Part 3
Carrier: Etihad Airways
Flight number: EY018
Date: 25th June 2011
Routing: LUH-AUH
Seat number: 31K but moved to 32K due to problem with PTV
Aircraft type: Airbus A340-541 (Equipment swop, not too bad)
My 3rd ride on this aircraft type and 2nd airline to have flown on A340-500.
1st time on A6-EHA
Engines: RR Trent 553
Date delivered: 9th June 2006
Line number: 748
Registration: A6-EHA
Flight Duration: 6 hrs 50mins
Load factor for Y class: 85%
Departure gate: 10 (Terminal 4)
Arrival gate: 28
Departure runway used: 27R
Arrival runway used: 31L
Click here for part 2.
My ride
Introduction
I had mixed feelings before this flight. I was looking forward to seeing someone in Singapore, but at the same time, I couldn't bear to leave the country. But the feeling of seeing that someone special made me, in the end, look forward to going home. I had bad experiences on my previous flights with Etihad Airways, so I wasn't too looking forward to the service. I checked with the website, this flight was served by A6-EHJ, 3 days consecutive !! What was the odds of EHJ doing my flight for the 4th time! I was not very optimistic about it. Anyway, I flew into London from Madrid by BA8752, BA Cityflyer ERJ190. As the flight was in the evening, I went to my sister's place to rest and head towards my favourite shopping mall, Westfield Mall at Shephard's bush for some last-minute shopping. Time passed by quickly, soon I went back to my sister's place, pack my luggage, bid farewell and made my way to the airport.
Before boarding
I did a check on my handphone on the plane that I was flying on. I was slightly disappointed to see that it was A6-EHA, A345 that was operating on my flight instead. Well, at least it is not A332 that I would get to fly on, on the AUH-SIN sector. As usual, I did some exploring after a 15 minutes wait for check-in. Apparently, a couple in front had some problems with their documentation, thus took a long time before they were done. This was my first time departing from terminal 4, and I took some photos along the way, please enjoy.
On Board
I didn't expect the gate to open so early. When I reached the gate, most passengers had already boarded the plane. So making my way the aerobridge quickly and went to my seat. The PTVs on my seats were flickering, along with my neighbours and the row in front. It was quite irritating, and the worst thing is we highlighted this to one of the cabin crews, who gave empty promises, but another nice crew, Kaiser who overheard our conversation, came over and offered her help which we greatly accepted, by allocating us to other seats. Kudos to her, she was one of the best crews on board, very friendly and helpful throughout the flight. Before I continue further, please enjoy these photos!
Cabin shots
PTV set was reboot.
More about the flight
The service on board was much better than my previous. Only one of them was unimpressive, that one that kept empty promises. The rest of the crews were friendly especially Kaiser who is the best of the lot. Anyway, the PTV system onboard this flight was similar to the A330s. The PTVs are quite user-friendly and in my opinion, better than SQ's. Not only there is the touchscreen navigation, but there are also camera views and easier to navigate using the control. No problem using the system, and I realized only in my next flight was that they were in a midst of replacing these sets with a newer one which included portable USB connectors. Food was quite ok, I remembered eating it quite quickly because I was quite hungry. As for the flight, it was relatively smooth, just a few bumps after take off from LHR.
Window shots
Conclusion
This flight was much better than the previous 2 flights. In fact, this was the best flight I had among the 4. Do check out my AUH-SIN sector, in my next report. As mentioned before, only 1 black sheep on board this flight, the rest were ok. Comfortable and quiet cabin, typical of Airbus and the 2-4-2 seating configuration was great. The reassigned seat, I was not seated with anyone which was also another big plus. The last time I flew on the A345 was on SQ's promotion flight, Bangkok. This was definitely a welcome addition to my flight log. However, I would like to fly another A340-600, perhaps with Thai the next time around.
Ratings
Service: 8/10
Food: 7/10
Aircraft: 9/10
Cleanliness : 9/10
Punctuality: 10/10
Comfort: 8/10
Grading: A
Thank you for reading!
Best Regards,
Charles
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