Following our very average, ‘fine’, Etihad business class flight from Dublin to Abu Dhabi, we actually found ourselves with only sufficient time to make it from our arrival gate straight across the sizeable Abu Dhabi airport terminal to our departure gate, which was already beginning to board business class passengers by the time we arrived.

There’s no doubt that Etihad’s older 787 business class cabin is just so preferable to the antique 777 experience – and the newer cabin on both the newer 787’s and A350’s is just a world away entirely.

On this flight, we were seated together in 12E and 12F, the so-called ‘honeymoon’ seats right at the back of the cabin – on a night flight like this, this actually worked out fine and noise was minimal from the galley behind (and the washrooms are all in front).

There’s no bad seat to pick from; although you could easily argue that the even-numbered window seats, which are sheltered much closer in by the window, are the true winners if travelling alone. For those, like ourselves, travelling in a group, the honeymoon seats and the far window seat worked perfectly.

Pre-departure beverages were offered promptly, and the flight was boarded quickly, leaving us fully ready for an on-time departure. Our ESPA-branded amenity kit, which came in an unusual cube shape, was left ready and waiting at all of our seats when we boarded.

The timing of this flight is a little odd in terms of the two meal services on offer, leaving you wonder – especially as a connecting passenger – do you prioritise sleep and skip one of the meal services, or attend both?

We’re a greedy lot as it turns out, and all three of us collectively gambled that dinner service wouldn’t take too long, and consequently tried to prioritise both meals, and sleep.

As we settled in after take-off, pre-dinner drinks were served while I fidgeted – as is tradition – with the in-flight entertainment and the absolutely ridiculous amount of seat and entertainment options in this cabin product. Seriously – you can turn on and off the table light to varying levels of brightness, the lamp, another reading light, a massage feature, and that’s before we even get to the seat recline itself and the entertainment system.

Thankfully, the crew did stellar work – an area that’s not always guaranteed on Etihad, in my experience – to get meals out very promptly, and my beef fillet turned out to be just the right size for a meal consumed about half an hour before trying to sleep. Drinks were even poured at-seat, which is a little touch that's very inconsistent but much appreciated during such a busy service.

Etihad offer a very lovely grey duvet, as well as a pillow (a little on the small side), and a mattress pad for when it's time to sleep. I know these 787 cabins are now considered ‘old’, but in terms of footwell space for someone tall like myself, they do a really good job, with more than enough room to fully stretch out. The only real obstacle, especially in these honeymoon seats, is the partition wall in the middle that I kept occasionally turning over and running into.

But on the whole, I was able to snag a very acceptable 4.5 hours (approx.) of sleep on this flight of just under 7 hours – apparently while looking like I’d died, according to my travelling companions.

I had asked to be woken up for a light breakfast of fruits, and a double espresso – followed by another double espresso from the very accommodating crew, given the long day of further travels ahead, by which time we’d already begun our descent into an overcast Kuala Lumpur.

We landed right on-time, with no real delays to our exit other than the continued downtime of the inter-terminal ‘aerotrain’, which continues to force passengers onto buses to cross over to the terminal housing immigration.

Our luggage was already standing alongside the carousel (important in KL, to check if your luggage has already been removed for your convenience – which it would be, if you knew to expect it), and we were away in no time!

Overall, this was a great flight with Etihad; I’m still a very big fan of their older 787 cabin and seats, the crew got meals done as quickly as possible to help maximise sleep time, and I was able to get some really good quality sleep. If only all flights could be like this!