Etihad Airways review by David 2016-01-03

It is beyond comprehension that Etihad should be voted 'airline of the year 2016' - the judging panel clearly didn't travel economy class or bother to venture back there! As the owner of a travel company I have travelled frequently long haul for many years and this was not our family's first time travelling Etihad to Europe but we were genuinely shocked how bad the food and service was on these flights. The food was appalling & totally inadequate for such long flights - stodgy meat pie and mash, gravy, stale bread roll. We can honestly say that we felt awful after 24 hours of these 'meals'. Sometimes airline meals can be excellent but the last time I can recall a meal this bad was Aircuba in the mid- 90's! Two long security check in lines in AD for a transit flight and being told we couldn't take alcohol purchased duty free in sealed plastic bags on the flight. Even though we saw other pax who had when we re boarded the flight. EDITORS COMMENT: Just to clarify, We awarded Etihad best first class and also top 10. Air New Zealand won our airline of the year award.