Etihad 787-9 to Abu Dhabi

Third times the charm. After making a rookie mistake and picking a window seat with no window, I moved to a seat with a window. That seat was broken, so moved to another window seat, but the TV didn’t work. Back to my original windowless seat where everything works (except the view). It was meant to be that I was in seat 9A. The crew offered to manually move the seat for me, but that seemed more effort for everyone than it was worth for everyone involved.

Pre departure I had a lovely drop of champagne which went straight to my head. I’m not accustomed to drinking at 4am 🥂. The working seat is comfortable with good width and armrests that make it easier to lounge. A pluffy Etihad branded pillow and soft blanket are at each seat. A full flat bed is great although the 2hr flight probably won’t get much bed use by the time I get fed. A sliding door would in theory semi enclose the suite but it’s not full height. That said all the doors are disabled - presumably not certified? With all the seat changes my food got misplaced with no one really sure who would be serving me. The cabin manager ended up taking over and looking after me.

While I waited I pondered the entertainment - a decent number of options although the UI for TV shows is a little lame, with episodes of the same series not grouped (some series are, some aren’t). Lots of swiping. I know ‘raw-dogging’ flights is a new trend (why it’s called that is beyond me), but the inflight map and some music is all I need for short flights. Music wise there is only radio - so I just popped on the pop channel. Wifi internet is available but the satellite connection was lost so that didn’t work. One of the TV shows is a bio security video from the Australian government - that’ll keep you entertained 😂.

My meal eventually arrived. I opted for the poached eggs, chicken sausage and pita bread option. The eggs were more like boiled eggs, which is preferable as I don’t know how runny eggs would last on a plane. Sauce that went with it was nice and the fruit was fresh. I also got some nuts to chew on as airplane nuts are delish. An ok meal but airline breakfasts in any class are never anything to write home about (yeah I know I that I literally just wrote home about it).

I tried the flat bed mode and had a 15min nap before we started descending into Abu Dhabi for a 34 degree arrival at 5:45am. The bed was comfortable - especially the blanket and I was able to lay on my side. In a strange quirk - announcement pause the entertainment system but don’t come through the headphones.

Overall a comfortable flight but it’s not the Etihad I flew a lot back in 2016. With the re adjustment of the brand and routes I feel it’s still a nice product, but not as lush as it was previously. There seemed to be a few too many issues for what looks like a relatively fresh cabin. Landing I was in my original seat with no windows. Such a strange feeling not being glued to the window for landing and only knowing I was on the ground once we touched down. Now for a few hours in transit checking out the new terminal here in Abu Dhabi.Meer informatie