Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper copyright Karl L. Swartz
Now, I am never keen to leave Australia but this time it was different – a very special flight awaited me. And the starting point, the Etihad check-in counter at MEL, already gives a clue why:
Our flight is due to depart at 22:10pm…
…so plenty of time to enjoy the brand-new Etihad lounge which was only opened in May this year
Etihad states it is its largest premium lounge outside Abu Dhabi
And it features plenty of seating and dining spaces
The buffet is only small as the dining concept is based on guests ordering food a la carte
Or spending their time at the well-sorted bar
The dinner menu in the Etihad lounge
We skipped food (having just come a Qantas flight where dinner was served and in anticipation of the Etihad on board dining the coming 14 hours) and just went for drinks
A visit to the restrooms which were spotless – they even had staff opening the main door for you
About 50mins prior departure we headed to the gate were boarding was already under way.
Etihad Airways flight EY461 from Melbourne (MEL) to Abu Dhabi (AUH)
August 2016
STD / AOBT: 22:10 L / 22:02 L
STA / AIBT: 06:25+1 L / 06:06+1 L
DUR: 14:04
Equipment: A388
Reg: A6-APB
Personal flight #392
Seat 3K (First Apartment)
After being greeted by the crew on the Upper Deck, it was a ‘turn left’ for us
Where one of the most extravagant First Class products in the sky welcomed us
We took some time to take photos before settling into our suites 4K
And 3K
Etihads Apartment features a wide leather armchair as well as a couch which is over 6ft long and converts into a separate bed during the night
In 3K, the seat is facing backward (which you also get in e.g. BA’s Club World)
Plenty of room to stretch your legs and watching movies is fun too on this 24in flatscreen
Looking across the aisle
The make-up mirror and vanity unit which is part of each (!) suite, did contain the amenity kit
Lounge wear and slippers were also provided
A private mini bar with water and soft drinks is located to the right of the seat
The cabin manager came around to introduce herself and soon we were offered a bubbly PDB as well
There was a choice between Bollinger La Grande Année and Duval Leroy Rosé
Dates, bubbly and a welcome letter
Time to take a look at the entertainment options
Entertainment and seat controls, the ear phones were good but not overly comfy
That´s where we are off to now, Abu Dhabi
Rain outside but pleasant anticipation inside
As it was dark outside, I can´t really offer any decent pictures of the take-off or climb out of MEL
Instead, let´s focus on what is going on inside the plane. Dinner time.
Olives, nuts and more bubbly to start with
We opted for buddy dining which was (obviously) a lot more comfortable than in BA First
Starting with an amuse gueule
Scallop and prawns as appetizer
My wife opted for the Arabic mezze (and while tasty, I think QR does these slightly better)
As main, my wife had the Spanakopita (Greek style spinach pie)
And I had the dish of the day – meat!
Wow, perfect and just as I like it. Kudos to the inflight chef!
Too stuffed for a dessert straight away, we opted for a lemon and curd tart later during the flight
After dinner I went to the lounge area, located between First and Business class and open to all premium class passengers. Live TV, seating area and a bar with snacks are the main drawing point here.
The business cabin was already dark and most people had gone to sleep
In the meantime the crew had prepared the beds for us. Some of the Apartments can be combined for couples travelling together so you almost get a double bed and of course I had made sure during the reservation that we were in one of those
The TV can be turned 90 degrees so you can also watch while in bed, a second remote control Is in easy reach as well
Good night! Unfortunately our sleep wasn´t too deep as there were three young kids in the other Apartments who kept running around.
