Etihad A346 Business seating plan?

[fkcn]

Was checking my seats for EY18, LHR to AUH on Oct 28, and very disappointed to see it had changed from A380 to A346 - boooo! Assigned Seat 12K which appears to be window seat at back of cabin, but possibly in front of galley or economy bassinets - lots of contradictory maps on Etihad website and elsewhere. Was thinking of changing to 8K but maps are again unclear - some say it is a window seat, some an aisle. Does anyone have recent experience to guide me? Thanks.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I have flown a fair bit on EY lately and in J the K seats have consistently been the true window seats and H have been the off-set seats in alternate rows on the window side but adjacent to the aisles.
That is what the layout for the 346 on the EY web site is showing. I have noticed that expert flyer shows the reverse in the forward section of the J cabin but then reverts to the usual config aft of the L2/R2 doors. I think that's an aberration which you can ignore.
I did fly on an EY A346 recently CDG-AUH but I wasn't in the J cabin so I can't claim direct experience, sorry.

 

[fkcn]

I have flown a fair bit on EY lately and in J the K seats have consistently been the true window seats and H have been the off-set seats in alternate rows on the window side but adjacent to the aisles.
That is what the layout for the 346 on the EY web site is showing. I have noticed that expert flyer shows the reverse in the forward section of the J cabin but then reverts to the usual config aft of the L2/R2 doors. I think that's an aberration which you can ignore.
I did fly on an EY A346 recently CDG-AUH but I wasn't in the J cabin so I can't claim direct experience, sorry.

Thanks for the rapid reply. I agree that K is usually a window seat with Etihad, but the fleet map for A346 on their website seems to show Rows 5-9 with odd numbers having window seats; then a galley followed by Rows 10-12 with even numbers having window seats. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong?

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Thanks for the rapid reply. I agree that K is usually a window seat with Etihad, but the fleet map for A346 on their website seems to show Rows 5-9 with odd numbers having window seats; then a galley followed by Rows 10-12 with even numbers having window seats. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong?

I agree that is what it seems to show but it also seems to show a 5K, 6H. This would by implication mean 7K, 8H, 9K - so if you are being offered 8K that just adds to the confusion.
What does seat selection in "manage booking" show?

 

[fkcn]

Manage booking layout shows a single cabin of 8 rows, no dividing galley/toilets, with even numbered window seats. But I can't find a seat map elsewhere that replicates this. Thus my caution in making a change.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I have taken the extraordinary step of researching another forum

Note that the EY layout is labelled "Version 2".
It appears that EY has 2 or even 3 versions of the A346.

They were as follows:
Ver 1: 12F 32J 248Y: 5AEFK A6-EHL
Ver 2: 12F 32J 248Y: 5CEFH A6-EHE, EHF, EHH,
Ver 3: 8F 32J 276Y: 5CEFH, A6-EHI, EHJ

However it appears that version 1 is defunct and the current distribution is:
Ver 1: 12F 32J 248Y: Nil
Ver 2: 12F 32J 248Y: 5CEFH A6-EHF
Ver 3: 8F 32J 276Y: 5CEFH, A6-EHE, EHH, EHI, EHJ, EHK, EHL

So I would go with the seats selection showing in "manage booking". Maybe check at T-24 just in case.

FWIW I would avoid the cabin aft of L2/R2 as all the economy PAX will be boarding through L2 and traipsing through this part of J.

 

[fkcn]

A belated thanks for your research efforts. I've made the change to 8K so will hopefully be the coveted window seat. Would be even better if they changed back to A380....