Is this the best airplane cabin in the world? Inside the residence is Etihad's £5,000 A380 hotel suite in the sky, which includes a private lounge, shower and DOUBLE BED. It's breathtaking (and business class isn't bad either!)

Ted Thornhill flies to Abu Dhabi in Etihad's The Residence, then returns in the UAE carrier's business class. The Residence is seat 1A – and it’s located at the very front of the A380 upper deck READ MORE: Is this the best airport in the world? Inside Abu Dhabi's futuristic masterpiece

By Ted Thornhill, Online Travel Editor

Published: 07:53 GMT, March 7, 2024 | Updated: 1:23 p.m. GMT, March 9, 2024

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There is something beyond a first-class airplane cabin.< /p>

This.

The Residence. The Etihad A380 'Hotel Suite in the Sky', which includes a private lounge, en-suite shower and toilet and a separate bedroom with a double bed. I spent a minute inside and already concluded that this must be the best airplane cabin in the world. No seat, legroom – irrelevant here.

I'm giddy with excitement and desperate to take a good look around, but a passenger of first class in front asks me if I can stay aside for a moment while he comes in and films it. A cabin with celebrity status.

Plus, there are notable VIP extras that will please millionaires before and after the flight, as I discover when I'm flying from Heathrow to Abu Dhabi in Etihad's highest seat, before returning to business class to experience just how far luxury extends on the plane.

A CABIN 'LIKE NO OTHER'< /p> more videos