Onboard Etihad’s A321LR supply flight: Behind the scenes from Airbus to Abu Dhabi

“Alcoholic drinks is not going to be accepted in both carry-on or checked baggage for this flight,” learn the e-mail reminder I acquired two days earlier than flying from Hamburg, Germany, to Abu Dhabi onboard Etihad’s factory-fresh Airbus A321LR.

That is the primary time in my greater than 1,000 lifetime flights that I’ve ever acquired such a discover. Whereas packing some bubbly definitely would’ve been acceptable for this distinctive flight, there was nonetheless loads of celebration to go round — even earlier than we ultimately popped some bottles of Champagne as soon as airborne.

Within the coming days, Etihad is about to inaugurate its Airbus A321LR, or “long-range” plane, that’ll significantly improve the narrow-body expertise when flying with the Gulf mega-carrier.

The jet is Etihad’s first single-aisle airplane to function lie-flat pods in each first and enterprise class. Due to its roughly 1,000-mile vary improve relative to the airline’s present A320 household, it’s going to unlock a bunch of recent routes and distinctive deployment alternatives for the airline.

However to ensure that the airplane to truly make it to Abu Dhabi for its Aug. 1 business inaugural flight to Phuket, Thailand, the jet needed to first get from Hamburg (the place it was manufactured at Airbus’ German headquarters) to Abu Dhabi.

And whereas many airways may’ve simply flown the airplane dwelling with just some help workers, Etihad determined to throw a celebration.

The airline invited choose media to hitch the flight (together with a bunch of Etihad workers and contractors), and I made the reduce. I am glad I did as a result of the expertise on this flight was in contrast to any of the opposite greater than 1,000 I’ve taken earlier than.

Boarding Etihad’s A321LR supply flight

Etihad Flight 3210 — a flight quantity chosen as a nod to the Airbus A321LR — was scheduled to depart from Airbus’ Hamburg manufacturing facility at 10 a.m. native time.

Very like a business flight, we arrived practically two hours earlier than departure. However there was no terminal in sight.

As a substitute, we pulled as much as constructing 110, the constitution constructing at Airbus headquarters, from the place the producer formally delivers and prepares supply flights for takeoff.

After arrival, I lined up for safety together with my 77 fellow passengers (that is a couple of 50% load issue for the 160-seat jet).

The safety course of was sluggish — far slower than you’d sometimes discover at main airports. Possibly this was as a result of they’d just one lane or as a result of all liquids wanted to be positioned in a 1-liter clear plastic bag; both manner, it took about an hour to get everybody by way of.

The liquid rule caught so many individuals off guard that an Airbus worker wanted to drive to an area comfort retailer to buy further plastic luggage for individuals’s liquids. (Thankfully, they let me by way of after I stuffed my liquids right into a bag I had for cotton pads.)

As soon as I cleared safety, I collected my pre-printed boarding cross and handed by way of immigration (which was only a border police officer arrange at a folding desk with a laptop computer and rubber stamp).

That is once I caught my first glimpse of the shiny new A321LR, registered A6-LRA, that will ferry us to Abu Dhabi.

A Do&Co catering truck pulled as much as the plane, and as soon as they had been completed provisioning the jet, it was time to board.

No jetbridges or (fortunately) buses had been wanted to succeed in this airplane. It was only a quick stroll (throughout which I finished each few steps for photos) earlier than I used to be onboard.

Onboard Etihad’s A321LR enterprise class

Turky Alhammadi, Etihad’s prolific director of product, was ready to greet flyers on the high of the airstairs, and from there, it was time to step onboard the jet.

Nobody flying on Friday was stunned by the airline’s new first-class, business-class and economic system cabins. That is as a result of everybody had attended Thursday’s supply ceremony, which ended with a complete plane tour.

However, that did not cease nearly each passenger, together with Etihad workers, from snapping photos and movies as they boarded and took their seats.

I have been on my justifiable share of particular flights earlier than, from inaugurals to ferries. Nevertheless, none had the identical stage of pleasure that I witnessed whereas boarding Etihad’s A321LR.

Maybe that is as a result of the airline did an outstanding job customizing principally each side of the mushy product for the flight.

The airline labored with an area Abu Dhabi artist to create a colourful portray of the A321LR flying above skyscrapers from the cities the A321LR will serve. This portray was printed on the menus, Wi-Fi vouchers and even on a commemorative tote bag that was ready for every passenger.

The crew additionally handed out supply flight certificates bearing the signature of CEO Antonoaldo Neves, which additionally had the colourful A321LR motif printed on it.

Along with all of the particular facilities, the standard-issue Armani Casa-branded merchandise — together with an amenity package, pillow, quilt, mattress pad and slippers — had been all ready for the business- and first-class passengers. (Etihad shipped all of the facilities to Frankfurt earlier than the inaugural flight because it would not have any provisioning in Hamburg.)

Whereas settling in, I spent a while exploring the first-class suite, which undoubtedly seems like a giant step up from enterprise class.

The pods, full with sliding doorways, have virtually limitless house on your ft, they usually even function a buddy seat if you would like to dine with a companion.

Closing the door actually helped create a way of private house.

