As you can probably tell by now I am heavily obsessed with Etihad Airways. I’ve flown them 6 times in first and business all on their A380 and 787 however I hadn’t flown their older first class product or an A340 before so this was a perfect opportunity.

Booking

For this flight I used 60,000 AAdvantage miles. To find Etihad availability you go to Etihad Guest Availability Search. The seats you want to look for are ‘Guest Seats’. All Etihad redemption through American Airlines have to be done over the phone. If the agent can’t find it on the phone ring the Australian line on 02 9101 1948, For some strange reason the Australian line can find more Etihad first award space than others.

Lounge

For premium passengers Etihad uses the ANA business class lounge. Interestingly first class passengers cannot use the ANA first lounge.

The lounge was very crowded as all premium passengers on ANA, various Star Alliance airlines and Star Alliance gold members use the lounge.

I made my way to the gate to then find out we were delayed by 30 minutes. As I looked out the window I noticed the A340-600 operating my flight was the Formula 1 livery which looks amazing!

Soon after boarding started the excitement was getting pretty high. At check-in I checked the loads and saw I was the only passenger booked in First which was pretty cool however 3 more passengers arrived in the cabin just as the doors were about to close.

I was given seat 1A which I was very happy with.

As I sat down the cabin service manager Belinda came around and welcomed me onboard and introduced the crew who would be looking after me.

As with every first class flight on Etihad you get a welcome tray with dates, a hot towel and a signed welcome letter. A few minutes later the menu’s were handed out.

Etihad also provide Pyjamas, Slippers and a Le Labo styled Amenity kit.

The ottoman storage can hold my 22’’ suitcase and still has a lot of room to move around.

The suite also has a minibar. The minibar drinks are warm not chilled, so it’s basically a storage compartment for water.

Etihad provide noise cancelling headphones however I prefer to use my personal Bose headsets.

Each suite has sliding doors providing maximum privacy for passengers in first class. Interestingly these type of suites are fitted on 777-200LR, 777-300ER, A340-600/500 and selected A330 aircraft.

As our takeoff was at night I wasn’t able to grab good departure photo’s so I’ll skip to the dinner service.

Inflight Menu’s:

À LA CARTE – FROM THE GRILL – TASTE OF JAPAN – ALL DAY DINE – JAPANESE BREAKFAST – CHEESE – DESSERT – DESSERT WINE

Alcohol list. (Sorry for the Japanese menu, that what they handed me)

To start off I was given a tray containing Arabic coffee, Mixed nuts, Olives and Vegetables. I also had a ginger ale.

After the beautiful food I wanted to get some sleep and the crew came and made the bed.

I managed to get around 9 hours of sleep which I was very happy with. Considering the age of the seat it’s extremely comfortable and find it on par with the bed in the A380 apartments. I woke around 2 o’clock and didn’t really feel like eating but ordered something just to fill me up slightly.

One thing I love with mood lighting is the LED stars. They may be hard to see in the photo but it’s a pretty cool effect.

I love the windows in the bathroom, what a view!

I was surprised at the size of the bathroom, it’s quite spacious and a lot of space to move around if need be.

In first Etihad offer my favourite amenity brand Bergamote 22. I absolutely love the product and always keep the small tubes included in the amenity kits.

Unfortunately the flight was faster than usual and our decent started as I finished taking pictures of the washroom. At 3 in the morning there isn’t too much to see in Abu Dhabi however I do love looking out at the lights and seeing how different the scenery is to other cities I’ve flown into. As we arrived in Abu Dhabi we taxied to a hard stand as gates were taken. I was hoping for a BMW tarmac transfer which they do sometimes for first passengers, platinum and exclusive members however not this time.

The best thing about the hard stand is the view, what an amazing aircraft!

Summary 

I absolutely loved my time on the A340 and cannot wait for another opportunity to fly on one. I was very satisfied with the onboard service by the crew and how comfortable the seat was. I find Etihad to be constantly consistent and amazing in first class.