Summary
- Etihad Airways is resuming the usage of its Airbus A380s on the London Abu Dhabi route, offering almost 500 seats with luxurious amenities.
- The London Abu Dhabi route is critical for Etihad, with numerous passengers connecting between the 2 cities and onward to destinations including India and Australia.
- Etihad has seen increased interest in passengers booking flights specifically on the A380, due to its upper-class accommodations and in-flight dining options.
UAE flag carrier Etihad is returning the large of the skies back to the skies above London. Etihad Airways will resume using its Airbus A380s on the London Abu Dhabi route on July twenty fifth after greater than three years of being grounded.
The superjumbo will offer almost 500 seats, with the upper deck featuring enclosed apartments, private showers, and a lounge area between first and business class.
A London Exclusive
Etihad previously confirmed to Easy Flying that it has no plans so as to add the Airbus A380 to any routes except London. The route is critical for Etihad, with well over 200,000 passengers connecting directly between the 2 cities. 3 times this, many passengers transited in Abu Dhabi to further destinations across the carrier’s market. India is by far the preferred connecting destination from London, with the market twice as large as runner-up Australia.
Etihad’s double-decker quad jets will fly the three,432-mile (5,523 km) path to London Heathrow 3 times day by day from October. 4 A380s are being activated by the carrier to be introduced as they finish maintenance and updates. The carrier’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners will proceed to operate certainly one of the day by day flights.
Abu Dhabi to Heathrow times (aircraft) |
Heathrow to Abu Dhabi times (aircraft) |
---|---|
02:55-06:45 (A380) |
09:00-19:45 (A380) |
08:20-12:00 (A380) |
13:55-00:40+1 (A380) |
11:10-14:50 (787-9) |
19:20-06:05+1 (787-9) |
14:15-17:55 (A380) |
21:05-07:50+1 (A380 |
Twice as nice
Executives at Etihad confirmed they’d seen a major rise in passengers booking flights, specifically on the A380. One reason for the increased interest is the upper-class accommodation available only on the double-decker jets. The upper deck features the carrier’s two ‘The Residence’ suites, nine First Apartments, and 70 Business Studios on the upper deck. First and Business guests may also enjoy The Lobby, a lounge and bar area between the 2 cabins where guests can order refreshments, watch TV, hold meetings, or socialize on the leather sofas.
The lower deck is all economy with 405 Economy Smart Seats, including 80 Economy Space seats with a seat pitch of as much as 36 inches. The airline can also be making a major effort with its in-flight dining options (complimentary for all classes) by reducing single-use plastics and using more local ingredients in its inflight meals.
Passengers flying in certainly one of The Residence suites may have access to a personal shower. Those flying in top notch can take a four-minute shower in the course of the flight before landing refreshed for the busy day ahead. Options to upgrade from top notch to The Residence have begun appearing on the seat selection page when booking and begin at around $2,000 in each direction.
WiFi (type of)
A brand new WiFi package is a recent introduction for the reason that A380 last flew for Etihad. The airline now offers a basic “Chat” package for all Etihad Guest members, allowing them to access popular messaging apps, including WhatsApp and WeChat.
Guests wishing to browse the web must pay a flat fee for the “Surf” WiFi package based on the flight duration unless they’re Etihad Guest Platinum and Exclusive tier members or traveling in Etihad’s top notch cabins. Easy Flying recently caught up with Eduardo Matos, Head of Product and Hospitality at Etihad Airways, who explained how the brand new system works:
Now we have latest packages which can be far more easy. Below seven hours and greater than seven hours and also you pay only one value for that you would be able to pay in money or in miles. So it’s really easy and allows everybody to have the free chat. I believe that the vast majority of the persons are doing that.
Photo: Etihad
Passengers seeking to contrast the double-decker with fellow UAE carrier Emirates’ can now accomplish that on the identical ticket due to a brand new interline agreement with the Dubai-based airline. The deal allows passengers to fly into Abu Dhabi and back from Dubai and potentially fly two A380s on the identical trip.