Review of Etihad Airways flight from Vienna to Abu Dhabi in Economy

ETD

EY - Etihad Airways

Flight taken on 29 October 2024
EY154
11:00 05h 20m 19:20
Class Economy
Seat 49K
Trent_XWB
505 · 93 · 0 · 17

Hi, dear flight-report members and readers! In this FR I'd like to present detailed review of Etihad Airways Boeing 787-10 on a mid-haul flight from Vienna (VIE) to Abu-Dhabi (AUH). 

This flight was the first leg of my trip to Japan (VIE-AUH-ICN-KIX, the last leg being operated by KE A333). I was enthusiastic to eventually fly B78X (I had to fly EVA's B78X in November 2023 on TPE to ICN, but due to high demand aircraft was changed to B77W, which was a nice experience anyway), but the flight was not pleasant due to strict (and almost hostile) crew, which were prohibiting taking photos onboard (almost like the worst crews in the world - Iberia's ones), but I managed to take decent shots of the cabins. 


Boeing 787-10 operators


In late 1990s Boeing made a simple stretch of B777-200ER, the result was B777-300, which had less range, worse payload-range curve and thus optimized to mid-haul flights. B787-10 is also a simple stretch - of ultrapopular B787-9 (which, honestly speaking, makes me vomit, because I'm fed up of B789s). B78Xs is also optimized for mid-haul flights (actually, it's the best CASM machine for mid-haul in the world), but with little or no cargo it can do most longhaul flights (including even transpacific ones from US to East Asia), so it's quite versatile. All the B78Xs are produced in Charleston (whereas most B788s and earlier B789s were produced in Everett). Also it's important to notice that Dreamliner is the only widebody family in current production that still allows selection of engine types: GEnX or RR Trent 1000 (with the latter rapidly losing popularity). 

It would be interesting to list the current B78X operators and their layouts. All the B78X have (and will have) 3-3-3 economy layout. Though there do exist some B788 and B789 with 2-4-2 - thanks JAL, the only "boutique" 787 operator (JL was disappointed by drop of assembly quality of Dreamliners and thus never ordered B78Xs). 

Currently there are just 10 operators, but their number will sharply increase in the foreseeble future as quite a lot of airlines placed have B78Xs on orders.

1) ANA: 3 RR-powered units in international 3-class layout (C38_W21_Y235) plus 6 GE-powered units in domestic 2-class layout (C28_Y401 - the world's most dense 787s).

2) British Airways: 12 RR-powered units in 4-class layout (F8_C48_W35_Y165). BA is the world's only 4-class B78X operator.

3) Etihad Airways: 10 GE-powered units in 2-class layout (C32_Y295).

4) EVA Air: 12 GE-powered units in 2-class layout (C34_Y308).

5) KLM: 14 GE-powered units in 3-class layout (C38_W28_Y252).

6) Korean Air: 10 GE-powered units in 2-class layout (C36_Y289).

7) Saudia: 8 GE-powered units in 2-class layout (C24_Y333).

8) Singapore Airlines: 26 RR-powered units in 2-class layout (C36_Y301). SQ is the launch customer and world's largest operator of B78X.

9) United Airlines: 21 GE-powered units in 3-class layout (C44_W21_Y253).

10) Vietnam Airlines: 6 GE-powered units in 2-class layout (C24_Y343).


Vienna Airport


Etihad flight from Vienna are operated from Terminal 3, and the boarding area is in concourse D, which was modernized and looks very nice. 


The Aircraft


The aircraft of today is 2018-build A6-BMD. I was hoping for one of special liveries, but the standard livery is also great (if only the EY crews were also great…)


photo dsc_003870photo dsc_003942

The GEnx-1B engine.


photo dsc_004345

Boarding


At online check-in I got a middle seat in one of the center blocks (and on the check-in desk in the airport I was told that I have to pay for seat change - similar to ITA experience, though the sum was twice lower). At the gate before boarding I managed to change the seat for free to 49K - a duo seat in the very last row, thus I was one of the first to board and it allowed me to make enough cabin shots (before crew noticed it and became angry). 


The 2L door.


photo dsc_004438

The Business Class Cabin


A glance on the business class cabin, located entirely between 1L/R and 2L/R doors and consisting of 32 "Etihad Business Studio" seats (based on Zodiac platform) having front- and rear-facing seats. It will be shown in details further.


photo dsc_004440photo dsc_004442-11653

The Economy Cabin


The economy class consists of 295 seats in 3-3-3 layout, distributed between two large cabins: the front one between 2L/R and 3L/R doors and the rear one between 3L/R and 4L/R doors. The crew dimmed the windows, the cabin lighting was weak (which later discovered to be typical for EY flights), and in semi-darkness in was hard to take good photos, but I tried to do my best…


The front economy cabin. 





