“Alcoholic beverages will not be accepted in either carry-on or checked baggage for this flight,” read the email reminder I received two days before flying from Hamburg, Germany, to Abu Dhabi onboard Etihad’s factory-fresh Airbus A321LR.
That’s the first time in my more than 1,000 lifetime flights that I’ve ever received such a notice. While packing some bubbly certainly would’ve been appropriate for this unique flight, there was still plenty of celebration to go around — even before we eventually popped some bottles of Champagne once airborne.
In the coming days, Etihad is set to inaugurate its Airbus A321LR, or “long-range” aircraft, that’ll seriously upgrade the narrow-body experience when flying with the Gulf mega-carrier.
The jet is Etihad’s first single-aisle plane to feature lie-flat pods in both first and business class. Thanks to its roughly 1,000-mile range increase relative to the airline’s existing A320 family, it’ll unlock a bunch of new routes and unique deployment opportunities for the airline.
But in order for the plane to actually make it to Abu Dhabi for its Aug. 1 commercial inaugural flight to Phuket, Thailand, the jet had to first get from Hamburg (where it was manufactured at Airbus’ German headquarters) to Abu Dhabi.
And while many airlines might’ve just flown the plane home with just a few support staff, Etihad decided to throw a party.
The airline invited select media to join the flight (along with a host of Etihad employees and contractors), and I made the cut. I’m glad I did because the experience on this flight was unlike any of the other more than 1,000 I’ve taken before.
Boarding Etihad’s A321LR delivery flight
Etihad Flight 3210 — a flight number chosen as a nod to the Airbus A321LR — was scheduled to depart from Airbus’ Hamburg manufacturing facility at 10 a.m. local time.
Much like a commercial flight, we arrived nearly two hours before departure. But there was no terminal in sight.
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Instead, we pulled up to building 110, the charter building at Airbus headquarters, from where the manufacturer officially delivers and prepares delivery flights for takeoff.
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ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
After arrival, I lined up for security along with my 77 fellow passengers (that’s about a 50% load factor for the 160-seat jet).
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ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
The security process was slow — far slower than you’d typically find at major airports. Maybe this was because they had only one lane or because all liquids needed to be placed in a 1-liter clear plastic bag; either way, it took about an hour to get everyone through.
The liquid rule caught so many people off guard that an Airbus employee needed to drive to a local convenience store to purchase extra plastic bags for people’s liquids. (Fortunately, they let me through after I stuffed my liquids into a bag I had for cotton pads.)
Once I cleared security, I collected my pre-printed boarding pass and passed through immigration (which was just a border police officer set up at a folding table with a laptop and rubber stamp).
That’s when I caught my first glimpse of the shiny new A321LR, registered A6-LRA, that would ferry us to Abu Dhabi.
A Do&Co catering truck pulled up to the aircraft, and once they were finished provisioning the jet, it was time to board.
No jetbridges or (thankfully) buses were needed to reach this plane. It was just a short walk (during which I stopped every few steps for pictures) before I was onboard.
Onboard Etihad’s A321LR business class
Turky Alhammadi, Etihad’s prolific director of product, was waiting to greet flyers at the top of the airstairs, and from there, it was time to step onboard the jet.
No one flying on Friday was surprised by the airline’s new first-class, business-class and economy cabins. That’s because everyone had attended Thursday’s delivery ceremony, which ended with a comprehensive aircraft tour.
Nevertheless, that didn’t stop almost every passenger, including Etihad employees, from snapping pictures and videos as they boarded and took their seats.
I’ve been on my fair share of special flights before, from inaugurals to ferries. However, none had the same level of excitement that I witnessed while boarding Etihad’s A321LR.
Perhaps that’s because the airline did a phenomenal job customizing basically every aspect of the soft product for the flight.
The airline worked with a local Abu Dhabi artist to create a colorful painting of the A321LR flying above skyscrapers from the cities the A321LR will serve. This painting was printed on the menus, Wi-Fi vouchers and even on a commemorative tote bag that was waiting for each passenger.
The crew also handed out delivery flight certificates bearing the signature of CEO Antonoaldo Neves, which also had the colorful A321LR motif printed on it.
In addition to all the special amenities, the standard-issue Armani Casa-branded products — including an amenity kit, pillow, duvet, mattress pad and slippers — were all waiting for the business- and first-class passengers. (Etihad shipped all the amenities to Frankfurt before the inaugural flight since it doesn’t have any provisioning in Hamburg.)
While settling in, I spent some time exploring the first-class suite, which definitely feels like a big step up from business class.
The pods, complete with sliding doors, have practically unlimited space for your feet, and they even feature a buddy seat if you’d like to dine with a companion.
Closing the door really helped create a sense of personal space.
