Etihad Airways

We have flown on a dozen different airlines now, and this has to be one of the best ones so far. We flew on Etihad Airways from London to Abu Dhabi return in Oct 2004. Knowing it was a new airline we did look online for a few reviews regarding this airline – and I am afraid it was mostly negative ! People were mainly moaning about the unfriendly staff and the awful food and comparing it to Emirates. We decided to fly by Etihad anyway. We thought since we are going to UAE, we might as well go on one of their national airline. My husband is in the travel industry so we were quite curious bout ... more

Etihad was voted the World's Leading New Airline for three years in a row at the World Travel Awards between 2004 and 2006 - and it's not difficult to see why. New planes; a decent seat-pitch; a state-of-the-art entertainment system; laptop plugs; a generous reward programme, cheap airfares and quick journey times. It ticks all the boxes. It all didn't start too well mind. My efforts to book seats over the Internet ended in abject failure as the website returned multiple error messages at the payment stage. A twenty minute call to the reservations department later my wife and I were ready to ... more

In a nutshell, Etihad is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and it flies to and from Abu Dhabi. Flights are mainly from London Heathrow, with limited flights (currently one per day) from Gatwick. This is annoying if you live near Gatwick, and that time doesn't suit you. Etihad also fly to far eastern destinations, such as Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila, Colombo and Mumbai (with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, obviously). I travelled in early December 04, to visit relatives in Dubai. The only option was Etihad, as there were no flights available with Emirates or BA - I had to ... more

The National Airline of UAE, Eithad is a fairly new airline. I flew direct from Gatwick to Abu Dhabi in August 2005, by booking on their website which was clear and concise, and when I rang up with a query the lady on the phone was very helpful and friendly. Prices are cheaper compared to other airlines, though flight times are limited. On the day check-in was prompt as there was no queue and we boarded almost as soon as the gate was announced. Our flight was on Sunday morning and it was packed, we had been allocated seats next to the toilets, so there was a steady stream of people going to ... more

I have now flown with Etihad 4 times, from London to Dubai, Dubai to Thailand and return. It's a great airline, and because it only flies to few destinations from the UK check in is really quick! Once aboard the flight I was surprised that even economy class, where I was sat, was very nice. Business class looked amazing and I can only imagine what first class was like (it's sectioned of from view). All my comments are based on economy class, or what Etihad calls 'Coral Class'. The cabin was outfitted in soft tones of cream, white and gold and the seats were comfy and spacious. For take off and ... more