Hong Kong will be getting Etihad’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft throughout this summer, with the airline currently scheduled to fly its two-class variant of the aircraft on its Abu Dhabi-Hong Kong route from April 16 until September 30, 2018.
This temporary deployment notably means that during these months, business class travellers on this route will be able to fly Etihad’s newer seat product, the Business Studios, something the Airbus A330-200 that currently operates the route does not offer.
Etihad currently offers the Business Studios on only its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and its A380 superjumbos.
While both the Dreamliner and the A330-200’s business class offerings have a number of similarities – both are laid out 1-2-1 and offer fully flat beds – there are notable differences.
For starters, the Dreamliner has 28 seats in business class versus the A330-200’s 22, with each offering an extra inch (22 inches) of width. The length of the bed is also longer – between 75.7 and 80.5 inches, depending on the seat, compared to the A330-200’s 74.5 inches – and the Dreamliner’s Business Studios also have an 18-inch in-flight entertainment screen, more than 2.5 inches larger than on the A330-200.
Business Traveller recently reviewed Etihad’s Business Studios on board its A380 superjumbo aircraft travelling from Abu Dhabi to New York.
Flight review: Etihad Airways A380 business class, Abu Dhabi-New York
While this is only a temporary upgauge, Hong Kong is not the only destination in Asia served by the Dreamliner. Last year, the carrier began flying the aircraft on its services to Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul, joining Perth, Brisbane, Tokyo and Singapore in Asia-Pacific.
