Etihad Airways

MAN-AUH-BNE. Travel out Jan 14 return Feb 14. The Pearl experience from start to finish was excellent with a couple of caveats UK chauffeur each way all on time and friendly. Check in and lounge at MAN easy and helpful. Food and drink in lounges plentiful apart from BNE where the lounge is operated by NZ airways and the am food choice limited. The men's lavatory was in need of cleaning and refreshing. In flight al a carte of a good standard as was the anytime kitchen on all legs. Both MAN and AUH lounges can be congested as has been mentioned. A request for a special wheat free diet didn't really work as the two courses offered on the first meal serving were chicken starter followed by chicken main. My companion reverted to ordering off the main menu for all other meals. Gluten free bread was not offered. Transfers at AUH were not clear for fast track passengers and there's no lounge or fast track at all in Singapore on the stop over. Flat beds comfortable I'm 180cm tall and slept well. No jet lag to worry about. IFE not the best particularly western music Mainly B rate films although I found enough to watch. In all a very good experience and would use again.

LHR-AUH-LHR in business class. Started badly as the chauffeur service decided to park round the corner of my building and not tell anyone it took 30 minutes of trying to contact the airline before we finally found them. Got to the airport my flight was more than an hour late due to late inbound equipment. Flight out was okay I had very high expectations as this was my first time with Etihad and I had heard great things. Return flight forget about it. I'm stuck in the mess at Abu Dhabi airport at the moment where technical problems closed the airport briefly. The customer service systems have totally different (and unrealistic) information versus the departure boards in the lounge. Staff are overwhelmed. If you are connecting through this part of the world stick with Emirates I will in the future.

Paris-Abu Dhabi-Melbourne first class. Paris to AUH no staff in first class cabin spoke French. Service was haphazard at best. Sink in main bathroom was blocked and this reported to crew. The same aircraft serviced the AUH-Melbourne sector. The sink was still blocked. This airline has some excellent staff however the standards are extremely uneven and one is left with the impression that training could be improved.

BRU-AUH-KUL and back. Service on board and staff were very good. The seats were very narrow on the first flight but much better on the airplane leased from Jet Airways. The food was quite tasty and the IFE was acceptable. But the transit at Abu Dhabi was terrible. The airport wants to play with the big boys but it lacks the facilities to do so. Way too many passengers than they can handle so extremely long queues. It took me two hours just to get from one plane to the other. Long bus rides from the plane to the terminal and vice versa. Wifi doesn't work properly. I thought Etihad was quite good but because of Abu Dhabi airport I am not going to fly with Etihad again. Next time I will take Emirates or Qatar Airways to go to Kuala Lumpur.

I have flown with Etihad 4 times in Pearl Business. This last flight (from Abu Dhabi to Toronto) will be my last. Prior to this the service was decent - as was the plane. This last was tired old and the staff was MIA. The only time they answered the call button was when I pushed it by mistake. My next trip to India will be with Emirates.

KUL-AUH-LHR 11/2/14. MAS Golden Lounge in KLIA continues to go downhill. Alcohol now served in a completely separate section near the entrance. You really feel like a leper having to walk all the way through the lounge to get a drink. The lounge even though recently refurbished is dirty and already looks tired. Check In was good but everything else until leaving was very poor as MAS also handle boarding and baggage checks at the gate. KUL-LHR flight superb great food staff service wine and the attention staff give each passenger is impressive. Aircraft interior looked like it had be recently refreshed and that was nice Etihad were starting to look a little tired. So well done there. AUH lounge is a disaster too busy and for a flagship it really let's down one of the best airlines around. Boarding was a mess and we ended up standing (no seats) at the gate for 45 minutes. Flight AUH to LHR great as above save for a child in Economy who decided to scream for most of the flight - but the airline can't be held responsible for the bad behaviour of passengers children. Why do people with children believe it is acceptable to trouble everyone else? All in all another excellent trip marred only by the MAS lounge and the transit through AUH lounge. Definitely recommend Etihad as one of the best - hope that now they do KUL twice daily they will invest in their own lounge at KLIA.

Recently travelled to Abu Dhabi from Manchester return. Flight EY021 and EY022. My family and I had flown with Etihad in the past and vowed never to go with them again. We decided to give them a 2nd chance what a mistake to make. The plane looked tired and the seats looked dirty. The seats were positively the most uncomfortable I have had the misfortune of sitting in hardly any space at all. The service was poor and the food awful. I can definitely say I will not be travelling with them again.

EY15 Abu Dhabi to Manchester approx 7hrs. Firstly seat remained in upright position for whole journey (night flight) staff unable to rectify. The cabin was absolutely freezing. Many people wearing overcoats to counter this. I was dressed appropriately for the flight and used the blanket and pillow provided and was still stone cold. Surely this isn't acceptable. Will never fly with them again.

Round trip AKL-SYD-AUH-FRA-AUH-SYD-AKL. First time with Etihad: Flight and service was average but despite the fact I had boarding passes already for the whole trip I needed to queue again at every single stop over airport to have the boarding pass rechecked by Etihad staff. Airport in Abu Dhabi was completely overloaded and couldn't cope with people moving to their connecting gate. But worst thing was the luggage handling! I can't recommend Etihad at all.

Travelled EY38 on 24 Dec 2013. Service was horrible. Stewardess did not smile. My sister and I asked for pasta upon hearing that the stewardess replied rudely that she needed to check and she cannot guaranteed that both of us would get our choice of meals. We told her politely that we could not take the other meal choice due to the meat. She replied coldly we should have asked for special meal. We understand that we cannot guarantee to have our choice of meals given a full flight. However the stewardess could told us politely. This is certainly not the service that I expected. This is the first and last time I will travel with Etihad.