Flight: Etihad Airways EY455
Route: Sydney to Abu Dhabi
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Class: Business Class seat 22A
Duration: 14 hours, 28 minutes
Business Class seats on Etihad’s Airbus A380s offer direct aisle access making it almost effortless to get up and move around the cabin. All seats convert easily from a roomy, cosy zone to fully flat beds reaching up to 80.5 inches (204.5cms) with room to comfortably bend your knees sideways. Get ultra-comfy as I did, in the high-necked sleeper outfits and take advantage of the turndown service.
Attractive new and highly collectable amenity kits have been introduced, with colours and designs inspired by six of Etihad’s favourite cities; Rome, Abu Dhabi, Melbourne, New York, Sao Paulo and Bangkok.
The ‘Dine Anytime’ service was a welcome early morning treat after a number of hours’ sleep on the night flight. Even then, as in every case, I was served with an individual table setting – there are no galley carts in the cabin. With a lengthy ‘all day’ selection menu, I chose the chunky beef pie with sweet potato mash and beef jus.
Later, for a main course, I opted for the chicken kabsa with basmati rice cooked with Gulf spices, best described as a mild and delicious Arabian curry. This was ably accompanied by a Kilikanoon Mort’s Block 2013 Riesling, from Australia’s Clare Valley.
All Food and Beverage managers are sommelier trained professionals and many are hand-picked from worldwide fine dining establishments.
Suffice to say, the experience on board was excellent.
etihad.com
