As noted in an earlier post, we are pretty well served by Emirates Airlines in Dubai - although very expensive, the seats even in economy are pretty decent, there is reasonable flexibility about how much luggage you take into the cabin and the check in process is usually pretty smooth.
For I believe the first time since moving to Dubai, today I took a flight on one of the rival airlines - Etihad - who operate out of Abu Dhabi.
The airport is a bit further away from where I live than DXB (just over an hour compared to around 20 minutes (depending on traffic)) and the prices tend to be the same or even a little higher so there is no real incentive for me to use them save - on this occasion - that the Etihad flight schedules to Barcelona where I have to travel for work this week were a lot more suited to getting me back to Dubai for first thing Sunday morning (in time for Spinneys BUR 3).
It was therefore interesting to note the differences (and similarities) between the two airlines. The first thing that struck me was the check in process was not particularly welcoming - I had been warned in advance that they were a lot stricter about baggage weights and that seemed to play out at the check in desks where there seemed to be quite a lot of complaints about over-weight baggage.
On board the seats in economy were in a similar configuration but the headrest had one fixed part that jutted out (Emirates allows you to adjust both ends of the headrest). However, this actually worked quite well as the end was fixed in position and so you could lean your head against it at an angle which was quite comfortable.
The meal was pretty good although the tray was smaller and the main meal had a plastic lid (rather than the usual tinfoil). The entertainment was much more limited than Emirates but an interesting upgrade was that prosecco was included in the drinks available with the meal.
I doubt I will be using Etihad much in the future but certainly they put on a reasonably decent show.
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