Flight Review EY462 from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne
Hi everyone for the 2nd part.
This report will cover my flight from AUH to MEL - Down Under - with some bonus pictures of Melbourne.
Trip Overview
1st Segment: MUC > AUH – EY004
2nd Segment: AUH > MEL – YOU ARE HERE
3rd Segment: MEL > AUH – EY463
4th Segment: AUH > MUC – EY003
Pre Flight @ AUH
After my connecting flight from MUC was perfectly on time (even a few minutes early) there was no rush for me to get my next flight to MEL.
I really enjoyed to walk around AUH in the morning and proceeded to the gate early as I read that there were some special security controls for flights to Australia.
They checked my bag and wanted to know how many devices with a battery I have (Notebook, Tablet, Mobile Phone, etc.).
Gate 34 for my longest flight up to that point!
I have not mentioned the aircraft type for that route.
Well … yes … it was a B787-9!
My first time flying with that type and I was really looking forward to it since I booked my flights back in January.
View of my B787-9 from gate.
Doesn't she look pretty? Especially in that morning light!! ;)
General Flight Information EY462
Aircraft Type: B787-9
Aircraft Registration: A6-BLK
Boarding (planed): 08:10 am
Boarding (actual): 08:25 am
Push Back: 09:26 am
Departure (planed): 09:10 am
Departure (actual): 09:53 am
Arrival (planed): 05:20 am
Arrival (actual): 05:59 am
Arrival Gate: 06:03 am
Ticket for flight EY462
Flight EY462
When boarding started a few minutes late, the aircraft was still refuelled.
My seat for my flight to Melbourne - once again 38A.
The seat pitch and width was a little bit smaller than on the EY B777 in my opinion.
Overal the seat was okay, but it was not that comfortable than on the B777.
Refuelling still ongoing.
View from my seat across the gates at AUH.
Bonus: Headphones connection in EY B787-9
As I had time and my flight was a little bit delayed, I tried to check out the Dreamliner a little bit. One pretty cool feature is the connection of the headphones to the inflight entertainment.
The connectores were fitted into the socket via the three magnet stipes.
Push back was about 30min late and the delay rose even more as we had to wait some time to get a new departure time because of that much traffic in AUH.
Thank god the view during taxiing and waiting was not too bad.
Finally with a delay of about 50min we lined up and our heavy heavy B787-9 roared away.
Take off was pretty amazing, you could really feel all the kerosin and heavy load of the aircraft.
Air France A380 at AUH (for service …?).
Some other aircrafts at AUH (for service …?).
Aerial view of beautiful AUH shortly after departure.
Weather was amazing … and that wing?
I fell in love when I saw it flexing during take off <3
Boeing makes by far the most beautiful wings ever!
Wing detail with blue sky as background <3
We departed in western direction, so we had to make a sharp U turn to get on course to MEL.
30min into the flight, a light snack and drinks were served.
When we left the Arabian Peninsula and entered the Arabian Sea, lunch was served.
Starter was some bean and cucumber salad, followed by spicy chicken with rice.
Dessert was some kind of pudding or something like that, to be honest - I have no idea how it is called, but it tasted okay.
Our route was slightly south of India and passing over Sri Lanka.
There wer no bumps over the Arabian Sea, but when we crossed Sri Lanka it started to shaking quite a lot for about half an hour.
No surprise as there were thick clouds outside on cruising altitude.
EY's entertainment system is very good (nothing new ;)), lots of new movies as well as old and well known movies.
I choose the new version of "It" … definitely worth to watch it.
The part between India / Sri Lanka and Australia is by far the most exhausting part of the whole flight.
It takes hours and hours to cover the distance and there is only water underneath …
Weather outside got thankfully better, just some fluffy clouds.
About half way between India / Sri Lanka and Australia, another snack was served.
Two buns with cheese and ham and it got dark as we headed into the night.
During the flight I made already some plans for MEL after arrival and slept a little bit.
Surprisingly I slept a few hours and felt refresh when I woke up anywhere above Australia.
Just a few minutes after I woke up - about 2h until MEL - breakfast was served.
There was only one option - vanilla bread.
