Etihad: Brisbane-Singapore-Abu Dhabi flights go daily from today
By John Walton, February 1 2013
Etihad is boosting its Brisbane-Singapore-Abu Dhabi flights to a daily schedule, adding extra options for Virgin Australia frequent flyers heading from Queensland to Singapore or connecting onward via Abu Dhabi.
Etihad's Brisbane flights all use an Airbus A330-200 plane, offering 22 of its popular fully flat business class seats with direct aisle access at the pointy end and 240 regular economy seats down the back.
The seats are significantly more comfortable than the angled lie-flat sleepers Singapore Airlines uses on its Brisbane-Singapore route.
The other main competition, Emirates' direct Boeing 777-300ER flight to Dubai, offers even less comfortable angled lie-flats.
We've reviewed both these seats: check out what you'll find in business on Emirates and compare it with Etihad.
Less popular are the flight times: two roughly eight-hour legs plus an hour and a half stop in Singapore. That's around 17h30 total flight time, whereas Emirates runs Brisbane-Dubai in 14h45, and the stop's right when you'd want to be sleeping soundly in your fully flat bed.
Savvy business travellers may more likely to connect via Sydney or even Melbourne to get a good night's sleep en route -- especially if they're connecting onwards from Abu Dhabi. With a long overnight leg of over 14 hours, those flights are a great opportunity to get some rest.
In terms of timings, flight EY473 leaves Brisbane daily at 1155, arriving in Singapore at 1810 and continuing on at 1945 before getting to Abu Dhabi for 2330.
Return flight EY470 departs Abu Dhabi at 1025 and arrives in Singapore at 2210. Departing Singapore at 2340, it thens get into Brisbane at 0940.
What do you reckon: will the Brisbane-Singapore-Abu Dhabi flight be in your travel plans? Or would you rather connect through Sydney or Melbourne? Share your thoughts in a comment below!
Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.
09 Sep 2012
Total posts 139
Having tried both, on a Virgin ticket but having taken care to ensure that I flew only on Etihad aircraft in a window seat, I would much rather put up with the SIN problem than be treated as a second-class citizen in my own country by having to fly backwards and waste about four hours, plus tolerate the extraordinarily inefficient transfer between terminals at Sydney.
The interruption in SIN is annoying, but being forced to go to Sydney is even worse, and insulting to boot. Emirates will fly me direct to Dubai, but not in a horizontal bed-seat, and not even in a seat with direct aisle access.
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Etihad: Brisbane-Singapore-Abu Dhabi flights go daily from today