Review: Etihad Airways 787-9 Business Class Moscow-Abu Dhabi
- Konrad Tillman
- 2 days ago
- 11 min read
Intro
Oh damn, I have to leave Russia now? No more 3$ Beluga vodka shots and Yandex? How will I survive?
Well, after a sensational time exploring the Motherland, it was finally time to get on my way back to the States for a week to see my extended family up in Canada. It’s a sad reality when you leave a place you fall in love with, but it’s never goodbye, only “see you next time”.
Anyway, how was Etihad on this 5-hour run to Abu Dhabi? Honestly, I must have the worst luck with EY this year, as this is my fifth flight where I just found it to be worse than subpar. I don’t say this lightly, but it might be the worst value-for-money business class experience I’ve come across.
Once again, personal preference, but the same standard of service occurred in all 5 of my J flights with them…
Route- Moscow (SVO)-Abu Dhabi (AUH)
Flight Number- EY842
Seat- 10A
Aircraft- Airbus A350-900
Date- August 17th, 2025
Flight Time- 5 Hours and 15 Minutes
Price Paid- 74,000 FlyingBlue Miles+358 Euros
How I Booked
Ok, this might be the peculiar booking I have ever done in my life, but here goes.
Flights from Moscow to Bangkok are reasonably priced one-way for J, coming out to about 1200-1500 USD. Considering how expensive Russia is, not bad at all…
However, after searching a couple of points programs, I came across a fare on FlyingBlue taking me from Moscow to Abu Dhabi and onward to Bangkok for 74,000 miles+358 Euros.
But here is the weird thing: this award space was only available on FlyingBlue, and not on any other program (outside of EY). Personally, this is the first time I have seen this…
Check-In
Finally beating jetlag on my 14th morning in Russia 😅, I hopped in a Yandex Go (17 USD) and made the all-familiar 45-minute drive off to SVO. On the way, we got a glimpse at the financial district in Moscow, which looks nothing like what I expected.
Fun fact: a family member was having a meeting here when the market crashed in 2008, and was eventually closed (mid-meeting)
Arriving around 9:15 am, perfectly in time for the opening of check-in, I made my way up the stairs at Terminal C, through the first luggage check, and off to check-in.
While Terminal C is relatively large, it was easy enough to find the EY check-in with its golden signs. Two lines were dedicated to J passengers (and Elites), but economy passengers seemed to fill them up before being sent away 🤔.
Waiting around and twiddling my thumbs, it couldn’t have been more than 5 minutes before a kind agent called me over. She asked if I had bags to check, to which I replied, “No”, and she mentioned that the Malevich Lounge is the one that EY passengers use…
Great, 2 and a half hours in the lounge sounds optimal. Or so I thought…
Immigration
Where does one even begin with the debacle of Russian immigration at SVO? The two worst aspects of a trip to Russia are arriving and departing.
Steaming through the Sky Priority Security, I was more than happy to enjoy my time in the lounge, sipping my champoffee. But no.
A flight was heading off to Tehran an hour before SVO, and with only 5 security lines open for foreigners, it became a clusterf**k.
We waited. And Waited. And Waited… People’s “friends” kept joining, and others kept switching. It was genuinely worse than immigration at Islamabad.
Finally, after the rest of the Iranians (hilarious people, btw, love Iranians) had made it through, I was next up. Or so I thought…
Someone forgot their phone and tried to jump the barrier to go back and get it 🤦♂️. Finally, after 10 minutes of their other friends going to get the phone, I came face to face with a lovely Russian immigration agent, and made it through after an hour of waiting.
Aye, aye, aye…
Boarding
Spending roughly an hour in the Malevich Lounge, which was alright, I headed over to gate 125 around 11:30 am for the 12:50 pm departure.
Why? Well, I had never actually flown the 787-9 on Etihad (only the 77Ws), so I really wanted those empty cabins pics. When I arrived, it was virtually empty, with not a soul in the business class line.
Right on the dot at 11:50 am, passengers in business class were called to board, and I ran down the jetbridge, more than excited to be on board a new product for me!
Arriving at the door of the jetbridge, the crew seemed to be in a chipper mood, but interestingly, didn’t offer to show me to my seat. More on this in a bit, but the first very small sign I saw (not a big deal (actually don’t like it as it interrupts cabin shots), principle)…
The Seat/Cabin
Turning left through door 2L, I was pleased to see an aesthetically pleasing business class cabin taking up the entire section between doors 1 and 2.
While certainly dated, Etihad uses the Zodiac Aerospace for this version of the 787-9, while newer versions feature the Collins Element.
Everyone has their personal preference, but I am not a fan of this seat at all. Seats might be laid out in a 1-2-1, but you face the person across from you. So, I was in 10A for today, and the whole flight I was looking at 10E, unless hiding behind the very small partition.
Whatever, not the end of the world, just one of my least favourite seats, but to each their own.
My seat for today: 10A
Aside from the layout, the seat in itself is actually quite nice with how it's designed. Each seat features a spacious side table for drinks (and nuts), a tray table that pops out from the side (this is a huge bonus for added space for your legs when sleeping), universal power ports, seat controls, and a modern IFE remote.
Later on during the flight, I discovered that much like with the Q-Suite, the armrest closest to the aisle opens up for a storage compartment.
Look, to each their own, but I would rather be in a window seat on the old BA CW than this product. The lack of privacy does me in, and I don’t mind the TK 330s either; it’s just staring at your neighbour in the eye.
