Etihad Airways

Complaint about Air Berlin (Etihad's partner) Phuket-Manchester. Etihad in my opinion is very close to being a premium airline but are being seriously let down by Air Berlin who are absolutely a Budget Airline in every sense. Today (6th August) we sat in the plane on the tarmac for 2 hours at Abu Dhabi. It appeared that Air Berlin had over booked the plane. Some passengers had the same seat ticket and had to be let off. The food on Air Berlin is a joke. I had pre-ordered a vegetarian meal however there were none and the stewardess said the main meal (omelette and sausage) - I could eat that and just eat around the sausage. She then said the vegetarian option was really only for children and I could have that. It was a 'crepe' with a slice of peach. Hours old and disgusting. The food on the Etihad flight was excellent. The drinks on the Air Berlin leg were all lo-cost type drinks. The entertainment system on Air Berlin is rubbish. I absolutely will not fly with Air Berlin again and I will be complaining directly to Etihad that they are being seriously let down by their partner in this leg. I do not expect to pay a premium price for a budget airline which makes up half the leg (The Phuket to Abu Dhabi leg).

For the flight it was very good MAD-CDG-AUH-SYD Business return. Pity that Abu Dhabi lounge was lacking as was the staff in general. Certainly too small for flight numbers and waiting for one person to serve drinks was laughable. Would certainly never ever take a flight out of Paris again but assume that was either the handling agents or AF on the first leg/last return leg. Not enough planes as the delay on the way back due to another incoming that made another 300 people late was silly.

BKK-AUH-DUS MUC-AUH-SYD in business. Connecting in AUH can be a nightmare plane departed late but no communication. The seats are hard not really comfortable the service not as good as the computation is food and beverages are acceptable but honestly nothing to write home about. An overpriced product not to be recommended.

Flew AUH-GVA A333. The Business class product is very good and consistent from the Etihad chauffeur that picks you up at the hotel to the hard product onboard. Very good seats good choice of meals and attentive cabin crew. Only downside is the Business class lounge at AUH T3 which is a bit small.

March 2013 MAN-AUH-DEL in Economy Class. While Manchester Airport staff handled things very well and Flight Attendants were very good on Manchester to Abu Dhabi segment things deteriorate once you reach Abu Dhabi Airport to catch flight to India. Extremely crowded. When boarding started for my flight to Delhi there was a staff member to selectively snatch Carry-on Luggage. They say that space is limited and you will get it at Delhi Airport. When I boarded I saw people with even bigger carry-on luggage then mine. At Delhi told my bag would be with on Luggage Belt. On return from Delhi again staff were taking carry on bags. I saw many people returning their Special Meal when it comes to our choice choices were very limited and many has run out. Between Delhi-Abu Dhabi I found staff a bit rude. Full marks to Manchester Airport to Abu Dhabi flight crew and also the staff managing Abu Dhabi Airport to Manchester flight. Unless they sort out this fiasco about carry-on bags between Delhi to Abu Dhabi I will avoid travelling with Etihad. Food is good and they give complimentary drinks.

For some reason First Class is not always available on the Abu Dhabi to Athens leg and so after travelling FC from MEL I had to use the Business Class Lounge. Fine - except for the fact that there was not enough room for everyone to sit down. After a long trip this is not amusing. Perhaps this lounge should be enlarged as everything else about the lounge is more than adequate. Why is it that there is no sign (a green light something!) to indicate that the toilets are empty? This would appear to be a fairly standard design detail. Very inconvenient. I have travelled on FC and BC on Etihad and am satisfied. However the real test of an airline is how it treats its Economy Class passengers. I will be checking out these comments.

Very disappointing flight (DUB-AUH-SYD) recently. Etihad have been steadily getting poorer and this is it for us. No seat assignment on booking to the AUH-SYD (14 hour) leg. Phoned Etihad office in Dublin on several occasions who agreed to file seat request on our behalf. Online check in - no option to choose seats. Check-in in Dublin could not issue boarding passes for 2nd leg. Hour long queue in Abu Dhabi to find in 2 random B seats in the cabin for me and my wife! Give me a break. If I book same flight with VA I can assign seats for both carriers. and that is exactly what I will be doing in the future.

Myself my Partner and 8 year old son have just flown from Auckland to Manchester return the legs from Sydney being with Etihad. They are certainly the EasyJet/Jetstar of long haul travel and know how to cram as many seats and few toilets into their planes especially the A330s. Having said that for the price it was good being $2000NZD cheaper for the 3 of us than the similar route with Emirates and to the UK with other airlines. The flights were good times and on time the staff were friendly and our vegetarian and child's meals were fine. I would use them again if the price was right.