The article below is an excerpt from Simon Calder’s travel newsletter. To get the latest from Simon delivered straight to your inbox, simply enter your email address in the box above.
The call I was expecting came in just before 5am on Wednesday. I was in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, base camp for the world’s largest Buddhist temple at Borobudur. The dialling code indicated the caller was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – the home of Etihad. Seven weeks ago, I booked a trip with the airline departing tomorrow from Jakarta to Abu Dhabi, with a two-night stay in the UAE capital before flying on to London Heathrow. With intense competition from Emirates and Qatar Airways, Etihad even threw in the hotel stay.
