Review: Etihad Business Class A380 (LHR-AUH) – Part 2

December 29, 2015

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This is the fourth post in an Etihad to Abu Dhabi trip report.

In part one of my review of the Etihad Business Class A380 product (posted yesterday) I concentrated on the Etihad A380 cabin and the Etihad Business Class “Business Studio” seats while, in today’s post, I’ll take a look at the rest of the onboard product including the entertainment, the connectivity, the food and the service provided.

Pre-Departure

I left the lounge early (by my standards) so as to give myself as much chance as possible of seeing the Etihad A380 Business Class cabin with as few people in it as possible. But, when I got to the gate, (just a few yards from the Etihad Business Class Lounge, I was surprised to see boarding had already started.

The gate agents were very pleasant and greeted passengers by name as they scanned their boarding passes and checked their passports. The line for Business Class wasn’t very long so I was soon onboard and enjoying the surroundings.

Etihad Business Class A380 – The Cabin

While some passengers were still finding their seats, the crew were offering those of us who were already seated a choice of drinks – Champagne, pink grapefruit juice, orange juice and water. I decided it was a little too early for Champagne (I would change my mind less than 2o minutes later!) so I went with the orange juice – which was very nice indeed. It may even have been true fresh orange juice (i.e not from concentrate).

Once everyone was seated the crew, who were all dressed impeccably, came around to take orders for post-take off drinks and for the main meal.

Etihad Crew Uniforms

I was getting in the spirit of the whole Etihad Business Class experience by now so I ordered a glass of Champagne for my post-take-off drink, sparkling water and a glass of the Shiraz to go with my meal.

Business Class passengers were also, proactively, offered the option of when they’d like to eat – as I’d only just had breakfast I opted to have my meal brought to me 2 hours before landing.

At this point I looked out of the window to see our Etihad A380 appearing to ignore the Heathrow traffic and participating in what was the biggest line/queue jump I’ve ever seen an aircraft perform!

All those aircraft were in front of us when we pushed back…and we took off before all of them!

Clearly this was all done with the Tower’s permission…..but we must have overtaken 10 other aircraft before barging our to the very front of the line. Who’s going to argue with a big, fat A380? 🙂

After appearing to cut-up a Delta 767 we turned left on to the Heathrow runway and began our roll towards take off…..

After take off the Champagne and warm nuts came around (I’ll spare you the usually blogger photo of a glass of Champagne…I’m sure you all know what one looks like) and I settled in to see what the entertainment system had on offer.

Entertainment

In the Etihad A380, the TV monitor is directly ahead of you whether you like it or not. The screen doesn’t retract and can’t be stowed anywhere. This isn’t an issue…I’m just stating a fact.

Etihad Business Class A380 – TV monitor

It’s a very good-sized screen and is just about in reach for anyone who wants to use “touch-screen mode” rather than the controller which is just to one side:

Etihad Business Class A380 – TV controller

This next bit may seem completely irrelevant but it was something I liked so I’m going to mention it anyway:

The controller has been positioned so well that, even if you’re sitting back in your chair, a person of average height can operated the TV controls without having to move forward or take the control out of its cradle. All you have to do is reach out your hand and press whatever buttons you want to. Ergonomically it’s great design.

Etihad supply over-ear headphones to First and Business Class passengers but, as I was more than happy with my earbuds, the headphones never made it out of their plastic wrap:

Etihad Business Class A380 – Headphones

The entertainment system came with all the usual bells and whistles and there were plenty of movies and TV shows to choose from (in English, Arabic and one or two in French and Chinese). The selection would probably keep most people very happy but, if I’m being critical (and I am meant to be reviewing this thing!) I’ve seen more up to date offerings (movie-wise) on other airlines.

Etihad Business Class A380 – Entertainment

Etihad Business Class A380 – Entertainment System

There were some cool features that you don’t see on too many aircraft – like a tail camera, the facility to share whatever you’re watching with someone in another seat and, my personal favorite, the Mecca pointer:

Etihad Business Class A380 – Entertainment System

Connectivity

I tend to work when I’m on a plane so this part of the review is actually pretty important to me. On a 6+ hour flight I need to know that I recharge my devices if I need to and, as of recently, I’ve come to expect WiFi as well.

The Etihad A380 ticks all those boxes…sort of.

There is a multi-socket-type power outlet near the floor by the seat in the Etihad Business Class cabin…..

Etihad Business Class A380 – Power Port

….and there are two USB ports next to the TV controller:

Etihad Business Class A380 – USB Ports

This is a particularly good place for the USB ports as the table area just under them is a good place to leave your devices as they charge…and they don’t get in your way.

To start off with my power port wasn’t working but, after a quick word with the crew and a reboot, all was well.

The Etihad A380 comes fully quipped with WiFi and with a feature I did not know they had……

Etihad Business Class A380 – WiFi and mobile phone connectivity

…mobile phone service (luckily no one appeared to be using this).