But we still managed to get some sleep before waking up to a sunrise south of India
So I headed to one of the two large bath rooms reserved for First Class passengers
The other bath room was the one I was looking for this time…
… as I wanted to refresh myself in the shower
Water is not unlimited so it´s wise to keep checking the timer when showering
Having a shower at 40,000ft – just another weird moment of this crazy trip
After the shower we sat down for brekkie. Fresh toast, croissant and pastry were on offer
Adding a bit of English touch - poached eggs, sausage, grilled tomato and mushrooms
My wife preferred the Greek joghurt with berries and fresh fruit
Not part of the normal breakfast offering but when I asked for some cheese the crew happily offered this cheese selection
Still amazed how quickly 14 hours can go by when you are having the time of your life, all of a sudden we found ourselves approaching Abu Dhabi and passing the Formula One circuit
And then the dream was over – we had landed in AUH and it was time to say good-bye to a very kind crew and the amazing Apartment
Approaching the gate, looking at Etihad’s old and new livery in comparison
Before leaving the plane, I took a quick look at the Residence, Etihad’s premium premium offering designed as 3-room-suite featuring a separate bath room and bedroom. On our flight no one had booked the Residence and when I had asked to take a look inside, this was refused by the cabin manager, stating ‘it was not prepared to welcome guests so Etihad’s high standards do not allow for customers to enter it’. But anyone interested can take a look at the report/video Sam Chui uploaded recently, it gives you a great idea also on the ground service
A last look at our A380
Immigration was quick and easy thanks to the separate counter for premium passengers (again, comparing that to DOH, I think QR does a better job there with the separate lounge area where immigration is done). Finding our luggage was easy but the way to the Chauffeur counter proved a bit more difficult
No one wanted to see our prebooking details, we just had to show the First ticket and were pointed outside, where we told our destination to the dispatcher and were assigned an Audi A6 Sedan
We had to repeat our destination to the (very friendly) driver a few times during the drive but eventually reached Dubai
After a few detours on The Palm (the driver didn´t know the hotel or address, so we asked him to drive past the Atlantis and keep driving until we saw the hotel signs), we finally arrived at the Waldorf Palm Jumeirah
After taking a second breakfast and relaxing at the pool we headed to the city and went up Burj Khalifa
The next morning it was an early start as the Emirates chauffeur service awaited us
Difference Etihad First versus Emirates Business also visible in the cars the Chauffeur service is using
The navigation skills of the driver however matched those of his Abu Dhabi colleague the prior day as this one kept driving down the Palm a few kilometres ignoring our hint that in order to exit The Palm one needs to go past the Atlantis. He eventually realized and turned around, this cost us some 15mins but we still arrived on time at the separate Business & First section of DXB terminal 3
A porter grabbed our baggage and went off seeking a counter to check us in. He passed dozens of available counters and of course stopped at one where the lady behind the desk was busy making private phone calls. After ending those and trying to check us in, she signalled us to move to another counter as her systems apparently were not running. So we moved to the next counter only to find out that Emirates had decided to cancel our seat reservations and we were given seats at opposite ends (and sides) of the plane. Fantastic start to the first Emirates flight in 8 years. But to be fair, it went uphill from here
Our flight still showing on time
We made our way to concourse A with the train and headed upstairs to the lounge
Here we asked the lounge crew to take a look at our seat assignments again and they were able to find two seats close to each other at the back, near the bar. Much better than sitting in different cabins
Emirates DXB Concourse A business class lounge entrance
Plenty of seating available, the lounge was really massive and spans across almost the whole length of concourse A
We had some light breakfast from the buffet
Looking over to Concourse B, that´s a lot of Emirates planes
Boarding happens directly from the lounge, after going through boarding pass and passport check you just have to figure the right elevator to take to the plane
Emirates flight EK45 from Dubai (DXB) to Frankfurt (FRA)
August 2016
STD / AOBT: 08:25 L / 09:17 L
STA / AIBT: 13:15 L / 13:58 L
DUR: 6:41
Equipment: A388
Reg: A6-EOW
Personal flight #393
Seat 25K (Business)
Entering the Upper Deck, the golden Emirates sign sets the standard for the cabin design
The Upper Deck features 14 First Class Suites and 76 Business Class seats, this is the huge forward Business cabin
My seat 25K was in the smaller Business cabin at the back and close to the bar. It didn´t matter on this short day-time flight but could be disturbing when on a night flight as there is quite a few traffic and bar noise in the area
My seat was away from the aisle which offered more privacy
Some of the pros of the seat: plenty of storage space, easy to reach plugs and a mini-bar
Seat width and the space for feet were also ok, overall the seat felt very comfy
The IFE remote control was placed in an odd position however
But this didn´t matter much as IFE can also be controlled using this tablet which I really liked
Noise cancelling headphones did what they are supposed to do
Plenty of reading material too
PDBs were prepared in the bar area behind us, Veuve is Emirates choice for business class passengers
The crew was busy rushing through the cabin so I had to actively request the PDB
I had however lots of time to finish it as the captain came on intercom, informing us that a family with kids were considered unfit to fly and their five bags had to be sourced and removed from the plane. As these were located in three different sections of the cargo hold, the whole process took 45mins at least
Eventually we pushed back and the safety video was shown
Emirates “United for Wildlife” special livery
Can you spot the Aussie intruder here?
