What Etihad can do in 3 hours │ 787-10 Business Class │ E9 Cinematic Flight Reports

Cairo International Airport. One of the busiest in Africa and as vibrant as the traffic in the city behind. Hitting around 17 million passengers in 2019, the airport is eager to grow even further in the coming years. Today, I'll be flying Etihad Airways in their 787 Business Class back to Abu Dhabi. Enjoy! Etihad has three daily services between Abu Dhabi and Cairo and at the time, only one was served by a long-haul aircraft that features lie-flat seats, making the three-hour journey much more comfortable than in the A321s, which offer wide recliners instead. Initially, I was planning to connect from Luxor to Abu Dhabi on the same day, but as Egypt Air frequently did during COVID, they cancelled my flight the day before in favor of a higher occupancy. And my only choice of making it to Cairo in time was to leave Hilton Luxor early and spend an unplanned extra night in Cairo. Funny enough, this night would have been my 100th night at Hilton in 2021. Not bad for the middle of June. On top of that, I also had to accept to pay a premium for a seat in Business Class as I was out of luck and economy was already booked out entirely due to so many passengers being rebooked onto other connections. For this one-hour journey, I probably won't purchase an upgrade again in the future unless it's another aircraft with a more comfortable seating pattern, as Egypt Air's A220s don't offer a free middle seat or at least some extra seat width. Having arrived around 9pm, I walked over to my home for the night, the Les Meridiens, across the airport. Connected to the domestic terminal via walkway, the rather modern hotel represents the easy yet pricey choice when connecting in Cairo, providing clean and spacious rooms as well as soundproof windows for a quiet and restful night. My 12.35 departure time allowed for a lazy morning and the delivered in-room breakfast clearly showed Covid precautions to be in full effect. Being so close to the airport certainly has its perks as the hotel ensures that also travellers with international destinations reach their terminal effortlessly by operating a complimentary shuttle. They even offered to take me in between scheduled rides, so I wouldn't have to wait in the lobby. The transfer came in handy as I wasn't exactly travelling light and in order to better match Etihad's luggage restrictions, I had purchased a few extra bags at a supermarket the night before. With those, I managed to hit 60kg on the spot, which already included an extra 20kg of baggage allowance which I pre-booked online. With that settled, I walked across the duty-free area and straight to the gate. Back at gate E2, I stood waiting for the 787-10 to get ready for boarding. This is a flight that rarely leaves on time and I'm guessing that most likely this is a result of the high cargo load. The same reason a wide-body aircraft is flying here in the first place. On a hot summer day like this in mid-June, the adjustable tint of the 787's windows helps to keep the cabin cool and as a result, the windows appear to be blacked out. I chose one of my favourite seats out of the aircraft's 1-to-1 configuration, number 8K, facing forward and right at the window for maximum privacy. The crew had left the window blinds under passenger's control, so after sitting down, I was free to open the blinds at my discretion. And once I was in my seat, I was immediately offered a selection of welcome drinks along with a menu as well as a wellness kit due to Covid. I opted for a glass of fresh orange juice. The cabin today would fill up to about 50% occupancy and as I boarded early, I could enjoy my welcome drink in peace while the other passengers slowly came in, stowed their bags and took their seats. So far, the experience was consistent with Etihad's regular service on all of their flights and I like that you couldn't tell that this one would only take 3 hours. After take-off, Etihad would serve lunch followed by their usual drink service throughout the entire flight. Looking at the menu, here's where you at best can spot a difference compared to longer routes. The fact that there were both a given meze starter and dessert were almost unanimous on all of Etihad's flights during Covid, so only the Cipriani Bellini turned out to be missing from the menu. Yet that is pretty much splitting hairs. In other words, Etihad was pretty much offering the same generous bar selection as on longer flights as well as 4 choices for lunch. With all guests on board and all blinds up, it was then time for pushback and to start our journey to Abu Dhabi. Once airborne, I took a closer look at Etihad's wellness kit. Next to a medical face mask, hand sanitizer and plastic gloves, one would find a microfiber snood which was meant to be a reusable alternative to wearing a face mask during the entirety of the flight. A good thought, especially if your ears will start hurting from supporting your mask after wearing it for hours or for filling in when wearing a mask properly is very hard. For example, during sleep. Shortly after the fasten seatbelt sign was turned off, my pre-ordered aperitif