Etihad Airways adds A380 to New York, Paris

International jetsetters will soon enjoy more chances to live the high life in Etihad Airways’ Airbus A380 first class apartments as the Gulf carrier locks in the return of its superlative superjumbo to New York and Paris.

In fact, the Big Apple is already back on the departures boards, with one of Etihad’s two daily flights between Abu Dhabi and New York’s JFK Airport switching to an A380 earlier this week. The other remains a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

• EY1 jets off from Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport in the early hours at 2:55am, touching down in New York at 9:15am.
• On the return, EY2 sees wheels from JFK up at 2pm, arriving at 11am the next day.

The 13-14 hour flight gives ample time to enjoy the inflight lounge.

Paris is primed to follow suit from November 1, bringing the airline to a total of three cities featuring the A380, with London services already in the air since July last year.

• EY31 from Abu Dhabi will take wing at 2:40am, landing in Paris at a cheery 7:30am.
• EY32 out of Paris departs at 9:45am, touching down at 7:25pm.

Etihad’s famed Residence is the ultimate seating choice if your pockets are deep enough, though there’s anything wrong with the Etihad A380’s first class Apartment suites, of course.

Executive Traveller has always rated these as among the world’s very best first class suites thanks to their spacious 39ft² (3.6m²) footprint, a wide leather lounge chair and a separate ottoman which converts into an 80” long lie-flat bed, plus upmarket touches such as a chilled mini-bar and vanity mirror with make-up lighting.

Etihad's spacious and well-appointed first class Apartment suites.

But Etihad’s The Residence goes above and beyond: it’s a deliberately over-the-top suite created to out-luxe rivals such as Emirates and Singapore Airlines during a hyper-competitive time in the air travel landscape.

After all, which other commercial jets let you enjoy a private lounge room and a bedroom with a cosy double bed and your very own shower suite?

The Residence will be offered to A380 first class flyers as the ultimate upgrade.

Etihad has since cut back on its last-decade extravagances, removing not only The Residence’s dedicated butler and the A380s themselves, until “a surge in demand for air travel across the airline’s network” set the stage for the superjumbo’s return.

Travellers seated on the A380’s upper deck will have the opportunity to step inside the airline’s new first and business class lounges at Abu Dhabi Terminal A – home to everything from a rooftop cocktail bar to private Armani Casa suites with day beds.

The Constellation Bar is a rooftop drawcard for Etihad's new Abu Dhabi Terminal A lounges.

In addition to buffet dining within the Rooftop Lounge, there’s also an exclusive First Lounge Dining Room with an à la carte menu and fine wine selection, with a private elevator to whisk high flyers up from the first class lounge.

The business class lounge’s equivalent is Liwan Global Dining – an informal all-day dining restaurant with live cooking stations, Emirati and Middle Eastern cuisines alongside international favourites.

Additional reporting by Chris Ashton.