Taste was good and filling.
Flight path and almost in Melbourne … the other side of the world!! :)
It felt that landing was not easy as there were some gusts that early morning in MEL.
But the pilot did a great job and tried to touch down as smooth as possible.
Finally … Down Under!!!
After a total travel time of 22h from departure in MUC to landing in MEL.
Post Flight @ MEL
After the flight, it took a while to get of the aircraft as there were some minor problems with the bridge at the gate.
Imigration was very good … maybe one of the most friendliest staff I have ever had at an immigration point!
I bought a SIM CARD for my mobile phone imideately after the exit and then walked to the SKY BUS Terminal which connects MEL Airport with MEL Downtown 24h a day and 7 days a week.
If you plan to go to MEL, book your tickets in advanced via the website! I really recommend that and you can save some money as well.
Bonus: Pictures from Melbourne and Phillip Island
Melbourne
Melbourne is a beautiful city.
The tram system is very convenient and easy to handle, by far the best option to get around Melbourne.
In the free tram zone - which covers all the hotspots in down town Melbourne - you don't need to pay anything and can use all trams as often as you want.
Southern Cross Station is the central station of Melbourne, from there you can go almost everywhere.
Docklands District with the habour and the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel.
The famouos Flinders Street railway station and St. Paul's Cathedral right next to it.
As I am a huge sports fan, I had to check out the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Wonderful and huge stadium - bigger than any stadium in Germany :D
Some of you might know, that Melbourne is also known for the Formula 1 Grand Prix, which is helt in Albert Park.
That was one of my main reasons to go to Melbourne, so here are a few pictures.
Awesome location, friendly people and everything is so easy to reach!
In the end, also the right driver - Sebastian Vettel with Ferrari - won!
Some other sights I visited in Melbourne where the Botanic Garden and Shrine of Remembrance.
I spent almost a full day in the Botanic Garden, because the location is awesome and even if you are in the middle of the city … you have the feeling you're anywhere but not in the city.
Flagstaff Gardens is also a great location and offers some great breakfast restaurants around.
Phillip Island
I also took the oportunity to visit Phillip Island, an island which is located about 150km south of Melbourne.
First up was the Maru Koala and Animal Park with Koala Bears and Kangaroos.
The location is very nice and looks very welcoming.
There were a lot of animals from the wilderness who were injured and now in care of animal sepcialists.
Next stop was Phillip Island itself.
The famous Phillip Island Chocolate Factory, which was great to see but not so intersting.
But … the chocolate is awesome!!!
Next stop was Woolamai Surf Beach, where lot's of surfers can be found when the weather and waves are great.
On the way to the Phillip Island Nature Park, we made a short stop at the Phillip Island Circuit where V8 Supercar Races and Moto GP Grand Prix's are held every year.
The Phillip Island Nature Park is located at the west side of the island.
The Nobbies at the end of the island are also very famous and with the great sunset in the afternoon, the atmosphere was awesome.
Last stop of the tour was the Penguin Parade.
It is quite amazin when the little Penguins come back to the beach and their nests when the night comes.
I did not made any pictures as it was forbidden because of the health for the Penguins.
They can get blind from the flash … unfortunately I will never understand such dump idiots who still made a lot of pictures directly in front of the Penguins ….
Thank you for that report.
Etihad is a pretty good airline to fly to Australia, even more when you are flying in a brand new aircraft such as the 787/380.
Hope you enjoyed Australia
Thanks for this FR.
Catering looks decent but a choice should be offered for breakfast.
No eyemask or toothbursh anymore? An exception should be made for flights to Australia.
Nice bonus of Melbourne.
Good you asked for the amenity kit ... I forgot that.
It was not offered on the seat, but you could get one if you asked the crew.
Thanks for the trip report. The dessert you had was sago pudding :) Enjoyed the bonus as well. Indeed MCG is huge, it has even hosted athletic events for Olympic and Commonwealth games, which is very unusual for a cricketing venue.
Thanks for leting me know what kind of dessert it was! I had this two times so far - on my way to KUL last year with EY and this time again!
I really like the tast, completly different compared what we have here in Europe as pudding :D