AFF Review: Etihad Boeing 777-300ER Economy (SYD-AUH)

[AFF Editor]

Etihad Boeing 777-300ER Economy Review (Sydney-Abu Dhabi) is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

Etihad Boeing 777-300ER Economy Review (Sydney-Abu Dhabi)

How is Etihad's long-haul Economy Class experience in 2024? We flew with the Velocity partner airline from Sydney to Abu Dhabi to find out.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[IrishPete]

There was definitely no menu when I flew in November and December. Meals were a mystery! They were fine though, and while I've previously been hungry on Etihad flights, that wasn't the case for any of the four legs I flew.

I had decided against those seat rows because I thought they would be noisy - close to the toilets or galley. Was that not the case?

(I am not 100% sure I was on the same type of plane, but it sounds familiar.)

 

[JohnMcC]

My wife took return economy flights on Etihad from Melbourne in September/October last year (so 4 legs, 4 different flights and has sworn (actually in multiple ways) that she will never fly with them ever again. I understand that parts of her experience which I won't detail here were unique to her flights but other parts mirror the review: staff that do the bare minimum ("professional" but disinterested), no drinks offered between meals, shortage of food options, mediocre entertainment system, ageing aircraft. Added to which he found the seats on every leg uncomfortable. I'm glad that Etihad is concentrating on profits over service – good for them but you can only cut back so much before people notice. We travelled together from Athens to Barcelona on budget airline Vueling and she said that this was a better flight and travel experience in every way which tells me something.

 

[Bjet]

I flew with Etihad before COVID. I remember there were no amenity kits and menu. Now you are so lucky that Etihad has improved a lot - it has got amenity kits, menu, large amount of food. That was much better than my flight!

I read the forum and heard the aviation geek complained about Etihad had reduced the inflight service and forced pax to buy snacks. However, I was surprised that they offered more food than I thought. More free snacks so that we did not have to worry about buy snacks. Phew! Haha! I felt FULL!

Yeah it was disappointed that it was difficult to select seats because I did not want to pay extra for the seat selection. It isn't normal to charge AUD50 for that seat selection. I did try to ask the check-in staff to change seat for me. They did try their best for me but no available.

Yeah I agree, if you fly with 787s, it has got more movies than 777s - maybe due to storage limitations on Boeing 777's old hard drives. Still the same before COVID-19. Won't fly with Etihad's 777s again in the future. It's odd that most 777s fly to USA. What a long flight hours with few inflight entertainments there.

Yes I agree, I will fly Etihad if I was able to get that lower price - between $900 to $1200 to europe. Always fly with 787s and A350s. I paid about $1200 to europe outside school holiday and both planes were FULL.

It was an interesting flightpath - from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi - we took off from Melbourne then flew across Great Australia Bight, then pass over Perth and then straight on to Abu Dhabi.

 

[tania worrall]

@AFF Editor Matt, we're flying Sydney to Abu Dhabi in March; which option would you recommend for comfort: extra legroom seats, exit row or the two seaters up the back. Thanks

 

[AFF Editor]

@AFF Editor Matt, we're flying Sydney to Abu Dhabi in March; which option would you recommend for comfort: extra legroom seats, exit row or the two seaters up the back. Thanks

How many people are travelling together?

 

[Bjet]

Please remember that all the selected seats aren’t free.

 

[dhs]

My wife and I flew on the 777 from Sydney to last year and found the narrowness of the seats very uncomfortable.
On the return flight we paid extra to select seats at the back of the plane. Although the seats themselves were the same (narrow) width, it did not feel so crowded and we found them a lot less uncomfortable. We did not notice any excessive noise from the toilets or galley. Having said that, I don't think we would choose to fly on an Etihad 777 again (the onward flight to London was much more comfortable on an A380, and I notice Etihad now flies those from Sydney for some flights)