Flight Review EY463 from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi
3rd part is coming up, so welcome everyone.
In this review, I will cover my return flight from MEL to AUH and added some pictures from the hotel AEROTEL at Abu Dhabi Airport, in which I stayed during my 9h layover.
Trip Overview
1st Segment: MUC > AUH – EY004
2nd Segment: AUH > MEL – EY462
3rd Segment: MEL > AUH – YOU ARE HERE
4th Segment: AUH > MUC – EY003
Pre Flight @ MEL
Melbourne Airport is about 30km outside of Melbourne.
As I wanted to make my travel day as comfortable as possible, I choose to stay one night at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport.
The evening before my departure I took the SKY Bus from Southern Cross Station to Melbourne Airport and walked to the hotel.
Access is very easy and it also offers its own airport shuttle - I guess every airport hotel does that nowadays!
On flight day I enjoyed to take a long sleep and then made my way to the terminal via the hotel shuttle - it took just 5min!
When I arrived at the check-in, there was already a long queue. Only three counters were open, one for Business, one for Economy and one for online check-in.
Thankfully I did the online check-in the day before and was able to line up at the shortest queue of all three.
After check-in I walked to the security checks - I was checked additionally for some explosive material … it took a while, but of course … safety first!
Directly after the checks you go through the Duty Free shops like Rolex and so on ….
My gate for the flight was at the far end of the terminal, which resulted in a 15min walk.
At the gate I ate a muffin and checked out the other aircrafts around.
CX A350 to HKG
SQ B777-300ER to SIN
QF B787-8
EK A380 on the far side of the apron
TG A350 to BKK
And her's my lady, which brought me to AUH!
EY B787-9 to AUH
General Flight Information EY463
Aircraft Type: B787-9
Aircraft Registration: A6-BLQ
Boarding (planed): 03:55 pm
Boarding (actual): 04:00 pm
Push Back: 05:02 pm
Departure (planed): 04:55 pm
Departure (actual): 05:18 pm
Arrival (planed): 11:55 pm
Arrival (actual): 11:43 pm
Arrival Gate: 11:55 pm
Ticket for flight EY463
Flight EY463
Boarding was right on time and just normal.
We had to wait a little bit as one passenger "was lost" … never understand how someone can miss that … but yeah. ;)
Dreamliner Logo at the front door.
The flight was full and this time there was no empty seat next to me like on the AUH > MEL sector.
Nevertheless it was okay for the next 13.5h, but the space is limitted - no doubt.
Overal I am very happy with the product EY offers for just 800€ from Europe to Australia - I mean you travel half around the world for 800€!!
I bet it is difficult to get an cheaper flight to Downunder!
As the staff was searching for the lost passengers, SQ B777-300ER got ready for her flight back home to Singapore.
My Singapore Teddy's were very angry that we boarded the "wrong flight"!!! ;)
TG A350 takeoff.
Around 30 min later the lost passenger was found and we were pushed back and taxed to the runway.
Look who was behind us … hopefully they waited a little bit to get clear air behind us.
Takeoff and bye bye Australia!!!
There was another EK A380 far away from the Terminal … I don't know what she did, maybe she was teasing others and got punished. :)
One last look across Melbourne.
As usual, 45min into the flight the typical snack and drinks were served.
Our flight headed west and the weather over Australia was very good.
I was also able to see a mine down there.
Another 2h later, dinner was served.
Starter was something like couscous, followed by chicken with vegetables.
Obligatory … a cake as dessert.
It took about 3h to get to the west coast of Australia.
One last look back … gonna miss you Australia!
When we entered the Indian Ocean I found a pretty cool view of all the flight information.
It is called "Flight Control" and gives you all necessary information.
About half way between Australia and India / Sri Lanka, a muffin was served as I watched some movies on the inflight entertainment system and my tablet.
Another snack - popcorn - was served near Sri Lanka where we had to fly some curves to pass bad weather.
When we passed the bad weather over Sri Lanka and India the rest of the flight was very smooth.
So another meal was served about 2h before landing when we were over the Arabian Sea.
Noodle salad as starter followed by beef in vegetable cottage.
Arrival into AUH was not bad, the lights during the night are always faszination.
One thing really anoyed me during the whole flight.
I had such a f… i… behind me who always put his legs onto my armrest!
One time when I reclined my seat to take a rest, I pinched his leg (no I don't feel guilty, just happy!) … after that the leg never come on my armrest again and I was able to breath clear air! ;)
Hard to understand such a behaviour … yes I know there is not much space in Economy Class and you try to make it as comfortable as possible …. but … do you really need to put your shoes off or put your feets onto the armrest?
To be honest … sometimes it smells like the death!!
It is definitely not very friendly - no it is disgusting!!!
Post Flight @ AUH
For the first time ever at AUH, my flight arrived at a terminal gate and we were able to disembark via a bridge.
Security checks were full and took about 30min, after that I bought some souveniers for my family and walked to the AEROTEL which is inside the terminal area.
Bonus: Pictures from AEROTEL at Abu Dhabi Airport
My layover in AUH was about 9h as I did not get the early flight to MUC.
When I booked my flights the early flight to MUC was about 400€ more expensive, so I choose the morning flight instead of the early morning flight and booked a room in the AEROTEL Abu Dhabi Airport for 6h. Price was 100€.
It is very easy to find the AEROTEL which is located in terminal 1 of AUH airport, right behind the security checks.
There is a basic fare for 6h available but if you want to stay longer you can buy aditional hours to that basic fare.
During the 6h you have full access to your room with private bath as well as access for 1h to the restaurant and lounge.
The room is very cosy and offers all the necessary things.
Beds which cosy blankets and pillows.
Bathroom was very clean and offered all the stuff you need.
Showering and sleeping in a bed was georgous!
So I took a 3h sleep and then walked to the lounge to eat something for breakfast.
At 4:30 am local time there was no person in the lounge, so I had everything for my self!! :)
The buffet was not bad, it offered warm and cold dishes - so nothing to complain here.
Taste was also okay!
Overall the price for 6h was about 100€ … which is in my opinion okay.
In my case I still saved 300€ and enjoyed a shower, good sleep and some food at the hotel itself.
If you should have a longer layover, do not hesitate and try to get a room!
The hotel also ofers different rooms - single rooms, but they were already soled out for my time.
A shower only is also available if you want - that could be also a good option if you have a shorter layover of just 3-4 hours.
Thanks for this FR.
Well I'm a window seat kind of guy but for such a long flight and mostly at night time I guess I'd have chosen an aisle seat.
At 800€ it is indeed great value for money, but I'm not surprised this fare involved a long layover, and this 100€ hotel is a great solution.