The rear economy cabin. Please notice, as all the Dreamliners traditionally have 2 missing windows in the rear cabin (due to fuselage barrels connection), here the bad row is 44 (photo 6 in the gallery). Due to fuselage tapering, the very last row 49 has duo seats near windows (photo 9 in the gallery). 





The Economy Seat


My seat for today is 49K in the duo block in the very last row. Due to fuselage tapering these duos are aligned to the aisle, so 49A/K are not truly window seats. Although, there is huge gap between these seats and the cabin wall, which drastically increases lateral space. 


The seat model is Safran Z300 of the latest generation. Whereas I praise Z300 model for its high level of comfort and ergonomics, in this case EY obviously was greedy for padding, and the seatback felt hard (though, not as hard as Z400 one in ITA's A339). The seatwidth between armrests is impressive (for 3-3-3 Dreamliner) 17.6", though, it comes for the expense of armrests' width, which is very humble, making them decorative. 


The seat has adjustable headrest (with one "wing" fixed), modern IFE with big screen with adjustable angle, universal power socket, USB port and headset port under the screen, bifold tray table and seat pocket. The row pitch is standard, which is OK for me. Waiting on the seat are pillow, blanket, headset…





… and bag with amenity kit inside.





Enter text here…


The gap between 49A/K and the wall is more than enough to store the backpack. The drawback is that the window is too far. Though, due to huge size of 787 windows it not that big problem.


photo dsc_005017

The seatbelt buckle.


photo dsc_004637

The overhead panel doesn't have individual airvents.


photo dsc_004633

Inside the seat pocket are safety card and inflight magazine.


photo dsc_004614photo dsc_004619

The IFE has quite extensive content, but I didn't explore it much.


photo dsc_004923

A (quite dull) advertisement of the EY loyalty program. 


photo dsc_005658

The Flight


We took off from VIE on time, and after an hour the meal is served. It consisted of beef with puree, sause and vegs, salad, cheescake, bun, butter and bottle of water. The meal was tasty, but not enough in size for me. The cutlery was metallic.





Meanwhile we're flying over Mediterranean Sea.


photo dsc_005293photo dsc_005350photo dsc_005452

Time to stretch the legs. 
A view of the front economy cabin (it was not possible to take a photo of the rear cabin, because the crew were watching like cerberis).


photo dsc_005551

The lavatories are very stylish, which is a rarity on Dreamliners.





Meanwhile we're flying over Sinai peninsula and approaching the Red Sea.


photo dsc_005583photo dsc_005572photo dsc_005596

I ask crew for an additional meal and - surprise - get one (the same). It was not obvious considering that the flight was quite full.


photo dsc_005623photo dsc_005638

Overflying some impressive landscapes in Saudi Arabia.


photo dsc_005683photo dsc_005706

Then follows some impression cloud formations, including a huge cumulonimbus. Autumn is the time when the Middle-Eastern sky becomes impressive. In summer it's always empty and dull.





Meanwhile daylight comes to an end…


photo dsc_006000photo dsc_006012

… and after a while we land in Abu Dhabi in the night and park near the new terminal, named after sheikh Zayed.


The Economy Cabin After The Flight


My seat 49K after the flight.


photo dsc_006235

View of the rear economy cabin upon disembarkment.


photo dsc_006242-20067

Views of the front cabin upon disembarkment.


photo dsc_006254-60517photo dsc_006264-31579

The Business Cabin After The Flight


I was not expecting that the strich crew will allow me to visit the business cabin, but they did (thanks!), telling not to take photos of the seats with after-the-flight mess. So, this is how their Business Suites (not really suites) with forward- and rear-facing seats look like:





    


photo dsc_006274photo dsc_006295

And now it's time to say goodbye to A6-BMD and strict (but not very bad) EY crew.

Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!

Display all

Product ratings

Airline

Etihad Airways 7.0

  • Cabin7.5 / 10
  • Cabin crew5.0 / 10
  • Entertainment/wifi8.0 / 10
  • Meal/catering7.5 / 10
Departure airport

Vienna - VIE9.3

  • Efficiency9.5 / 10
  • Access9.0 / 10
  • Services8.5 / 10
  • Cleanliness10.0 / 10
Arrival Airport

Abu Dhabi - AUH7.8

  • Efficiency8.0 / 10
  • Access6.0 / 10
  • Services8.0 / 10
  • Cleanliness9.0 / 10

Conclusion

A rather OK flight on the longest version of Dreamliner with relatively comfortable cabin (though, seats are lacking proper padding) and good service (though with strict and not very friendly crew).

Did you enjoy reading this?

Let the author know by sharing a clap! It will be greatly appreciated!

17 Clap

Trent_XWB 's latest reviews

Comments (0)

Login to post a comment.
Flight-Report

Ad Blocker Detected

Flight-Report is a free website hosting more than 500 000 pictures and 17 000 reviews, without ads, this website can't exist.

If you enjoy our website, we would greatly appreciate it if you could disable your ad blocker to support us. Thank you for your help and understanding!

How to Allow Flight-Report.com?