NEW A350 Etihad Enterprise Class Flight Overview (2022)

The NEW Airbus A350 is right here, and it’s probably the most revolutionary aircrafts on the planet. It’s lighter, greener, smarter and quieter than some other technology Airbus plane, and expertly designed for consolation and area. Etihad Airways is the first UAE airline to function an A350 so I joined the inaugural London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi flight to expertise it first hand.

Disclaimer: My flight was supported by Etihad. As at all times, all phrases and opinions are my very own. This text accommodates affiliate hyperlinks. As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.

How is the Etihad A350 completely different?

The Etihad A350 is probably the most sustainable airplanes on the planet, shaped as a partnership between Etihad, Airbus and Rolls Royce in 2021, the plane, named ‘Sustainability50’, carries a singular livery in recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of the federation of the UAE and Etihad’s dedication to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

It’s:

• LIGHTER: 1kg lighter per seat. 
• QUIETER: 50% quieter than some other Airbus plane.
• GREENER: 25% much less gasoline burn and CO2 emissions.
• SMARTER: Bluetooth headset pairing eliminates using single-use plastics. Paperless newspapers and magazines (by way of the app) reduces paper utilization.

The place will the A350 Etihad fly to?

The brand new Etihad A350-1000 is at the moment flying on quick to mid haul routes from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai, Delhi, Jeddah, Cairo and Istanbul earlier than getting into lengthy haul service to New York and Chicago from July. A complete of 5 A350-1000 will be a part of Etihad’s fleet this 12 months.

What does a Etihad Enterprise Class ticket embody?

In addition to the onboard service, you additionally get:

Now that the introductions are out of the way in which, let’s get onto the evaluate…

My Etihad Flight Particulars

Etihad Enterprise Class Verify-In at LHR

The checkin expertise at LHR Terminal 3 was tremendous clean, I had deliberate to checkin on-line however ended up needing to do it on the airport, however with just one individual in entrance of me on the desk it was very fast.

After checkin, I proceeded to the Quick Monitor safety entrance. The conventional entrance to safety had a minimum of 100 folks lining up outdoors, so I used to be glad to have the ability to enter instantly via Quick Monitor.

Enterprise Class Lounge

I visited the Qantas lounge in London Heathrow T3 and the Etihad Enterprise Class lounge in Abu Dhabi Worldwide airport.

The lounge in Abu Dhabi was a lot bigger than the one in Heathrow, and it had extra facilities together with a buffet, bar, bathe, enterprise centre, magazines and newspapers and even a household room for the youngsters.

I spent an hour within the lounge catching up on work, and solely had some fruit as I used to be trying ahead to the meal onboard the flight.

Etihad Airways Enterprise Class Onboard Expertise

Etihad Airways A350 Seats

There isn’t any First Class on the A350 so the Etihad Enterprise class cabin is far bigger than common and has 11 rows of “Enterprise Studio” suites in a 1-2-1 configuration on the entrance, every with direct aisle entry and there are no rear-facing seats (which is a constructive change in my view).

Every suite has a sliding door for privateness (nice for sleeping), and every seat is over 50cm large, and converts right into a fully-flat mattress.

It’s good for anybody as much as 6ft 6in, however as I’m solely 5ft 2in I used to be VERY comfy.

I particularly preferred the blankets. They’re quilted on one facet and furry on the opposite and are tender sufficient so that you can be tempted to take one house!

There may be an illuminated display that makes it extremely fast to transform the seat right into a flat mattress in 20 seconds on the press of 1 button, so that you don’t have to manually alter it.

There are 3 preset decisions that are potential with only one click on, takeoff and touchdown place, a relaxed setting for watching the inflight leisure and the flat mattress. I modified between these 3 and fortunately by no means wanted to make use of the manually changes.

Etihad has it’s personal signature lighting design impressed by the shadows forged by Abu Dhabi’s palm bushes, as you may see within the photos under.

There may be additionally ambient lighting all through the plane, and darkish mode out there on the inflight leisure, to assist cut back gentle air pollution, fatigue and jet-lag.

Every seat additionally has a studying gentle by your head, however there was sufficient gentle (even throughout an evening flight) for me to not require this.

Etihad Airways Inflight Leisure

TV

There’s a massive 18.5” HD TV display with a terrific choice of new launch films, TV exhibits, video games, and music.

Nevertheless, the leisure system was not out there while on the bottom, I needed to wait till we have been within the air, so I couldn’t browse and resolve what to observe earlier than takeoff. This isn’t that necessary however it’s one thing I like.

Controller

The controller is present in one of many storage compartments and can be utilized to regulate the contents of the primary display or independently to point out completely different content material.

That is notably useful if you’re questioning how lengthy you’ve gotten left or the place you might be on the map, however don’t need to pause what you’re watching. I additionally cherished utilizing the distant basically (I’m solely 5ft 2in and reaching out to make use of the contact display on the TV was not very comfy).

As quickly as I discovered the distant, I might sit again and revel in.

Headphones

Enterprise class passengers obtain noise-cancelling headphones, however in a bid to cut back plastic, the Etihad A350 means that you can join your personal wi-fi headphones by way of bluetooth.

I really like this selection as I exploit my Bose QC35 II on a regular basis and hate having to convey a separate cable on flights! The one downside was that I needed to hold pairing the gadget each time I fell asleep or stopped watching, so I did this perhaps 5 occasions all through the flight. A fantastic enchancment could be for it to recollect your gadget in the course of the flight.

