Etihad Flight from Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi - Terrific Flight in 789 with Great food and Service .
We have enjoyed our stay at the Marriott Protea hotel in Johannesburg at the OR Tambo International airport.
All has worked well and we feel refreshed for the next phase of our trip to Abu Dhabi flying Etihad Airways.
Etihad Flight from Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi- Terrific Flight with great food and service.
We arrange to have our bags prepared for Check out of the Protea and use the shuttle to the Airport at 6.15 am and we are through Check in, Customs and Immigration by 6.50am. All just a quick and easy process using the Etihad special check in service.
We then find the lounge and by 7.10am we are ready for our scheduled boarding at 8.25am but it is delayed and we arrive at the gate too early and with a delayed boarding of almost 9.00am we see the flight departure delayed until 9.50am with a scheduled flight time of 7 hours and 33 minutes.
It is an excellent flight, we are seated in Business class 11E and 11F and it is a just an excellent service.
The fit out is 1-2-1 and everyone has aisle access.
Shortly after tackle off , we are offered a drink and again celebrate ourselves and our anniversary with a Mimosa. Then after another hour we are offered a meal, which can only be described as excellent.
We find this an outstanding way to make the start of our journey home.
We also watch several new movies.
Landing occurs and like everything else it is efficient and a non event, we taxi to the Gate and we are one of the first people off the aircraft, after thanking the staff.
We are handed fast queue forms for us to progress through Immigration and customs and this is achieved within 10 minutes of exiting the plane. A terrific benefit.
Our luggage comes off the plane and onto the carousel in almost record time. It has priority and is in the first group.
We exit with nothing to declare and find our driver from the Shangri-La awaiting in a brilliant red jacket. He takes the luggage trolley and we are parked in the VIP parking area not more than 60 metres from the terminal and our BMW 7 series is opened.
The temperature is still 33 Celsius and our drive to the Shangri- La is scheduled for 25 minutes. It is Ramadan and many people are coming out for the evening to restaurants. We are given cold towels and water as we settle back into the car for the trip.
This is our 5th or 6th trip to Abu Dhabi and it is a city which we thoroughly enjoy, although with this being a short stopover, we decide to remain at the hotel, given we have previously visited the many exciting tourist venues.
We are greeted at the Hotel by staff also with cold towels and a drink, before being taken to our room 436 where check in formalities are completed. We are recognised as returning guests.
As we have stated one of our favourite hotels.
The return is also reflected in signing in being completed in our Horizon Club room, which is just beautiful. The day has passed very quickly and we are tired. The Shangri-La here in Abu Dhabi is one of our favourite hotels in the World.
So we enjoyed the flight and were then whisked to the Shangri - La , Abu Dhabi and then quickly ushered to our room where we were signed in .
It is indeed a beautiful hotel and we are visiting through Ramadan . We have a brief but enjoyable stay.
