Etihad Airways, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, Economy, Abu Dhabi to Paris

route

Flight EY37; Abu Dhabi to Paris.

airplane

Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Loyalty Program

Etihad Frequent Flyers are not part of any major airline alliance, but they do have reciprocal arrangements with many individual airlines including Virgin Australia. You can credit points earned on Etihad flights to your Virgin Australia account or use Etihad Points to book Virgin Australia flights. New Etihad Frequent Flyer members will receive 500 bonus points when they join.

class

Economy class seat, 18C (aisle).

period

Seven hours and twenty-five minutes.

carbon emission

According to Etihad’s online carbon calculator, my flight emits 387kg, which I can offset for $5.96 ($8.50) through their partnership with CarbonClick.

frequency

Etihad Airways flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Paris.

healthy

Passengers must wear masks.

Check in

Etihad offers passengers the opportunity to upload the required travel documents for their destination a few days before departure. I uploaded my documents (in this case, my vaccination certificate and my EU digital passenger locator form) and got ready to fly status. When I arrived at the airport, I had already checked in online and I joined the bag drop queue ready to fly. Since it was much shorter than the other queues, I passed the security quickly.

the seat; the seat; the seat

The seats are divided into three groups of three, 17.2 inches (43.7 cm) wide and 31 inches (78.7 cm) apart. I’m on 18C, an aisle seat with an empty middle seat next to me, and better yet, an empty seat in front of me so I know the seat doesn’t recline so I can relax. Having plenty of personal space makes flying more comfortable.

luggage

20kg of checked baggage, one carry-on bag up to 7kg plus one personal item up to 5kg.

entertainment

The entertainment system didn’t get much exercise on this early morning flight, with many passengers – presumably as tired from the start as I was – dozing off for most of the trip to Paris. For those who can’t sleep, a selection of movies, TV shows and albums is available on our seatback screens.

Serve

Etihad Airways won the “Best Cabin Crew” at last year’s Business Traveller Middle East Awards, and this crew did not disappoint. Granted, many of the passengers were asleep and not very demanding of them, but they were always friendly and efficient.

food

Breakfast is served shortly after takeoff and you can choose between a breakfast omelet or a pudding cake. Several passengers around me expressed confusion about what the pudding cake might be. The crew seemed equally unsure. Most people choose the safe option and eat fried eggs. I skip breakfast, but I checked in with a neighbor who gave the omelette a thumbs up.

there’s one more thing

It’s not clear why, but we arrived in Paris almost an hour earlier than expected, which was a pleasant surprise.

judgment

Any flight that gets you there early is a good flight.

our five

★★★★

Writers travel at their own expense.