Woot: Etihad Airbus A380 Returning To New York (JFK) In 2024!

Woot: Etihad Airbus A380 Returning To New York (JFK) In 2024!

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Hey, here’s a really exciting update for us avgeeks!

Etihad A380 to fly from Abu Dhabi to New York

At the start of the pandemic, Etihad Airways grounded its Airbus A380 fleet, with plans to likely retire the aircraft permanently. Fortunately the airline had a change of heart, and as of the summer of 2023, the airline brought back the super jumbo.

Etihad had announced that its plan was to fly the A380 exclusively between Abu Dhabi (AUH) and London (LHR), with no firm plans to fly the jet to any other destination, as the airline intended to bring back just four A380s. It seems the Abu Dhabi-based carrier has had a change of heart, and has announced that as of April 22, 2024, the A380 will also serve the New York (JFK) route.

Specifically, the A380 will be operating the following frequency between Abu Dhabi and New York daily:

EY103 Abu Dhabi to New York departing 3:10AM arriving 9:30AM
EY102 New York to Abu Dhabi departing 3:30PM arriving 12:30PM (+1 day)

Etihad will maintain a second daily flight in the market, which will be operated by a Boeing 787-9, with the following schedule (this is even being upgraded to a 787 with first class):

EY101 Abu Dhabi to New York departing 10:50AM arriving 4:55PM
EY100 New York to Abu Dhabi departing 10:35PM arriving 7:30PM (+1 day)

Etihad took delivery of its first A380 in 2014, and started flying the A380 to New York as of 2015. The plane stayed on that route until shortly before the pandemic, so it’s nice to see this return. Etihad is working on growing sustainably, so presumably this is a part of those growth plans.

It would appear that this New York service is coming at the expense of a once daily Abu Dhabi to London A380 flight, as one of the frequencies shows as being downgraded as of the same date this service starts. So I suspect Etihad is for now maintaining its fleet of four A380s, and is just utilizing them more efficiently.

For what it’s worth, I’m not seeing any first class saver level award availability yet for this flight, but I’ll be sure to report back if that changes.

Etihad will fly the Airbus A380 to New York

What the Etihad A380 means for passengers

Etihad’s Airbus A380s are some pretty special jets, and they’ve offered quite a halo effect for the airline. Etihad’s A380s are configured with a total of 485 seats.

With the A380 returning to New York, you can expect that Etihad will also reintroduce The Residence on this route, which is a private three room suite located at the front of the first class cabin. This is the most exclusive product available in commercial aviation.

Etihad A380 The Residence bedroom
Etihad A380 The Residence living room

Pre-pandemic, this experience cost tens of thousands of dollars. However, Etihad is handling this differently than pre-pandemic. The airline is now selling upgrades to this for first class passengers who are on revenue fares ticketed through Etihad. While the upgrade cost for this is ~$2,500 one-way between Abu Dhabi and London, it’s $4,500 one-way between Abu Dhabi and New York, which I guess makes sense, proportionally.

Etihad A380 The Residence upgrade offer

We’ll also see the reintroduction of the Etihad First Class Apartments on the New York route, as there are nine of those on the plane. This is one of the most impressive first class hard products out there, as there’s just a single aisle in the center of the cabin, and one suite on each side. This is a much better first class product than you’ll find on Etihad’s 787s.

Etihad A380 First Class Apartment cabin
Etihad A380 First Class Apartment
Etihad A380 First Class Apartment

There are then 70 business class seats, which are the Etihad Business Studios, the same product you’ll find on the 787. This is a solid business class product, but not as good as Etihad’s new A350 business class, or the carrier’s upcoming new 787-9 business class.

Etihad Business Studio

Lastly, there are 405 economy class seats, including 80 with extra legroom. This takes up the entire lower deck, as seats are in a 3-4-3 configuration.

Bottom line

Etihad has announced that the Airbus A380 will be returning to the Abu Dhabi to New York route as of April 2024. It’ll operate one of two daily frequencies, representing a significant capacity increase for New York. Less than a year ago, we thought the A380 would never fly again for Etihad. Then when it finally did return, we were told it would just fly to London. It’s nice to see this beautiful jet now returning to a longer route.

What do you make of Etihad bringing the A380 back to New York?