While I could’ve spent the whole flight in first class, Neves arrived just as boarding ended to occupy his throne in 1A.
Back to seat 5F in business class I went, and I was honestly far more impressed with the product than I thought I would be.
When Etihad repeatedly said that it aimed to bring wide-body comfort to a narrow-body plane, I took the claim with a grain of salt. Having flown similar products on other A321-family jets, I have long said that the spaciousness of a wide-body lets airlines deliver more impressive products.
That said, I left the nearly seven-hour journey thoroughly impressed with the business product, which is a customized version of the Stelia Opera seat.
While the gold-colored seat trims, faux-marble side table and gold sconce all added a sense of luxuriousness to the product, the seat itself didn’t disappoint either.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the product was the open and oversized footwell, which is hard to find in a business-class seat these days. This made sleeping and relaxing very easy — there was absolutely no contorting necessary to get comfortable.
The oversized 20-inch-long and 15 1/2-inch-wide tray table extended from underneath the side table. I could move it closer or farther from me, and it was easy to catch up on work and dine with this setup.
Now the product isn’t perfect, and some tradeoffs were necessary to accommodate the narrow-body experience.
The first is a lack of storage. There is no enclosed storage in either first or business class, and that’s a big drawback for those who often misplace loose items like wallets, keys and AirPods.
The second is the lack of a sliding door in business. Etihad couldn’t install doors due to the weight they’d add to the jet (which could restrict payload during the hottest months in Abu Dhabi). And while I could definitely still see my neighbors and foot traffic in the aisle, the reverse herringbone arrangement at least meant that I wasn’t staring into the aisle.
Drawbacks aside, this is still a top-tier product, and it only got better with the slew of high-tech gadgets and gizmos.
For one, every seat on this jet features a 4K TV, and the ones in business measure 17 1/3 inches. While I could control it with my finger, there was also a handy touchpad-based remote that I could use to select programming.
The TVs support Bluetooth, and I had no trouble connecting my AirPods to the system.
I also had no problem keeping all my devices juiced up thanks to four different charging options: universal outlet, USB-A, USB-C and Qi wireless charging.
But the most exciting tech upgrade was undoubtedly the Wi-Fi, provided by Viasat. I enjoyed streaming-quality speeds from takeoff to touchdown, with downloads hovering around 10 Mbps and uploads around 1 Mbps.
Etihad fortunately didn’t overlook the basics, either.
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ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
Each seat has a personal air vent, and there are two standard-size lavatories shared between the first-and business-class cabins.
As I was exploring my cocoon in 5F, I was interrupted by a cabin announcement from Neves, who was thanking and congratulating all the employees who made Friday’s delivery flight possible.
After a short 20-minute air traffic delay from Eurocontrol (delivery flights share the same airspace as all the other jets in the sky), it was time for pushback.
The Airbus headquarters doesn’t have many taxiways, so we taxied down the departure runway before making a U-turn at the end and jetting off runway 23 at 10:39 a.m. local time.
We celebrated liftoff with some cheering and applause, and then the hand-picked crew sprang into action. (Etihad is staffing five crew on this flight: one for first class, two for business and two for economy.)
To celebrate the delivery, the crew brought some canapes and mocktails to set the mood before launching into the more formal four-course lunch service.
Etihad always offers a top-tier dining experience in business class, and this flight was no exception.
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ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
From the signature Arabic mezze to the seabass to the fruits served with dessert, I finished the meal so happily satiated that I couldn’t imagine having a nibble at the all-day dining menu just a few hours later.
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ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
It wasn’t long after finishing the meal that I caught myself dozing off, which was very easy in this comfortable seat with all the bedding and open footwell. (The food coma probably helped, too.)
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ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
I woke up as we were midway over Iraq. At this point, the light was getting softer outside, which meant that our arrival in Abu Dhabi was approaching.
It was a bittersweet moment, but little did I know that the party would continue on land.
Arriving on Etihad’s A321LR delivery flight
After landing on Abu Dhabi’s runway 31L, we turned away from the new terminal and instead taxiied toward the old one.
Instead of parking at one of the old gates, we pulled up to the private VIP terminal and deplaned via air stairs covered in a red carpet.
Some of my fellow passengers probably didn’t even notice what was going on because they were too busy wiping their sweat. After all, the heat index on arrival was over 100 degrees.
But within moments, we were ushered inside the VIP terminal to a waiting group of more than a hundred excited Etihad employees and executives.
Short speeches commenced shortly thereafter. During the speeches, a speedy cleaning crew boarded the plane, and by the time the official ceremonies ended, all of the local attendees got a chance to tour the (clean) plane.
As for me, I waved farewell to the A321LR and ventured off to brave the heat, hoping to one day get another chance to enjoy a flight onboard Etihad’s A321LR.
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