Review Etihad business class lounge Abu Dhabi

WARNING. This lounge is closed permanently, as is the entire old terminal, now all operations moved to the new, state-of-the-art Terminal A And here Etihad has opened its new home.

The UAE capital's airport is much smaller than Dubai's, just as smaller is Etihad, the national airline of the UAE.

There are two terminals: the historic one on a circular basis connected by a long corridor with Terminal 3 and the new one where the home carrier operates exclusively.

The central part of the airport houses the security checkpoints, stores, and food court. There are 2 Etihad lounges throughout the airport, one dedicated to first class passengers and one for business class passengers.

The former is closed, and probably will be forever, as, post-pandemic, the fleet of Etihad will no longer see A380s and 777s in service, but only the 787s. And very few first seats are now available.

The location and access

The one dedicated to business passengers and Elite status holders of the Etihad Guest program, is located in the middle of Terminal 3. Convenient if you depart from this side of the airport, much less so if you depart (as in my case) from the old wing of the airport, say at least a ten-minute brisk pace.

Note that access for passengers traveling in economy, but with status from EY's partner airlines, is not guaranteed. In my case I was traveling on an AZ award ticket and access was allowed only to holders of the highest status, namely the now defunct Winged Arrow Plus. The same happens with statuses of other friendly airlines.

The hall

This is the most important VIP lounge for Etihad, and it is obviously the largest. When I arrived back from Phuket at 3 local time, it was almost empty.

A few minutes later the setting up of the breakfast islands began: there are 3 inside the lounge, but although it had filled up in the meantime, only 2 were operational.

The lounge is large, but it is also "old" and does not reflect the modernity the company offers aboard its 787s.

There are many types of seating, from bar counters to sofas. From restaurant tables to double seats where the few passengers present had spread out to sleep soundly.

Everywhere, of course, signs and remainder to maintain social distance and which places to occupy.

Then there is a small area reserved for first passengers and holders of the highest levels in the EY loyalty program, a small ploy to make up for the closure of the dedicated lounge. The difference is that here the service is at the table instead of the buffet served for all other guests.

The biggest flaw is that, being of old design, it has shortcomings. The biggest one is the difficulty in finding power outlets

There is also a concierge service, here you can leave your carry-on luggage and personal belongings so that you do not have to carry them around with you on your various trips around the hall.

I also took advantage of the opportunity to take a shower since I was coming from a long day in Thailand and a 6-hour flight. The showers are small bathrooms, there is also a toilet, unlike the ones Lufthansa offers in its Frankfurt lounges they are definitely smaller and if you have to change there is not much room to be comfortable.

Also available is a work area and couches that give plenty of privacy, all with personal TVs.

Food & Beverage

Upon my arrival, as mentioned, the room was almost deserted; I popped to the bar for a last glass of champagne before getting down to business on some of the articles on this site. The variety of wines available mirrors the products offered aboard aircraft, with the addition of a few other things.

Service is impeccable though slightly listless, but here it may also have been influenced by the lack of passengers, which certainly does not help the staff's workdays.

Breakfast is served in the islands, I expected much more and a higher quality offering.

There are single-serving items that are served upon request. Several types of bread, but very little offerings of pastries, again individually wrapped. The hot (and savory) offerings are only eggs, scrambled or boiled, bacon, sausage, grilled tomatoes, hashbrowns, or cinnamon pancakes.

No juicing or anything else, just some fruit juices. Far too little for a business lounge of a company of this caliber.

In conclusion

Disappointment. Granted, Etihad is no longer the carrier it was before Covid, but being in a market as competitive as the Middle Eastern Hub market, I expected something much better.

There is no relaxation area with seating designed for guests to doze off, not even a kids room to entertain children.

The lack of power outlets is very serious, and seeing the few guests go hunting like truffle dogs do is definitely not a good image.

Finally, the quality and quantity of food is just adequate; we are not in a 5-star hotel, but many guesthouses in Rimini offer a better product than what I found in this lounge.

The verdict

You expect the best from Etihad, especially if this is the lounge in Abu Dhabi. Instead, it's huge, but everything around here has very little soul. It lacks the touches you breathe aboard the new 787s. Hard to find power outlets, lacks real lounging areas, and most importantly the quality of the breakfast was really not up to the level. Last but not least it has no view of the runway.

6

Rated Location

7

F&B

6

Services

6

Pro

• The space

Against

• Elderly woman
• He has no sight
• The food was tasteless
• Inconvenient few power outlets