Review of Etihad Airways flight Melbourne Abu Dhabi in Economy

Airline Etihad Airways
Flight EY463
Class Economy
Seat 38H
Aircraft Boeing 787-9
Flight time 13:25
Take-off 27 Mar 18, 17:18
Arrival at 27 Mar 18, 23:43
EY   #6 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 278 reviews
Rob777ER
By 7626
Published on 10th May 2018

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!
photo 20180326_193709


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.
photo 20180327_141744


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 ….
photo 20180327_145012photo 20180327_1451050


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
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SQ B777-300ER to SIN
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QF B787-8
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EK A380 on the far side of the apron
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TG A350 to BKK
photo 20180327_150937


And her's my lady, which brought me to AUH!
EY B787-9 to AUH
photo 20180327_150020


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


photo 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.
photo 20180327_160605


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!
photo 20180327_161140


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"!!! ;)
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TG A350 takeoff.
photo 20180327_162744


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.
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Takeoff and bye bye Australia!!!
photo 20180327_171845


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. :)
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One last look across Melbourne.
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As usual, 45min into the flight the typical snack and drinks were served.
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Our flight headed west and the weather over Australia was very good.
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I was also able to see a mine down there.
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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!
photo 20180327_210400


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.
photo 20180327_220458


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.
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Another snack - popcorn - was served near Sri Lanka where we had to fly some curves to pass bad weather.
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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.
photo 20180328_064133photo 20180328_065657


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!!!
photo 20180328_053050


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


Bonus : Click here display
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Verdict

Etihad Airways

8.0/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew8.5
Entertainment/wifi8.5
Meal/catering8.0

Melbourne - MEL

7.9/10
Efficiency8.5
Access7.5
Services8.0
Cleanliness7.5

Abu Dhabi - AUH

7.8/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

Information on the route Melbourne (MEL) Abu Dhabi (AUH)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 3 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Melbourne (MEL) → Abu Dhabi (AUH).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Etihad Airways avec 8.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 14 heures et 0 minutes.

  More information

1 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 444731 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    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.

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