arrived. A glass of Pipa Heizig Champagne accompanied by a bowl of warm nuts. I particularly like this ritual. Instead of waiting half an hour for the first service, you get a drink of your choice right away, which of course firstly makes the waiting time for the food fly by, but secondly emphasizes the hospitality that is lived, similar to what a welcome drink does before takeoff. I know that this is actually only a tiny detail, but you get used to it pretty quickly, so that you then immediately notice when this service step is not offered on board other airlines. Consistency is key. Time for lunch. With my choice of food, I was also served another glass of Champagne, as well as the Chateau d'Auxac Red Wine. Usually, the wine would have been poured tableside, yet the implemented wellness measures at the time asked for that to be done in the galley in order to reduce unnecessary contact between passengers and crew. That's also the reason why all three courses were served together on one tray. I personally don't mind going mix and match, but if one insists on finishing the starter first, one runs at risk of the main course getting cold. Although this clearly is a compromise, food quality on the other hand remained as high as ever. The plates were still arranged piece by piece in the galley, something most other airlines reserve for a first-class meal only. The meze, even though missing tabbouleh, still was the all-time classic you'd expect, served with Arabic bread. From the four main courses on the menu, I picked the paprika chicken breast, served with mascarpone polenta, pumpkin, asparagus, and a sauce of caramelised onions. Not only was the meat juicy and delicious, but also the vegetables were not overcooked. That only works because meat and sides are heated individually and then plated à la minute in the galley and topped with a sauce. A lot of extra effort, especially when the flight time is rather short. There would have been nothing wrong with heating a single plate altogether, but Etihad decided to stay consistent on this occasion as well. Same goes for the wine, the Chateau d'Orzac was a typical Bordeaux and fit the description just fine. Bottom line, I feel like this still is a great meal service just as I'd expect from Etihad and I'm sure that after the final Covid measures disappear and the little edges are smoothed out, it'll be even better in the future. Thank you very much for the service. The meal was actually delicious. It's always hard to get meat right in the air, to get it juicy, and it was really good, so better than I expected. Thank you very much. I would love a cappuccino. Great. 19 minutes into the flight, it was now time for dessert. Etihad had served a mango cheesecake and I was in the mood to browse the menu in search of some creamy liquor to add to the mix, alongside the cappuccino. On this sector however, no ice cubes were available on the plane and the crew had informed me about this right from the start. I could only guess about the reason as this was not part of the wellness measures yet also didn't feel like a one-off thing. As champagne and wine were my first choice anyways, I didn't mind, yet if I had wanted a long drink, that would have been unfortunate. I went ahead and ordered some Amarula, which would be served ice cold anyways, because the crew proactively kept spirits chilled to counter the lack of ice cubes. While waiting for my drinks, I quickly turned to the IFE, yet only to take a look at the in-flight map. On such a short flight, I didn't feel like watching live television or even a movie, yet I definitely would do that on a longer journey, as the modern user interface, as well as the content available, are both exceptional. To me, it's one of the best in the industry, right up there with Catazorix One. Just a few minutes later, both my cappuccino and Amarula arrived. And also here, I often forget just how many other airlines don't offer proper coffee specialties in business class. That's why it's even more commendable that Etihad has the full variety from espresso to lattes ready at any time throughout the flight. Especially a great match with dessert. The cheesecake was fluffy and sweet, and enjoying it with the Amarula was no mistake either. And all left for me to do was to sit back and relax. Yet before we would start our descent, I asked for one more thing. A glass of the Sauternes dessert wine, as I had not tried this chateau before. To my surprise, it came in a glass vial. I am familiar with those as several hotels and companies use it to create single servings of full-size bottles in order to be able to sell them one glass at a time. Yet I did not expect to see those in an aircraft. I'm just taking a guess here, but Etihad's decision to purchase the wine in this format may just be brilliant. Compared to white or red wines that are regularly poured during service and therefore have a significant turnaround, a specialty like this gets ordered way less throughout a rotation, which in effect leads to more of it going down the drain at the end of the day. So this actually brings two major advantages. An always pristine, always fresh serving for the palate.