Etihad Airways

LHR-AUH EY020 24th August 2013. Even though the flight was delayed by at least half an hour as soon as we took off everything was fine. The seat was exceptional as usual and the service was spot on. The food choice wasn't as exquisite as normal but still satisfactory. The IFE was up to date and of good quality. All in all a fantastic flight.

Milan-Abu Dhabi-Kuala Lumpur and return. A330/200 from Milan to Abu Dhabi and return and B777/300 for the other legs. Aircraft's in good condition and clean cabin crew very polite and friendly food and IFE good. In general I'm satisfied of this my first experience with Etihad. The only thing they must improve is the 32" legroom: for intercontinental flights is a bit cramped and it's hard to sleep.

TXL-DUS-AUH-HYD first leg with Air Berlin DUS-AUH-HYD with Etihad. Both Etihad flights were excellent comparable service to Qatar and Emirates really. FA's extremely courteous and attentive for both legs excellent IFE and seemingly very well executed landings. Only gripe is the rather inefficient process of attaining boarding passes due to the code share with Air Berlin. At first Air Berlin staff informed me something was strange about my booking and they could only check me in as far as Dusseldorf after making me wait 15 minutes they then told me they could check me in as far as Abu Dhabi. Upon arrival in Abu Dhabi had to line up again to get my boarding pass for onward flight to Hyderabad. Surely it should be possible to check passengers and their luggage through to the final destination from the point of first departure. I didn't understand the logic in that. Overall only added an extra 30-45 minutes of effort to overall flight experience though so not that bad. Would definitely recommend Etihad to anyone considering it.

Return flight from London - Abu Dhabi - Nairobi. The seat allocation was badly managed for flight from Nairobi to Abu Dhabi. Vegetarian food was requested at the time of booking. Instead leftovers were offered. Throughout the flights they had no record of me requesting a vegetarian menu. Cabin staff service was very slow. On one instance while food and drinks were being served it seems I was ignored and finally when I requested coffee it took a very long time to arrive and this also after a reminder.

Switzerland to Singapore. Compared with Singapore Airlines it is cheaper for almost same seat and space comfort in the cabin. The service is great maybe less cabin crew but still great as they do their best for you. They are strict with safety food is good but compared to other airlines is more simple bread not so good. The down side for me was entertainment disappointed. On way back got opportunity for cheap business upgrade. Great business class. Good value for money. Great food very good service with nice crew. Seat perfect and flat. Downside again entertainment. The other downside is Abu Dhabi airport one of the most boring international hub airports I've transited. Not much too do lack of good seats. Very few opportunities to sleep. Small airport hotel always fully booked.

Melbourne to London. All in all decent experience. Crew were excellent on both legs especially considering that the Abu Dhabi leg was completely full. Good entertainment system and food not bad. The major drawback is the seat pitch. Seats themselves fine but when they're crammed it affects the whole experience. Might make me consider another carrier in the future for that reason.

The seats in Pearl Business Class are unusually narrow and short as others have written. I weigh 173lbs (78kg) and am 170cm tall. The foot enclave is so narrow that I could not comfortably place both feet together. I had to sleep with one knee bent the entire time. There is simply no way an overweight or tall passenger would be able to squeeze into this seat. The IFE system is very poor in variety and choice and Etihad Airways forces their passengers to watch a 90-120 second commercial (that cannot be skipped) before every program. This is very irritating. On both fights the electrical outlet did not work and I lost battery power on my iPad before the end of each flight. Every seat on the return flight in Business Class was full and the air temperature in the cabin was at least 75 degrees (24 Celsius). My wife and I were perspiring during the entire 9 hour flight and were unable to sleep due to the hot cabin. The food was surprisingly bad. I ordered the “grass-fed fillet of beef” and my wife chose the mushroom lasagne. I returned the beef after the first bite. The mushroom lasagne was mediocre and my wife couldn't finish it. For the entire 9 hour trip we subsisted on mixed nuts and Diet Pepsi. The quality and variety of the food are considerably better on many other lower cost business class flights.

Paris to Abu Dhabi - July 3 2013 and back on July 27 2013. Flying with Jet Airways from Paris to India we had a stop to Abu Dhabi so that the long flight was endorsed by Etihad partnership. Such a great company in economy class! We were well placed close to the window great seat comfort plane quite new great stewards service. My headphone wasn't working and the hostess gave me a new one within 5 mins with apologies. Good food and good vegetarian food. Good choice of entertainment. Flight was quiet. Cabin was not cold at all and we were glad for such good comfort.

A great flight experience that can get you from to Dublin to Abu Dhabi in 7 hours 20 minutes. A great deal and the seats were pretty comfortable. Staff were sometimes annoying but good overall. However like many airlines I don't like the food but the beverages were good. I would rather starve yet hydrate. The best part was the entertainment. There were lots of movies and games and the headphones were quite comfortable. The plane I was in had new AC power ports that would activate about 2 to 3 hours into the flight and switch off just before landing. All in all it was a great experience.

Chicago to Hyderabad via Abu Dhabi. My carry-on was not allowed at Chicago they claimed it was bigger than the allowed size. I took the same suitcase many times on Emirates and American Airlines and was never questioned. My option given was to check-in with $65 fee. Surprisingly I saw people board with bigger suitcases than mine. Food and entertainment is good however air hostesses are a bit rude.

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.