The WiFi is more expensive than on American Airlines ($22 for the duration of the flight as opposed to $19) so I was interested to see how the speeds and connection compared.

Etihad Business Class A380 – WiFi charges

The WiFi experience didn’t get off to the best of starts as the connection was slow and the link to PayPal kept dropping – I ended up just paying by credit card.

Because of the slow connection to PayPal I considered aborting the whole idea of using the onboard WiFi but, rather than listen to the sensible voice in my head, I went ahead and purchased a 4-hour pass. I wish I hadn’t.

For the first hour or so the speed was ok but the connection kept dropping (3-4 times)…and that get’s annoying after a while:

After about two hours the connection became so slow and kept dropping so many times I simply gave up. It was terrible.

I wasn’t sure if it was the general nature of the service or if I’d just got unlucky with the equipment on this particular plane but I’ll be writing an email to T-mobile asking for a refund.

Food/Drinks

The menu for the flight was waiting for me at my seat when I got onboard and the selection looked pretty good (click to enlarge):

Etihad Business Class A380 – Menu

Just short of two hours before landing a member of the cabin crew came up to me to ask if I was ready for my meal and, after saying yes, the food turned up 5 minutes later.

I had ordered the Arabic mezze to start:

Etihad Business Class A380 – Arabic mezze

And for the main course I decided to see what they could do with Salmon:

Etihad Business Class A380 – Seared Salmon with beetroot mash

Both courses were very nice and tasted fresh. The Salmon wasn’t too dry and the lemon vinaigrette that came with it worked very well.

Fresh cutlery came with every course and, while the crew never appeared to hover, I wasn’t left with a dirty plate or a used glass in front of me for any length of time. Everything was very prompt.

The Shiraz bled from the Margaret river was ok but nothing special and I made a mental note to try something else on the way back.

I passed on dessert but I did order a latte to end the meal with and, in typical Etihad style, it came nicely presented with a chocolate on the side:

Etihad Business Class A380 – Post Dinner Coffee

Amenities

There was a multi-colored amenity kit waiting for me at my seat when I boarded and, while the bag itself wasn’t wrapped……

Etihad Business Class A380 – Amenity Kit

….all the contents were in individual packets:

Etihad Business Class A380 – Amenity Kit

In case those are too hard to read, the contents of the bag included:

Sleep pack – socks and eyeshades
Dental pack – toothbrush and toothpaste
Care pack – cotton pads, ear buds and emery board
Skincare – facial moisturizer and lip balm
Ear plugs

All products by Scaramouche and Fandango (no, there was no thunderbolt of lightning included)

The one other amenity worth mentioning was the lounge area between the First and Business Class cabins. Etihad has opted not to follow Emirates’ lead and doesn’t have a bar….but it does have a small lounge:

Etihad Business Class A380 – Onboard lounge

On a journey of under 7 hours and because I was traveling alone I had little use for this area of the plane…although I’m sure it would be nice for a group of people who are traveling together. I did see a mother and her kids using it for a short period of time but, other than that, the lounge seemed to go unused for most of the flight.

Service

The service on this flight was fantastic. Nothing was too much for the crew who were very good at balancing leaving me alone and not disturbing me with attending to me if/when I needed something.

Getting the crews’ attention was the easiest thing in the world as all I had to do was to glance at one of them as they were walking past and I was immediately being asked if I wanted/needed something.

I never saw a single crew member not smiling (even when I encountered them in the galley working away from the passengers) and they seemed genuinely interested in making the flight experience as pleasant as possible.

As I mentioned earlier in this post, the crew were all dressed impeccably and there was a hint of the olden days of flying in how they looked. Some of the male cabin crew were wearing ornate cream jackets which reminded me of the attendants in any number of 1930 – 1950 movies.

None of this was necessary from a practical standpoint but it definitely gave the cabin and experience a “premium feel” that you just don’t get with most carriers across the Atlantic.

Bottom Line

With the exception of the poor WiFi this was the best Business Class flight I’ve been on for quite some time…possibly ever.

Three things contributed to this:

The service – it was fantastic
The seat – I loved the privacy of the Business Studio
The attention to detail – everything was presented beautifully.

The Etihad Business Class experience on the A380 felt like a true premium cabin experience. It’s what we should really expect from all Business Class experiences but that’s just not going to happen. Compared to carriers like British Airways, American Airlines and Finnair (all of whom I’ve flown with this year) this was light-years ahead….and the first two airlines in that list should be embarrassed at how far behind they are.

No wonder the legacy US carriers are getting so upset about the Middle East Airlines. Based on this aircraft and this experience, they have absolutely no way of competing with them on product and service so they’re having to resort to any means they can to stop them from competing with them on their routes.

At 30,000 AAdvantage miles (what this one segment cost me) this was probably the best value I’ve ever got out of an award and it’s left me wondering this:

If Etihad Business Class on the A380 is this good…what on earth is First Class like?! Hopefully I’ll find out one day 🙂

Featured image courtesy of Etihad & Airbus