My inbound flight landed at 0500 in AUH and my connecting flight to GVA departs at 0900, so plenty of time. After disembarking from the 777 I go to the security at transfer point, which is very smooth as there is no one about. I go straight to the new Etihad lounge near gate 35 in the new terminal building to have a shower, check email and eat.
the lounge is pretty spectacular.
I drink a few double espressos and take the tradional FR picture
My flight is on time. Pretty standard with EY. I love watching the departure board. Always makes me want to travel more. Gate 44 does not exist. Well, it does. It is a remote stand. We are bused to the ramp which provide a free tour of the airport, a absolute delight for plane spotters and avgeeks. It is a beautiful clear winter morning here in AUH.
I discover my plane as we reach the last aircraft on the ramp. It is A6-AFA, which is painted in that spectacular purple special livery. It is the second time I will ride on this aircraft. I am not a big fan of special livery, but this one is a success.
I try to set back a little to take more pictures including the tail. However I am told off by a security guard, so I stop and climb the stairs to board.
This A330-300 despite being the first A330-300 delivered to EY (Dec2009) has a spotless cabin.
The Palace of the Emirates, luxury hotel which I visited when in AUH first a few years ago.
My seat 6K. The first section of the Business is very empty today. Only 3 pax.
This is the configuration of the EY A330-300
The remote stands provide a spectacular line up of aircraft in AUH these days. There is in fact more aircraft parked at remote bays than docked at the aerobridges of the old and new terminal combined. Amongst the EY A330 tails emerge the Air Seychelles and Air Berlin A330. Both boasting friendly color schemes
It is a long taxi out to the new runway. We are following Alitalia A330 EI-EJP. I had not seen an AZ A330 before I don't think. I am looking forward to the rebranding of the 'Old lady which the Etihad touch. In te background the new super Terminal is taking shape in the sandy Arabian dust
In front of us, two EY baby A321 and A320 respectively. Believe the now old EY livery looks better on larger aircraft.
The stunning livery of Air Berlin
Unheard of so far in AUH is a long queue of aircraft waiting for take off. EY had grown so much that was going to be unavoiadable. Beside only one runway out of the two is operating.
EI-EJP is almost ready to go. Great view of the wing span
A very smooth take off to the South-East before a sharp left turn to head toward the Persian Gulf
A rather long flying time of 6h50 minute today, No problem I can enjoy the onboard serve for longer.
Lunch is serve. I have made a special meal request for this trip (Seafood) so I only get cooked fish, or seafood/ smoked fish. As usual well presented. And tasty!
It is never a straight path in the sky. The plane is zig zagging to avoid weather and/or political sensitivities. The plane is avoiding Irak and entering Iranian airspace to get to Turkey friendlier skies.
A region rich in history and tension
Tracking West of Lake of Urmia in Iran before veering West to fly over Lake Van in Turkey
A rare and lucky air to air picture of a following aircraft. In fact an Emirates 777 which is flying below us. The plane will eventually fly underneath us and disappear.
Well and truly in leaving Asia now over the Black sea with the Bulgarian coast line in sight
The beautiful yet short coast line of Slovenia with Trieste / Italy in the distance
Flying at the vertical of Venice and I missed my photo opportunity
Lago di Como / Italy-Switzerland
Lago di Lugano / Switzerland - Italy
The Cervin / Matterhorn - Switzerland.
The Cervin again ,just teasing the wing
The end of Geneva Lake (called Lac Leman in that part of Switzerland), and the start of the Vallee du Valais. Somewhere in the snow fieds lies the famous ski resort of Verbier
La Vallee de Chamonix/ Chamonix Valley - Col des Montets / Montets Pass and the road going to Switzerland and Lac Leman Sadly we are flying just on top of Mont Blanc, and I could not see it. A shame because I had never seen such a clear day over the Alpes. Spectacular
As we have well commenced our descend. this is GVA. The lake, the city, the airport, and the Jura Mountains.
A bit of Zoom
The airport and an Emirates 777 that had just landed.
The plane turning left towards Annecy before turning back and land towards the North
The Mont Blanc, as we have started our final approach.
The Airport and the EK 777 at the gate
In all a very smooth and enjoyable trip
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Verdict
Etihad Airways
9.3/10
Cabin10.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering9.0
Abu Dhabi - AUH
5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0
Geneva - GVA
9.8/10
Efficiency9.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0
Conclusion
Another uneventful trip with Etihad. Great crew, attentive and engaging. The food was great. The light load of the first section of the business class cabin made it even more enjoyable despite the long flight time. We were 10 min late in GVA, but being such a cute and small airport, I was out in a flash.
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Thanks for sharing this report . The cabin looks nice and comfortable. I understand that you ordered seafood but hope that you did get more than the plate we see in the report . Any desert ? The air to air pic with the Emirates 777 is very nice.
Thank you. I have only little interest in airline food. And I never drink on board, thus the lack of catering coverage on my first 4 reports. However I have quickly worked out that this is of huge interest to the readers and other flight reporters, so I will make a conscious effort to cover food moving forward ! Stephane
Thank you, yes it was a very clear (cold) day. The First class cabin was empty that day, but full when I returned. Believe the flight was light, and so was the Emirates one that landed a few minutes ahead of us. Removing the overhead bin gives that huge sense of space indeed.
A beautiful report from start to finish! For an Aviation enthusiast boarding from the ramp is always a treat (unless you're in a rush)--especially when you get this beautiful special livery! Great cabin shots, I really like EY's choice of colors in the cabin, much more classy than blingy EK. Great aerial views and awesome air to air. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for this nice report. I also flew Eithad for my trip to Sydney in 2012. From Sydney to GVA, EY offers the perfect timetable and service is good quality. Beautiful pictures from the arrival in GVA. I personally think that GVA is one of the most beautiful landing in Europe. And thanks for your explanations, it seems you know Switzerland very well!
Thank you. Yes that was amazing. I asked the crew to ask the Captain to tell me which EK flight is was but they never came back to me, so I will never know.. I took a great shot of the EK plane as it was sitting just between the purple winglet and the purple nacelle but the photo came out completely blury..... Anyway Etihad was flying higher than EK lol
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282 reviews
14 Comments
It's interesting that EY removed the overhead bins in the middle of the cabin to give a more airy cabin on the A330s, but left them on the B777s.
GVA is a high revenue passenger route probably warranting an F cabin (A333 vs. A332), what was the load factor in F on this flight?
Great aerial shots on arrival at GVA.
Believe the flight was light, and so was the Emirates one that landed a few minutes ahead of us.
Removing the overhead bin gives that huge sense of space indeed.
I also flew Eithad for my trip to Sydney in 2012. From Sydney to GVA, EY offers the perfect timetable and service is good quality.
Beautiful pictures from the arrival in GVA. I personally think that GVA is one of the most beautiful landing in Europe. And thanks for your explanations, it seems you know Switzerland very well!
Anyway Etihad was flying higher than EK lol
The lounge is airy and large : unfortunately you're not interested in food ;)
I like the EY cabin colour scheme and also the new EY livery : it reminds me Vasarely's paintings
Nice air to air and gorgeous aerial pictures on arrival at GVA (thanks to the tour guide)
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