What It's Like Flying in Etihad Airways' New Lie-Flat Business Class Cabin

08.05.2024 - 22:11 / cntraveler.com / Giorgio Armani / Airlines

When it comes to the world's best airlines for business class, the same names and products have long dominated the conversation, especially when it comes lie-flat products on Middle Eastern routes. But these days, with new technology for a post-pandemic travel era coming to fruition and the elevated-class competition strong, travelers would do well to pay attention to newer business products that are emerging to compete with those major players—particularly on smaller routes, where the service is more focused and the airport less-crowded, no less.

This is the benefit of Etihad's new Business Studios, a redesigned lie-flat product from the UAE's second-largest airline that launched this April. The high-tech, luxe cabin is currently offered on select 787-9 Dreamliners, which operate flights from Chicago, Washington DC, New York, and Boston to Abu Dhabi (a 90-minute drive from Dubai).

The cabin has a highly refined feel thanks to white-tablecloth “dine anytime” service on actual dinnerware, hight-tech seats equipped with wireless chargers and adjustable ambient lighting, and Giorgio Armani and ESPA amenity kits. You'd be forgiven for mistaking it for first class.

Last month, I tried out Etihad's new business class offering myself on the airline's inaugural Boston to Abu Dhabi flight. Here's what to expect—from in-flight dining and service to airport lounge access.

Wireless charging tables and hidden stowage compartment make for a super-organized and sleek seat design.

I was primarily impressed with the balance of service and comfort—two things that rarely seem to coexist in a business class product: As someone who has flown several different international business options over the past few years, it's at times appeared that understaffed airlines rely on amenity kits and technology to make up for bare-minimum cabin crews and abridged service periods.

Instead, Etihad flight attendants attentively serve an a la carte menu around the clock (which is truly a feat on a 12.5-hour flight) so travelers can choose when to plug in and get some work done or close their studio door to sleep, without missing a meal service. It's a squarely flyer-first business product, and one that's complemented by wireless charging pads (that actually work seamlessly), USB-C plugs for bigger things like laptops, and adjustable ambient lighting. All of which add to, and don't replace, the in-flight service.

The 1-2-1 herringbone-arranged cabins echo Qatar's much-lauded Qsuites with notably wide seats (22 inches, to be exact—compare that to Emirates 18.5-20 inch seat width in business). The former iteration of Etihad's business class, which is still in operation on some routes, had the drawback of some reverse-facing seats (a