Whereas I might’ve spent the entire flight in top notch, Neves arrived simply as boarding ended to occupy his throne in 1A.

Again to seat 5F in enterprise class I went, and I used to be actually way more impressed with the product than I assumed I might be.

When Etihad repeatedly stated that it aimed to convey wide-body consolation to a narrow-body airplane, I took the declare with a grain of salt. Having flown related merchandise on different A321-family jets, I’ve lengthy stated that the spaciousness of a wide-body lets airways ship extra spectacular merchandise.

That stated, I left the practically seven-hour journey completely impressed with the enterprise product, which is a custom-made model of the Stelia Opera seat.

Whereas the gold-colored seat trims, faux-marble facet desk and gold sconce all added a way of luxuriousness to the product, the seat itself did not disappoint both.

Maybe probably the most thrilling side of the product was the open and outsized footwell, which is difficult to seek out in a business-class seat as of late. This made sleeping and enjoyable very straightforward — there was completely no contorting essential to get snug.

The outsized 20-inch-long and 15 1/2-inch-wide tray desk prolonged from beneath the facet desk. I might transfer it nearer or farther from me, and it was straightforward to atone for work and dine with this setup.

Now the product is not good, and a few tradeoffs had been essential to accommodate the narrow-body expertise.

The primary is a scarcity of storage. There isn’t any enclosed storage in both first or enterprise class, and that is a giant downside for many who typically misplace free gadgets like wallets, keys and AirPods.

The second is the shortage of a sliding door in enterprise. Etihad could not set up doorways as a result of weight they’d add to the jet (which might limit payload through the hottest months in Abu Dhabi). And whereas I might undoubtedly nonetheless see my neighbors and foot visitors within the aisle, the reverse herringbone association not less than meant that I wasn’t staring into the aisle.

Drawbacks apart, that is nonetheless a top-tier product, and it solely bought higher with the slew of high-tech devices and gizmos.

For one, each seat on this jet contains a 4K TV, and those in enterprise measure 17 1/3 inches. Whereas I might management it with my finger, there was additionally a useful touchpad-based distant that I might use to pick out programming.

The TVs help Bluetooth, and I had no bother connecting my AirPods to the system.

I additionally had no drawback retaining all my units juiced up due to 4 completely different charging choices: common outlet, USB-A, USB-C and Qi wi-fi charging.

However probably the most thrilling tech improve was undoubtedly the Wi-Fi, supplied by Viasat. I loved streaming-quality speeds from takeoff to landing, with downloads hovering round 10 Mbps and uploads round 1 Mbps.

Etihad happily did not overlook the fundamentals, both.

Every seat has a private air vent, and there are two standard-size bathrooms shared between the first-and business-class cabins.

As I used to be exploring my cocoon in 5F, I used to be interrupted by a cabin announcement from Neves, who was thanking and congratulating all the workers who made Friday’s supply flight attainable.

After a brief 20-minute air visitors delay from Eurocontrol (supply flights share the identical airspace as all the opposite jets within the sky), it was time for pushback.

The Airbus headquarters would not have many taxiways, so we taxied down the departure runway earlier than making a U-turn on the finish and jetting off runway 23 at 10:39 a.m. native time.

We celebrated liftoff with some cheering and applause, after which the hand-picked crew sprang into motion. (Etihad is staffing 5 crew on this flight: one for top notch, two for enterprise and two for economic system.)

To have a good time the supply, the crew introduced some canapes and mocktails to set the temper earlier than launching into the extra formal four-course lunch service.

Etihad all the time provides a top-tier eating expertise in enterprise class, and this flight was no exception.

From the signature Arabic mezze to the seabass to the fruits served with dessert, I completed the meal so fortunately satiated that I could not think about having a nibble on the all-day eating menu just some hours later.

It wasn’t lengthy after ending the meal that I caught myself dozing off, which was very straightforward on this snug seat with all of the bedding and open footwell. (The meals coma in all probability helped, too.)

I wakened as we had been halfway over Iraq. At this level, the sunshine was getting softer exterior, which meant that our arrival in Abu Dhabi was approaching.

It was a bittersweet second, however little did I do know that the social gathering would proceed on land.

Arriving on Etihad’s A321LR supply flight

After touchdown on Abu Dhabi’s runway 31L, we turned away from the brand new terminal and as an alternative taxiied towards the outdated one.

As a substitute of parking at one of many outdated gates, we pulled as much as the non-public VIP terminal and deplaned through air stairs coated in a purple carpet.

A few of my fellow passengers in all probability did not even discover what was happening as a result of they had been too busy wiping their sweat. In any case, the warmth index on arrival was over 100 levels.

However inside moments, we had been ushered contained in the VIP terminal to a ready group of greater than 100 excited Etihad workers and executives.

Brief speeches commenced shortly thereafter. Throughout the speeches, a speedy cleansing crew boarded the airplane, and by the point the official ceremonies ended, the entire native attendees bought an opportunity to tour the (clear) airplane.

As for me, I waved farewell to the A321LR and ventured off to courageous the warmth, hoping to in the future get one other likelihood to take pleasure in a flight onboard Etihad’s A321LR.

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