Wi-fi Charging

One other facet that I actually cherished the concept of, however didn’t work that effectively in practise is the built-in wi-fi charging dock.

Firstly it solely works when you find yourself up within the air, secondly it’s VERY temperamental and I needed to hold re-adjusting the place of the cellphone to get it to cost, in the long run I gave up and used my charging cable as a substitute. The charging port was tremendous quick so this was rather a lot simpler.

Newspapers and Magazines

Since COVID-19, Etihad has eliminated all newspapers and magazines onboard flights, however you now get entry to PressReader, a premium digital newspaper and journal app, 30 hours earlier than your flight.

You possibly can entry content material from over 7,000 newspapers and magazines, from 120 nations, in over 60 languages.

I really like that this additionally reduces paper onboard, and provides to their sustainability objectives.

A350 Etihad Enterprise Class Flight Service

The service from the cabin crew was nice, the flight attendants memorised my identify and I didn’t as soon as need to press the decision button. Nevertheless the cabin was solely 1 / 4 full, so it won’t be the very same expertise on a full flight.

Etihad Air Enterprise Class Storage

There are 4 sections for storage, in addition to a coat hook, e book holder and a headphone hook.

On the aisle facet, there’s an armrest thats raises and lowers. Inside it, there’s a bottle of water, and area for taller gadgets to be saved.

On the alternative facet there are two compartments with pop up lids, one is pretty shallow and might maintain a cellphone and different flat gadgets like passport, pockets and many others.

The different popup compartment is extra beneficiant and homes the inflight leisure system controller, the headphone port and a common energy socket.

The final storage compartment is by your knees, and is sufficiently big for a bottle of water, it’s additionally the place 2 USB ports may be discovered (that is the place I plugged in my cellphone cable after I couldn’t get the wi-fi charger to work).

Though there are a number of locations to retailer your belongings there’s nowhere to retailer your laptop computer, so I discovered myself having to maneuver it round typically. This isn’t a problem on the Etihad Boeing 787.

Etihad Enterprise class passengers can select from a curated à la carte menu, and on longer flights can get pleasure from Etihad’s signature ‘dine anytime’ service.

I personally love taking a look at meals menus earlier than I go to any restaurant, so here’s a peek at what we have been supplied on our flight.

I opted for the 5 course à la carte menu, so I didn’t have area to strive the all day menu however I’d positively need to pattern the toasted crumpets subsequent time!

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Enterprise Class Etihad Airways Meals and Drinks

Dinner at 10pm is a LOT later than I’m used to however I nonetheless opted for all 5 programs (and there have been empty plates throughout).

I began with a prawn appetiser, adopted by the lobster salad, the goats cheese soufflé with contemporary bread, a cheese board (by no means an excessive amount of cheese!), and the sticky toffee pudding.

For sure, I slept effectively in any case that!

Observe: There have been loads of drinks choices, however I just about follow water lately so didn’t pattern something besides an apple juice and a non-alcoholic Bellini, each have been beautiful.

Etihad Enterprise Class Facilities Package

Etihad offered a wellness pack which included a face masks, snood, a number of disinfectant alcohol wipes and a mini hand sanitiser.

There was additionally a complimentary Acqua di Parma Amenity Package which contained a 40ml physique lotion, 3ml lip balm, 5ml Eau de Cologne perfume, toothbrush, toothpaste, ear plugs, socks, and a watch masks.

Nevertheless, I like to recommend my all time favorite sleep masks, which I exploit every day and might’t think about sleeping with out it!

At house, I additionally couple it with the pillow spray, which is a useful journey measurement so may be taken onboard a flight too.

Etihad Enterprise Class Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is accessible onboard the Etihad’s A350-100 and prices $1.99 USD for chat solely (20MB), $6.99 USD for one hour (100MB), $15.99 for six hours (200MB), and $29.99 for 24-hours (350MB). 

These packages may be paid by bank card, PayPal or Etihad Visitor miles, and there are reductions out there for Etihad Visitor Members:

• Bronze – 10% low cost
• Silver- 25% low cost
• Gold – 75% low cost
• Platinum – complimentary

I used the 350MB bundle for a couple of hours to make amends for e-mail and social media earlier than going to sleep, so the 200MB bundle would have sufficed contemplating the size of my flight.

Etihad Airways Enterprise Class Chauffeur Service

In case you are travelling to and from Abu Dhabi, your First or Enterprise class ticket features a chauffeur service to/out of your lodge and the airport.

This have to be booked a minimum of 12 hours prematurely by way of this hyperlink.

While you exit Abu Dhabi Worldwide airport ensure you head to the Arrivals Lounge. My driver was prepared after I arrived so it was a really clean service.

Closing Ideas on A350 Enterprise Class on Etihad Airways

The Etihad Airways A350-1000 enterprise class is spectacular. It combines a sublime and personal pod with wonderful foods and drinks. Plus I cherished the sustainability points, and the considerate touches (resembling darkish mode and privateness door) that make it a greater expertise.

The complimentary chauffeur was notably useful (particularly when touchdown in a brand new metropolis), however there a couple of technical points such because the wi-fi charging and the wi-fi headphone connection that could possibly be improved.

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