What First Class Means For The Second-Largest Airline Of The UAE (39 pics)

Marina Lystseva, a blogger and photographer, has published her photos of double-deck jet airliner of the Etihad Airways A380. Those guys took 'luxury' to a whole new level.

A little more than a year ago, the company slightly modified the livery it used on its planes. The first plane to get a new lick of paint was one of Etihad’s A380s — instead of the flag and coat of arms of the UAE, a decorative triangle pattern appeared on its tail fin.

The airbus А380 has two floors, with four classes of seating: economy class, business class, first class and ’residence’ class. The latter, luxury places are located on the upper floor of the plane.

The residence suites for two people are located to the right of the staircase. With an area of 12 square metres, they have three entire rooms — a living room (which doubles as a dining space and a mini-cinema), a bedroom, and a bathroom with a shower and toilet. The passengers in these suites are looked after by staff who have been on a special training course at London’s Savoy hotel.

A trip in one of these suites from Abu Dhabi to London costs around 77,000 UAE dirhams (about $21,000). The tickets are virtually sold out a year in advance.

The suite for a first-class passenger is a little ’simpler’: it has an area of around five square metres. A ticket for the same Abu Dhabi-London route costs between 31,000 and 36,000 UAE dirhams ($8,400 — $9,800).

In this class, the partition between suites can be partially slid back near the cabin windows to allow people to talk to their neighbours. To avoid any misunderstandings, however, it can’t be slid back all the way.

The lower floor is home to the economy-class places. At long last, even this class of seat has been provided with cushions and pillows to make the journey more comfortable.

Now on to business class. Every passenger has their own partitioned-off area, in which the seat can be turned into a bed at the push of a button.

Each passenger is provided with free socks, ear plugs, a tooth brush, a comb and other high-quality travel accessories.

In the tail of the aircraft, on the upper floor, there’s a small bar with comfy couches for business-class passengers.