Etihad’s A380 is known to be one of the most luxurious passenger aircraft in the sky. The aircraft is fitted with the ultra-luxurious Residence as well as a very impressive first class product that is pretty hard to beat in some aspects. Etihad has only 10 A380’s in their fleet and operates them to London, Paris, Sydney and New York at the time of writing. In 2017, Etihad announced that Melbourne would lose its A380 service and Sydney would take it and become double daily. Etihad will bring back double daily A380’s to Sydney for a few months this year.

Melbourne and Mumbai were also once A380 destinations but were removed in favour for better utilization and greater demand on more profitable routes.

According to Airlineroute.com, Etihad Will Bring Back Double Daily A380’s To Sydney

Starting on the 30th of March 2020 and ending on the 30th of June 2020, Etihad will take off the 777-300/ER from the EY450/451 service and replace it with a much newer A380.

Unfortunately, the swap won’t be permanent but a few months is better than nothing at the end of the day.  I would imagine the demand for the European routes is heavily lowered and this swap would allow the airline to get better use of the aircraft on a long-haul service.

Etihad 450 departs Abu Dhabi at 10:50 am and arrives into Sydney the next morning at 6:30 am local time.

Etihad 451 departs Sydney at 3:55 pm and arrives into Abu Dhabi at 12:40 am local time the next morning.

What’s it like on board Etihad’s A380?

Etihad is the only airline in the world to offer anything like this, and they’re extremely well known for it. The Residence is a 3 part suite in the sky containing a living room, bathroom and separate bedroom. The suite also comes with a fully customizable menu and ground experience coupled with an onboard chef and butlers in the lounge and onboard.

The first class apartments are what I would say are the roomiest in the sky and come with closing doors, a separate folding out bed, moveable TV, inflight chef and of course, access to a shower on board to freshen up before landing.

The business class is also quite a solid product with pyjamas, a decent menu to choose from, direct aisle access and if you want to stretch or socialize, there’s a lounge located at the front of the business cabin.

The economy cabin on Etihad’s A380 features 415 seats which are in the standard 3-4-3 configuration. Each seat houses a standard USB port as well as a power point.

Overall

While this is only in place for a few months, It’s definitely an upgrade for all passengers that will be travelling on that service. I’ve flown the 777 in first and business, and it’s perfectly fine, but it’s pretty hard to beat the A380 if the option is there, especially if you’re in a premium cabin.