Etihad Expands First Class Offering

Soon after reporting its half-year results, Etihad announced more news, including additional premium options across its network.

Airbus A380 Back in Service

Etihad is continuing to return Airbus A380 aircraft to revenue service. The re-introduction of the first frame took place in July 2023 and now the carrier operates four A380 aircraft. The fleet is busy operating Etihad’s high-demand long-haul routes from Abu Dhabi to New York and London.

The Airbus A380 experience at Etihad is provided in a three-class configuration. The economy cabin is equipped with 68 extra legroom seats offering an additional four inches of space, alongside 337 regular economy seats, totaling together to 405 seats.

The upper deck is reserved solely for the premium cabins with business class seating 70 passengers in private suites. The first class seating is provided as nine seats the carrier calls “Apartments” with a separate seat and ottoman convertible to a full bed.

The last and most luxurious product on the upper deck is the Residence, a place with a seating area for one or two passengers including a separate sleeping room and private bathroom. The experience is further elevated by The Lobby lounge area accessible to all first class guests.

Other Ways to Fly First Class

The next addition to the A380 portfolio is the Abu Dhabi to Paris route. The change of equipment from the Airbus A350 widebody to the Airbus A380 Superjumbo will take place on on November 1 of this year. As the currently in service aircraft are already busy with the current schedule this will most likely be another stored airframe joining the carrier’s fleet.

Another two routes that are operated with the carrier’s first class product are Abu Dhabi to Casablanca and Abu Dhabi to Geneva. Those are operated with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, as those routes would not be able to support operating larger aircraft for the carrier. It features 190 economy class, 28 business class, and 8 first class seats.

The first class is not as spacious as the carrier’s flagship ‘Apartment’ product but is still a significant upgrade from a business class seat.

Etihad’s routes operated or planned with a first class product; Airbus A380 in yellow, Boeing 787 in purple. (Photo: GCMap)

The Airbus A380 Expansion

Just in the last few days, there were two new announcements from the carrier regarding the Airbus A380. The flagship airliner will soon fly to Singapore.

Antonoaldo Neves, Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways, said: “This aircraft provides our business and leisure travellers with an exceptional flying experience and seamless connections to our Middle East, European, and North American networks. It highlights Etihad’s dedication to optimising travel to Abu Dhabi and beyond, ensuring more convenience and comfort for our guests.”

The second announcement regarded a short but sweet deployment of the Airbus A380 on the airline’s Abu Dhabi to Mumbai route. This might be a very tempting way to try Etihad’s famous product on a short route and will also provide passengers traveling between New York, Paris, and London with a consistent first class product when traveling to Mumbai or Singapore.

Arik De, Etihad’s Chief Revenue and Commercial Officer, said: “To kick off our celebrations for 20 years of service to Mumbai and India, we are thrilled to introduce our A380 on the Mumbai route. While this iconic aircraft is typically reserved for long-haul journeys, for our 20 years of celebrations of flying to India, we will showcase the A380 on three-days a week for a period of four months.”

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Filip Kopeć

A passionate aviation enthusiast that started off his career as an aerospace engineer, but found his true calling on the commercial side of the airline business. Now as a finance guy among avgeeks and an avgeek among finance guys, he has experience working in the Revenue Divisions of three airlines. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, but admittedly sometimes is more about the journey than the destination.

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