{"id":87422,"date":"2011-08-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelstartblg.wpenginepowered.com\/etihad-airways-south-africa\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T13:50:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T13:50:11","slug":"etihad-airways-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelstart.co.za\/blog\/etihad-airways-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Fly Etihad from South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travelstart welcomes Etihad Airways<\/strong> to the Street as we celebrate this world class airline and all it can offer you \u2013 the traveller from South Africa. Firstly I\u2019d like to clear up a little known fact \u2013 Etihad is the national carrier of the UAE<\/strong> (that\u2019s the United Arab Emirates) and has its headquarters in Abu Dhabi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Etihad<\/a>
Etihad\u2019s Airbus A340-500 graces the skies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Taking to the skies in 2003, Etihad is a fairly young airline but they\u2019ve accomplished much in global aviation over the last eight years winning many accolades along the way including the World’s Leading Airline<\/em> in 2009\/10 and more recently Best First Class Airline in the World<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As one of the fastest growing commercial airliners in the world, Etihad Airways<\/strong> has become a major player connecting South Africa (flights from Cape Town & Johannesburg) to America, Europe and Asia via the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Abu Dhabi as a Stopover Destination<\/h3>\n

Abu Dhabi makes a great stopover destination, especially on those long haul flights from South Africa to New York and beyond. Ferrari World<\/strong> immediately springs to mind as a reason to visit Abu Dhabi<\/a>. This state-of-the-art theme park is a must see and you don\u2019t have to be a Ferrari fanatic to enjoy the world\u2019s largest indoor entertainment complex.<\/p>\n

Book flights on Etihad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Etihad Business Class<\/h2>\n
\"Etihad<\/a>
Wouter in Etihad\u2019s Pearl Class on his way to New York City<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Travelstart\u2019s Wouter Nel<\/strong> recently flew Etihad on his trip to New York<\/a> and he ran me through the highlights of his Etihad business class<\/strong> experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cEtihad\u2019s business class is called Pearl. The cabin layout really impressed me as they\u2019ve used the space really well maximizing privacy and staggering window seats so that you\u2019re never \u2018climbing over\u2019 one another.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to naming their cabin classes, Etihad has given a really interesting twist. Below is a short guide to Etihad classes:<\/p>\n