A flydubai 738 gets take-off clearance before the EK 777
The taxi was short in terms of distance but still took a good 20 minutes to make it to number one on the departure sequence
A 777 and 380 already waiting behind us
Take-off power set eventually
A look back at Burj Khalifa
During the flight I used the tablet to keep track of our flight path
After take-off a light breakfast was offered. I guess Emirates assumes passengers fill up at the lounge already
Somewhere over Iran
Time to explore the bar which had changed from when I was here last in 2008, merely half a year after EK had introduced the A380. Back then there were still overhead bins in the bar and I recall a Burj Al Arab picture at the wall
As I was headed to the office after landing, I only went for a mocktail here
The small rear Business cabin inflight
Emirates Business class lav
I didn´t sleep on this short flight but the seat looked OK also for longer rests
Mid-way through the flight the lunch service started, first with nuts
Arabic mezze as starter. I can now officially declare QR a winner in my unofficial ME3 Arabic mezze contest
The main course was a seafood harra which didn´t lack taste but was presented poorly
Dessert: banana cheesecake, uninspiringly presented
Not long after lunch was finished, we started the approach into Frankfurt
Passing the Frankfurt skyline and I was excited (not) to see my office again after 10 days
Touching down on RWY 25L
As EY pushed back for its flight to AUH, we deboarded our last of three 380 on this trip, swiftly cleared immigration, waiting ages for the baggage and then were taken to the office courtesy of Emirates chauffeur service (in a Mercedes minibus just for one passenger)
Thank you for flying us home, EK. This is the end of our round the world trip. Thank you for flying with us, a.net community.
A few words about this last part of our trip:
The checkin experience was nothing to write home about but inflight EK really surprised me. The seat was really nice, EK’s ICE inflight entertainment is still top-notch and the golden décor (which I used to hate) wasn´t as bad as I recalled.
Food-wise however EK is the weakest of the ME3.
As for our Etihad flight, their amazing hard product dominates the whole First Class experience and the crew was impeccable too. Having a seat and a separate bed is great but the limited recline of the seat was a bit of a downer (though I admit this is strictly a #firstworldproblem). Still I would book it again if I get a chance to travel on an Apartment route again (bank account permitting). And it was definitely one of the best flights I have taken so far (and will probably be in the top 3 list for quite some time).
If you want to relive the other stages of our RTW trip and check out some of my other trip reports as well, here is a list of what I posted so far:
2016
European Regionals (incl. CS100)
Round the world (Part 2): Skipping a day
Round the world (Part 1): a First Class start
Air Berlin across the pond – AB Y+ & C on DUS-MIA-DUS
A South American Teaser – LAN C 787 on FRA-MAD
Testing The Swiss Triple Seven In C FRA-ZRH-GVA
2015
Tudo Bom! - To Brazil In BA First & Club World
Lost In India – BOM-DEL-DOH-DME In AI+QR C
Meeting The Singapore Girls – ZRH-SIN-BOM In SQ C
At Putin’s Show Room - Maks Airshow 2015
New, Newer, Qatar Airways – A350, A380 & B788 In C
Siam Birds - Nokair & Bangkok Airways
2014
Quick Trip Across The Pond To NYC (SN & UA In C)
The Kim-Dom Calling-avgeek Heaven North Korea (P3)
The Kim-Dom Calling-avgeek Heaven North Korea (P2)
The Kim-Dom Calling-avgeek Heaven North Korea (P1)
Beijing And Back In C: LH A346 Vs. CA B773
A visit To Kingman & Mojave Boneyards With LX & LH
Northwest In Style - FRA-SEA-FRA In LH F (old)
Living The Dream(liner) – LAN FRA-MAD-FRA In Y
2013
Sleep Like An Egyptian:BRU-CAI-BKK-CAI-FRA In MS C
Endangered Species - A Weekend Trip To Russia (P2)
Endangered Species - A Weekend Trip To Russia (P1)
2008
The True Berlin Airport - Last Trip To THF