Conversations (20)
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  1. jj32 Guest

    Hey Ben, any advice how to handle this: when you posted about the wide open A380 F availability on the AUH/LHR route I managed to book return flights in J and upgrade both flights to F using points. Now the A380 is being used on one NYC flight, I see my return flight has changed to F on the 789 instead of A380.
    Etihad aren’t acknowledging this change (I haven’t actually received an email...

    Hey Ben, any advice how to handle this: when you posted about the wide open A380 F availability on the AUH/LHR route I managed to book return flights in J and upgrade both flights to F using points. Now the A380 is being used on one NYC flight, I see my return flight has changed to F on the 789 instead of A380.
    Etihad aren’t acknowledging this change (I haven’t actually received an email stating it’s changed) so I can either pay a huge cost to change or stick with the reallocated 789 flight in F.
    Do I have a leg to stand on here in wanting a free change to an A380 F flight? The Etihad customer service team have been no help so far.

  2. Joe Guest

    Once the A380 comes online (4/22), the 787-9 for the second daily flight will also have F. It's in the PR and also already loaded up in the reservation systems.

  3. John Guest

    Amazing to see the sheer amount of changes the Etihad commercial organization is driving these days. I am rather impressed as it finally shows leaders who know what they are doing versus the last few years where they seem to have lost a sense of purpose.

    1. ConcordeBoy Diamond

      Except that leadership of "the last few years" stemmed the previous leadership's rampant cash bleed, with losses so staggering that even desert oil sheikhs couldn't tolerate it anymore.

      Let's hope leadership Team #3 knows how to find a happy medium.

  4. A_Japanese Gold

    According to their press release, they sell discount upgrade to the Residence from around 2900USD until December 12.

    https://www.etihad.com/en-ae/news/etihad-to-fly-big-bird-to-the-big-apple

  5. Terence Guest

    The fun question: how soon will partner (award) be updated? I was looking at July '24 for JFK-AUH. AAdvantage still shows A350 for the A380 freq.

  6. SeanM Guest

    It looks like this is coming at the expense of one frequency on the LHR-AUH route. EY17/18 switch from A380 to 789 with F cabin starting Apr 22.

    1. Mark Guest

      Yep, EY17, just got the email from Etihad downgrading the aircraft on my first class flight in June from the 380 to 787.

  7. Bob Guest

    Aeroplan has proactively blocked all award space :D

  8. Nick Guest

    I hope Etihad reactivate all of their A380s and restore their pre-Pandemic A380 operations, although I don't think it'll happen.

  9. Michael Guest

    Looks like Etihad flies the A350 on one of the daily flights, and the 787 on the other from JFK-AUH. At least that's what it's showing for January.

  10. Bruce Member

    This is great news. My first ever long haul flight and first ever a380 flight was AUH-JFK back in 2017. Amazing to see it back.

    1. pstm91 Diamond

      Same here, but in 2015 and it turned out my seat was double booked, landing me an upgrade to business class. 21 year old me was in heaven, and it was quite a change of pace after backpacking around Asia for 6 months lol.

  11. RetiredATLATC Diamond

    Can anyone tell me whether AF uses door L1 or L2 on the B789 @ CDG?

    1. Jacob Guest

      Ethiad has no idea what you’re talking about.

    2. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ RetiredATLATC -- Generally both doors are used. If only one door is used (due to the specific gate), expect it'll be door two.

    3. RetiredATLATC Diamond

      Thanks Ben. Have a shortish connection at CDG and trying to decide to sit closer to the front of J or farther back.

    4. ScottS Member

      @ RetiredATLATC My wife and I have flown the AF 787 from ATL-CDG. I'm about 95% certain that they used Door 2 to exit the aircraft upon arrival.

    5. RetiredATLATC Diamond

      Thanks ScottS

  12. tony xu Guest

    they should do another thing with the points guy and try not to lose his baggage this time lol

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Ben Schlappig OMAAT

@ RetiredATLATC -- Generally both doors are used. If only one door is used (due to the specific gate), expect it'll be door two.

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A_Japanese Gold

According to their press release, they sell discount upgrade to the Residence from around 2900USD until December 12. https://www.etihad.com/en-ae/news/etihad-to-fly-big-bird-to-the-big-apple

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ScottS Member

@ RetiredATLATC My wife and I have flown the AF 787 from ATL-CDG. I'm about 95% certain that they used Door 2 to exit the aircraft upon arrival.

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