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Etihad has announced that with advanced bookings looking strong and with demand for travel not really showing much sign of waning (despite the economic outlook), it will increase its frequencies between Abu Dhabi and New York to offer flyers in those cities a double daily service.
More Etihad flights to/from NYC
As things stand, Etihad offers 11 weekly flights on the Abu Dhabi – JFK route with two flights operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays (both directions).
From 24 April 2023, however, Etihad will add an extra flight on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to give flyers the following schedule:
EY103 AUH 03:10 – 9:25 JFK (Daily – 787-9)
EY101 AUH 10:25 – 16:40 JFK (Daily A350-1000)
EY102 JFK 14:30 – 11:20+1 day AUH (Daily – 787-9)
EY100 JFK 22:40 – 19:30+1 day AUH (Daily A350-1000)
According to the currently published information, the double daily service is set to be offered though to the end of the current booking period so it looks like Etihad plans to keep this level of service going into the 2023/24 winter season.
Quick thoughts
While it’s disappointing to see that Etihad doesn’t appear to have any plans to bring back an A380 to New York and while we’re still not seeing a aircraft with a First Class cabin on the NYC route, it’s great to see the airline offering more flights between Abu Dhabi and JFK.
The Business Class experience on Etihad has always been good (both the hard product and the soft product) and with the A350-1000, the airline is offering travelers its newest (and best yet) Business Class product.
The Business Class story with the 787s is a little different, but that doesn’t make the experience any worse. Currently, Etihad’s 787s come fitted with the older (but still very good) “Business Studio” seat, but from next year, newly delivered 787s will offer the new Collins Aerospace Elements seat that’s been getting very positive press – I’ve been told that it’s even better than the seat on the A350-1000 although as I haven’t seen this seat with my own eyes, I can’t say how true this is.
In Economy Class, the news is far less positive as on both aircraft types, most Economy Class seats are narrow (~17″) and most offer very little leg room (31″). A traveler can, however, improve the amount of space they have by upgrading (either with cash or courtesy of elite status) to an “Economy Space” seat which offers up to 34″ of legroom. Width-wise, the Economy Space seats are exactly the same as the regular Economy Class seats.
Bottom line
From 24 April 2023, Etihad will be offering a double daily service between Abu Dhabi and New York (JFK). The airline will continue to operate this route using a mix of 787-9 and A350-1000 aircraft and the schedules currently tell us that this is what we can expect for the rest of 2023.
Featured image courtesy of Etihad
