The food and service from the cabin crew were wonderful and all flights were on time except or the AUH-MEL leg which was one hour late. The Arabic mezze I had for starters on each J leg was excellent and the lamb shanks were restaurant quality. I didn't drink much alcohol but on the MEL-AUH they had a very nice shiraz that I enjoyed 2 glasses of. Champagne is offered pre takeoff. Amenity kits were basic. The economy section was standard economy. No better no worse and for 7.5 hours wasn't too bad even with a full plane. The trip back from London was very painful for me emotionally as I had lost my mother the day before. The cabin supervisor couldn't have been more helpful.

AUH-JFK direct on a Boeing 777 3-4-3 seating in economy class. Had window seat on the right side of plane. Major problem is that when the person in front of me reclined I could not reach my carry-on underneath his seat. The service was very good and inflight entertainment the best I've ever seen in economy. First meal was excellent but second merely average.

Have flown Etihad 4 times from LHR to BKK and will not be using them again I really used to enjoy Etihad but have noticed that their service has dropped to a charter airline and in Abu Dhabi you are treated like cattle when transferring to your next flight it's just chaotic with rude security personnel. The planes look old and tired and the food is below standard will prefer to pay more next time and fly Thai Emirates or Singapore Airlines.

EY 394 DOH-AUH and EY17 AUH-LHR both on 24/01/14. Doha to London via Abu Dhabi with wife and 2 children. We loved both sectors. Had a bad experience last year but this time - faith was restored. Excellent cabin crew staff - polite friendly and efficient excellent food and very clean toilets. Only areas of improvement would be food quantity and most of all - the E-box inflight entertainment system. A larger variety of movies needed along with more up-to-date releases. Great airline - look forward to the return to Doha next month.

Economy from Dublin to Abu Dhabi First to Sydney January 4th. First flight delayed 60 minutes. Chaotic check in. Very poor service onboard and food one notch above discount airline. No beer or wine offered. 777 plane tired. Second leg to Sydney delayed 2 hours. Excellent service by the staff but first class not up to Cathay Thai or Emirates. Lounge very overrated. Again food onboard was average despite the onboard chef who was very attentive. Will use other carriers in the future.

PRG-AUH-BKK and back in December and January 2014. As the leg from Prague to Abu Dhabi was served by Czech Airlines my comments refer only to the Etihad part. Abu Dhabi Airport needs to improve on signs and information monitors. I guess when switching planes within short time this will be a huge problem. On board the staff were friendly and caring except for the request to increase the temperature. The majority of the passengers were freezing sitting down covered with all available blankets and some even using their winter jackets! This happened on both flights. The food was OK just average airplane food. The entertainment system works well although the screen quality is poor. We usually prefer a long leg without the need for a stop in the middle of the trip so we are unlikely to be re-using this service.