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From Singapore to Abu Dhabi on Etihad A380, EY499. The A380 debut in February 2025 on the AUH – SIN route as part of the strategic capacity expansion and customer experience.
I had the chance to fly on the business class on the A380 in 2025 May and having flown on the 787-900 on the other routes, the introduction of the A380 felt like a slight boost in passenger experience as the premium cabins sit on the upper deck with a lounge.
When you come onboard, you are greeted with hot towel and a refreshing drink – a glass of champagne or juice, served in Armani.
Inflight Meals 🍴
My favourite. Food. The menu gets refreshed but some of it stay on the menu. I had Arabic Mezze as my starter, Lamb Biriyani and a pudding, if you want to have an extra touch of calorie add on ice cream and a Port Tawny Wine.
🥰Arabic Mezze, was my favourite with hummus and other dips as appetizer. Of course, otherwise you could have a simpler one such as the soup, there used to be a Tuna salad which was light and refreshing as well.
🥰The steak sandwich makes for a yummy snack with meat that was tender and a hint of crunch from rocket
😕Lamb Biriyani unfortunately, wasn’t that great ; Meat was a tad overcooked and the presentation was underwhelming.
Being a glutton, I had a sweet and sour noodles 1.5 hours before landing, previously there was a Char Kway Teow on the menu and it lived up to my expectations. 🥰 Prawn noodles was fine but was skewed to more sweetness, but preferred it more than the Lamb Biriyani.
Alcohol wise, my go to was the Bellini, White Negroni. I found old fashioned to be too strong for my liking.
Tip : Their hot chocolate is good, and it is also available in their economy class. Sometimes their lemon with hot water can be such a comforting drink for days when you are falling sick and needed a warm drink in your system.
Lounge Onboard 🍸
Given that this is a red-eye flight and occasional turbulence crossing over the Indian Ocean, the lounge was empty. It is more of a self-service bar, they do have a nice collection of drinks displayed near the seats and a TV, for those needing to catchup on the news (you got that covered).
Wouldn’t say it was a wow factor, it was a nice touch but given the timing and duration of the flight, seems like most passengers rather catchup on their sleep than arriving tipsy as they transit to their next flight.
Seats & Service 💺
I got assigned a rear facing seat and I don’t fancy it (but its just a personal preference). They provide a comfy duvet, comforter, amenity kits and slippers for longer flights, while for those shorter flights you get a silky blanket instead. The comforters does provide a more plushy feel or can double up as additional cushion or bolster.
The qualm about the seats that I have was that when reclined fully, foot well tends to narrow at the legs and can be a tad crampy. For a 7 hour flight where the effective napping time is only 3-5 hours, I won’t complain much.
Overall
After flying on their economy and business cabins, the business cabin is definitely a nice ride for a 7 hour flight with good alcohol and food options and crew that were attentive.
On one of my flight from Abu Dhabi, the cabin crew was very nice. I had wine tasting session just to see which wine pairs up with my chocolate pudding cake; Ended up having the Port Tawny.
On another occasion I was feeling under the weather and the crew were nice to provide hot water with lemon quite regularly (was a very thoughtful gesture), in the Economy cabin!
I’m not an expert on air miles collection but if you’re looking for credit cards that might help you stack and cash out on Etihad Guest Miles or other airline loyalty programmes, check out Singsaver for their ongoing credit card deals. Personally I utilise a couple of credit cards, each for different categories for the points and usually cash them out at the end of the year/before expiry.
