Abu Dhabi Airport

Etihad was a pleasant experience travelling between Sydney and Manchester but the stopover in Abu Dhabi was a big disappointment. Had 2 hours to spend here in either direction and found the airport to be small crowded noisy and smelling of cigarette smoke. Finding a seat and getting comfortable was next to impossible and hearing the announcements over the humdrum was difficult too. Hopefully the new terminals and expansions will do justice to the airline that the airport serves.

I flew with Etihad from BRU to BKK with a 2 hours stopover in AUH. At first sight I found the terminal quite original and nice (the green mosaic); but tiny and really overcrowded. The terminal is non smoking but this is theory as it smells cigarette smoke everywhere. In fact there are smoking areas in bars but no smoke extractor so the whole terminal looks like a smoking room. Going from the 2nd floor to the 1st one using the stairs is hazardous as smoking is not prohibited in the piano bar between the 2 floors. Toilets are on the 1st floor. There look really old fashioned and are not so clean (lot of water on the ground). So what to do when you are in transit? There are 3 bars/snacks but it's almost impossible to find a seat. Prices for drinks are OK. Not so many duty free areas. Ideal for short stopovers as it takes only 5 minutes to go from one gate to another but probably the worst airport I've ever seen for people in transit. I expected much better for a city like Abu Dhabi.

I went through this airport a few weeks back on my way to London from Abu Dhabi on Qatar Airways and to be honest it is one of the most disgusting airports I have been through. My flight was at around 11:30 pm and the airport was crowded and finding a place to sit was out of the question. It is way too cramped and crowded. It is a real shame that a fast developing country like the UAE does not have a decent airport to go through it is not as if Dubai is any better.

I have travelled through Abu Dhabi between London and South East Asia several times over the last few months. A layover here is as recorded elsewhere deeply unpleasant when it is overcrowded (typically 10pm to 2am). Use Qatar or Emirates to their hubs rather than Etihad. The only good thing I have to report is that a critical comment left in their suggestion box stimulated an e-mail apology and promise of better things post the completion of new facilities which arrived before I got back home 12 hours later!