Seven flights a week between Sydney and Abu Dhabi with plans to increase services to 10 a week in July. The Gulf carrier is also increasing services between Melbourne and Abu Dhabi in March.After slowing its growth trajectory in recent years, Etihad became, if not the quiet achiever of the triumvirate of Gulf carriers, then certainly the quietest. Yet therein lies part of the appeal – Etihad is not a behemoth Emirates or Qatar.
, replete with new business and first-class lounges and the fact a Guggenheim Museum will soon join the Louvre in Abu Dhabi, and the case for flying Etihad really starts to take flight.Checked baggage up to 35 kilograms, starting with the “value” business class category , with one carry-on bag of up to 12 kilograms, plus one personal item of up to five kilograms.Etihad Guest.
Etihad’s business class seats on this aircraft type are arranged in a 1-2-1 alternating backwards and forward-facing configuration. In contrast to Emirates’ lighter cream and walnut cabin tones, Etihad’s darker black and chocolate accents offer the ambience of a top-flight boutique hotel with the seats on the airline’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft introduced in 2023.
Each seat’s moody Arabian-style matte gold lamp, luxury pyjamas and soft slippers, by Armani/Casa in a “unique partnership” with Etihad can’t help but add to that agreeable “hotel in the sky” feeling. An Armani/Casa duvet, pillow and toppers add additional comforts to an already comfortable flat bed with its 73-inch pitch and 22-inch recline.