From Abu Dhabi to the World no more! The cup of woes runneth over for Etihad Airways, and it isn’t stopping anytime yet. After the $1.86 Billion Loss that hit them, they are constantly on the ways to stop the bleeding, a large part of which was caused by their deal making in Air Berlin and Alitalia. It led to the ouster of James Hogan from Etihad.
They have been consistently cutting amenities and routes, and that does not seem to stop. They shut down the Six Senses Salon & Spa in London, then in Abu Dhabi last year. Earlier this year, they cut their flight to Jaipur.This week itself, Etihad has announced their decision to cut flights to three destinations in the coming months. So if you are flying on any of these destinations, check again.
- Abu Dhabi – Ho Chi Minh City route, currently served 6-weekly, moving to a 3-weekly tomorrow, by an Airbus A330-200/300 aircraft, is being closed as of August 30, 2018. The last flight for EY441 between Abu Dhabi to Ho Chi Minh City and return on EY440 between Ho Chi Minh City and Abu Dhabi will both be operated on August 30, 2018.
- Abu Dhabi – Perth route, currently served on a daily basis by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft, is being closed as of September 30, 2018. The last flight for EY486 between Abu Dhabi to Perth will be operated on September 30, 2018, and EY487 between Perth and Abu Dhabi on October 1, 2018.
- Abu Dhabi – Edinburgh route, currently served 5 times a week by an A330-200 aircraft, is also being closed as of September 30, 2018. The last flight for EY27 between Abu Dhabi to Edinburgh and EY28 between Edinburgh and Abu Dhabi will be operated on September 30, 2018.
Of course, if you are already booked on these flights, then Etihad is not off the hook and will work with you to rebook you on other flights.
Given that there is no announcement on new routes, and all we see has been cutbacks recently, it is clear that Etihad Airways is right now rolling back routes that are not working for them, and not adding new ones. Which perhaps means planes in storage, or leased out to other airlines.
It is sort of funny because a few years ago, they couldn’t find enough planes to fly so they indeed took over 6 of Jet Airways 777s to fly long haul as well.
Have you recently flown on Etihad Airways? I’d love to hear your latest experiences in the comments below.
Flew them last year in J (787-9). Couldn’t fault them. Still solid after my prior flight with them in 2015. Still the best seat in J (other than QR’s suite which I haven’t experienced), service still superb (try and be nice to cabin crew, and they’ll return the favor with interest), wines and spirits excellent, food far better than Emirates, and on par with QR (but then again, I don’t eat a whole lot on airplanes, limiting myself to the excellent mezze on Gulf and ME carriers, and warm nuts). Whole experience let down by the hideous, shambolic AUH airport.
They are also firing cabin staff for random reasons who have seniority.
Good friend who worked J/F was fired for random reasons that didn’t exist because she was making a lot of money.
I’ve been a Platinum with EY over many years. Recently flew F to SIN. It was the worst F experience ever. Made my own way to the seat. After five minutes the very arrogant chef came to me and asked if anybody had taken my order. Order for what? – I asked. Dinner? Pre take off drinks? I wanted the fish, but had already ran out. Unbelievable. They used to offer a special seafood meal if booked in advance, but that stopped well over a year ago. No welcome back, no greetings whatsoever. The cabin manager did not introduce herself. The two cabin crew (one of whom was the chef) looking after the F cabin clearly tried to get away with doing the least amount of work possible. Flew back from BKK with Oman Air in J, and it was a very solid product. Streets ahead of EY. Thank you and good-bye Etihad.
Recently flown AUH-HKG-AUH in C class. The service was a shadow of the past.It is getting less polished, lots of faults a long the way, the toilet was filthy and not been cleaned once, the crew were mixed in their attitudes. Some are good, mostly from Asia, some are rude and just lazy, mostly Europeans/ Africans. The food in size and quality is not so good anymore, just mediocre. The wines are good though. No more amenity kits or pj. If you want one, you can purchase it onboard. This is quite stingy and left a bad after taste! The seat is an old solyst seat not the new C suite promoted. Even as a silver tier member of their FFP, not even a decent nod from the purser onboard. Bye EY, it was a once a nice way to fly but it is time for me to move on.