Departure
Settling into my seat, I happened to be feeling a little ready for a napito. Seeing as it was about 5 hours to AUH, I headed up to the lavatory by door 1L to head to the toilet when a cabin crew member came up to me saying, “Yes, what?”. Well, that’s one way to greet a passenger 😒. Again, a small thing, but noteworthy to me…
Anyhoo, arriving back at my seat, it wasn’t long before a delightful Russian FA came over to welcome me on board and ask me about my trip to Russia. She was fabulous, but was working the other aisle on this flight. Great 🥴.
Checking out all the amenities, roughly 10 minutes later, a tray was brought around offering us a pre-departure beverage. I selected the ECP champagne, and was pleased to see that EY doesn’t skimp out here on taxes for booze.
But once again, something stuck with me. After the PDB, an agent came up to me, grabbed my boarding pass, and wrote my name into something. No welcome on board or anything. Very peculiar.
Okay, enough. At 12:38 pm local time, we pushed back from gate 125 as I was wishing I had taken the SU direct to BKK… At least I got to see her 🥴
During our long taxi out to 24C, I was getting a little bit sad seeing these beautiful birds for the last time in a while. The 777s, the 747s, and the Sukhois. As someone who is not based in Russia, this is such a privilege to witness…
It was a long taxi out this afternoon, and we were wheels up right on time at 1:00 pm with a beautiful lift. The 787 is a marvellous plane, and with views of rural Moscow, does it get better?
Amenities
Once in the air, I figured it was time to check out the amenities offered onboard today. Going into this flight, I already knew what to expect, but I was pleased to find that nothing was missing. That’s a plus!
Each J passenger receives a comfortable mattress topper, a plush blanket, an amenity kit, the classic EY slippers, and a pillow.
Additionally, a very good pair of noise-cancelling headphones is provided, but it’s a shame I couldn’t use mine…
IFE+WIFI
With the amenities out of the way and a lack of privacy in the seat, I decided to switch on a movie before taking a nap.
Etihad has a decent selection, with plenty of new-release movies and classics, as well as TV shows.
Only one issue: my screen would freeze every 15 seconds for about a second. For the first 4 minutes, you just say “okay”, but eventually you just say “wtf”. Anyways, I call over the FA to see if they can reset the system, and she says nothing is wrong.
I proceed to take a video of the freezing and call her back. Her response (and I quote word for word): “There is nothing we can do”.
Alright then, at least I will use my free wifi to begin writing my initial thoughts on this product 😅. Wifi usually costs 9.99$, but it is waived for business class passengers, which is nice.
Meal Service
Roughly 40 minutes into the flight, the flight attendant working my aisle came around to take my order for the evening. Not only do I appreciate EY condensing the menu into 2 pages, but the menu looked delightful.
When my order was taken, I informed the crew that I would love a glass of champagne, as well as a coffee and sparkling water. While the coffee and water came out, the champagne was unfortunately forgotten.
Anyhoo, about an hour and 5 minutes after takeoff, my lovely Arabic mezze was presented. I’m not a huge fan of mezze, but I wanted to see how it held up with the QR mezze. Honestly, QR was much better, but the one on EY did suffice…
Once my plate was cleared, my main course came out (as I requested rushed due to having a broken IFE and just wanting to sleep) about an hour and 30 minutes after takeoff. Props where it is due, as the chicken was delightful. Really, really good.
To top it off, I had a glass of champagne and a vanilla ice cream for dessert. Unlike with Aeroflot, only when prompted was my glass of champers refilled…
Lavatories
Throughout the flight, I visited both of the 2 lavatories offered for the 28 business class passengers onboard. The ratio for the lavatories wasn’t bad, but as per usual, there was a wait when it came to descending into Abu Dhabi.
Each lavatory was stacked with hand towels, and a few bits and bobs, amenities-wise.
Service
Unlike some other people who fly, the hard product doesn’t get to me as much as the soft product. The crew can make or break a flight for me, regardless of whether it’s a lie-flat seat or not.
And this is where I feel like Etihad has been dropping the ball severely. From what I can tell (as well as messages from EY crew members), it seems that upper management is proving that it’s difficult for the crew to provide good service. They are underpaid, haven’t raised salaries in 13 years, all while the cost of living has gone up. Even their bonuses are a joke in comparison to EK, and the CEO treats the staff like cheap labour.
So, yes, the service was rough around the edges, but I am not blaming the crew here. Quite the opposite, as the CEO said, “If you don’t like it, you can leave”
The potential is there for the EY soft product, especially with the lovely Russian FA on this flight, but things must change if they want to compete.
Arrival
Following a lovely hour and a half nap, I woke up as we had begun our initial descent into Abu Dhabi. With just enough time to polish off a glass of champers, we were shortly on short final.
We touched down at 6:47 pm local time and had a short taxi to our gate this evening.
From there, it was a quick transit process, and I was off to their (quite nice) business class lounge, where I met a few new friends, and we watched the United game.
That’s the fun in flying. When you meet these random strangers who love football, and you end up having a few glasses of champers together.
Final Thoughts
Reflecting back on this flight, I just have one question for myself: would I fly this product again? And the answer is frankly, no. It’s not that this is the worst business class in the world, but it might be when it comes to value for money. EY wants to play in the big leagues while continuing to cut corners. The service is poor, the seats are dated (on the 777s and 787s), and overall, they fall short of QR and EK. Don’t get me wrong, they have some good aspects as well, such as the nice lounge in AUH and the food onboard, but that’s about it.
Yeah, I won’t be flying Etihad again for a while, and honestly, it doesn’t seem to be just me.
Russia Series
