Etihad Airways vs TAP Air Portugal
Etihad Airways scores 9.3/10 against TAP Air Portugal at 8.5/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare.
By Jon Miksis · cabin data verified · fares for travel November 8–14, 2026
Best product each one flies
Scored on what can be verified. Service, food and ground recovery are absent deliberately: they need someone in the seat, and they live in the reviews rather than here.
One caveat on the Value line, stated rather than buried: Value is computed from business fares, and a carrier with too few of them does not get a Value score at all. Where you see a dash, we have fewer than three priced business routes for that airline and did not want to invent a figure from one or two — so its product score is the mean of three dimensions rather than four, and it is not directly comparable to a score built on hundreds of fares. The airlines with the most fares behind them are named on the business-class ranking.
Etihad Airways
A350-1000 / 787-9 (Business Studio)
- Seat
- 10/10
- IFE
- 8/10
- Lounge & bags
- 10/10
- Value
- —
- Product score
- 9.3/10
TAP Air Portugal
A330-900neo · flown by Jon
- Seat
- 8/10
- IFE
- 8/10
- Lounge & bags
- 10/10
- Value
- 8/10
- Product score
- 8.5/10
Dimension by dimension
Seat: Etihad Airways
10/10 on the A350-1000 / 787-9 (Business Studio) against 8/10 on the A330-900neo.
IFE: level
Screens, connectivity and power: 8/10 against 8/10.
Lounge & bags: level
What the fare includes before you board: 10/10 against 10/10.
What happens if the aircraft swaps
Both carriers are paying-the-same-fare-either-way propositions on some frames. The worst product each one flies:
Etihad Airways
A350-1000 / 787-9 (Business Studio)
- Seat
- 10/10
- IFE
- 8/10
- Lounge & bags
- 10/10
- Value
- —
- Product score
- 9.3/10
TAP Air Portugal
A321LR · flown by Jon
- Seat
- 5/10
- IFE
- 8/10
- Lounge & bags
- 10/10
- Value
- 8/10
- Product score
- 7.8/10
Etihad Airways: Older 787s carry the original staggered Business Studio without a door.
TAP Air Portugal: Solo throne seats in the 1-1 rows; the 2-2 rows require stepping over a neighbor.
Common questions
- Is Etihad Airways or TAP Air Portugal better to Europe?
- Etihad Airways scores 9.3/10 against TAP Air Portugal at 8.5/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare. On the four dimensions we can verify, Etihad Airways wins 1 and TAP Air Portugal wins 0. Service and food are not scored here because they cannot be read off a spec sheet.
- Does the aircraft change the answer?
- Yes. TAP Air Portugal scores 8/10 on the A330-900neo and 5/10 on the A321LR. Check the equipment on your date before deciding.
- Has Jon flown either of these?
- TAP Air Portugal, in business on a Europe route. Etihad Airways has not been flown, so nothing here claims firsthand experience of its cabin.
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