Transfer in Abu Dhabi airport. Reviews on transit
Free food
If your transfer lasts more than 3 hours, you may go to the check-in counter of your airline, most often it is Etihad, and ask if you can get a meal coupon? Show your tickets for the next flight. If your transfer is too long, you may be provided with several meal coupons: breakfast, lunch and dinner. These coupons may be realized in terminals 1 and 3 on the first floor in any restaurant of food court. You present your coupons and you are proposed with some food. We liked Bricco pizza&pasta. In that place you can get a big piece of pizza, pasta or some other first course, also some fruit and a cold drink.
Place to sleep
You can have a sleep in a sleeping cabins, 4 hours for 45$ for one person, also you may stay in the airport hotel (you’d better book it in advance on booking.com or on the hotel official site), price is 130$ per room for 6 hours. Follow the pointers before the entrance to Terminal 1 to find it. You can sleep just in some comfortable place of the airport as well. We found a quiet place for sleep between Terminals 1 and 3 in front of Costa coffee , there is a small ladder that leads to a cozy waiting room. There is also a counter of Etihad where you can ask for a rug. Be careful, air conditioning system blows really strong, and if there are no rugs, it get frozen and it’s better to take some warm clothes in case of transfer in the UEA. Many reviews prove our warning.
Pastime
Free Wi-Fi, battery charging, shower cabins, library on English, a lot of sockets, duty free shops - so it’s a high-class airport with well-organized navigation.
Do you need visa to leave the airport?
You do not need a visa with EU pasport to go out of the airport. Other travellers must aply for UAE visa in advance at local UAE visa center of Etihad airlines department. Cost varies about 100$ and normally valid for 30 days. So, you can’t go out to Abu-Dhabi city without having UAE visa.
