NEW A350 Etihad Enterprise Class Flight Overview (2022)

The NEW Airbus A350 is right here, and it’s one of the vital revolutionary aircrafts on this planet. It’s lighter, greener, smarter and quieter than some other technology Airbus plane, and expertly designed for consolation and house. 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 all the time, all phrases and opinions are my very own. This text comprises affiliate hyperlinks. As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.

How is the Etihad A350 completely different?

The Etihad A350 is one of the vital sustainable airplanes on this planet, fashioned as a partnership between Etihad, Airbus and Rolls Royce in 2021, the plane, named ‘Sustainability50’, carries a novel 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 (through the app) reduces paper utilization.

The place will the A350 Etihad fly to?

The brand new Etihad A350-1000 is presently 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 yr.

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 best way, let’s get onto the evaluate…

My Etihad Flight Particulars

Etihad Enterprise Class Examine-In at LHR

The checkin expertise at LHR Terminal 3 was tremendous easy, 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 Observe safety entrance. The traditional entrance to safety had no less than 100 individuals lining up exterior, so I used to be glad to have the ability to enter instantly by way of Quick Observe.

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 way bigger than typical 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 extensive, and converts right into a fully-flat mattress.

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

I particularly favored the blankets. They’re quilted on one aspect and furry on the opposite and are delicate sufficient so that you can be tempted to take one residence!

There’s 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 must manually modify it.

There are 3 preset decisions that are doable 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 possibly can see within the photos beneath.

There’s 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 an ideal choice of new launch films, TV exhibits, video games, and music.

Nonetheless, the leisure system was not out there while on the bottom, I needed to wait till we had been within the air, so I couldn’t browse and resolve what to look at 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 beloved utilizing the distant normally (I’m solely 5ft 2in and reaching out to make use of the contact display on the TV was not very snug).

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

Headphones

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

I really like this feature as I exploit my Bose QC35 II on a regular basis and hate having to carry 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 instances all through the flight. An incredible enchancment could be for it to recollect your gadget throughout the flight.

Wi-fi Charging

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

Firstly it solely works if you end up up within the air, secondly it’s VERY temperamental and I needed to hold re-adjusting the place of the telephone to get it to cost, ultimately I gave up and used my charging cable as an alternative. The charging port was tremendous quick so this was loads 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 may 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 should press the decision button. Nonetheless 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, ebook holder and a headphone hook.

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

On the alternative aspect there are two compartments with pop up lids, one is pretty shallow and may maintain a telephone 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 large enough for a bottle of water, it’s additionally the place 2 USB ports might be discovered (that is the place I plugged in my telephone cable after I couldn’t get the wi-fi charger to work).

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

Etihad Enterprise class passengers can select from a curated à la carte menu, and on longer flights can take pleasure in 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 had been provided on our flight.

I opted for the 5 course à la carte menu, so I didn’t have house to attempt the all day menu however I’d undoubtedly 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.

Evidently, I slept nicely in spite of everything that!

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

Etihad Enterprise Class Facilities Equipment

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 Equipment which contained a 40ml physique lotion, 3ml lip balm, 5ml Eau de Cologne perfume, toothbrush, toothpaste, ear plugs, socks, and an eye fixed masks.

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

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

Etihad Enterprise Class Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is obtainable 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 might 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 package deal for a couple of hours to compensate for e-mail and social media earlier than going to sleep, so the 200MB package deal would have sufficed contemplating the size of my flight.

Etihad Airways Enterprise Class Chauffeur Service

If you’re travelling to and from Abu Dhabi, your First or Enterprise class ticket features a chauffeur service to/out of your resort and the airport.

This should be booked no less than 12 hours prematurely through this hyperlink.

Whenever 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 easy service.

Closing Ideas on A350 Enterprise Class on Etihad Airways

The Etihad Airways A350-1000 enterprise class is spectacular. It combines a chic and personal pod with glorious foods and drinks. Plus I beloved the sustainability points, and the considerate touches (equivalent to 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 might be improved.

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