The carrier offers a free coach service from Abu Dhabi to its next door Emirate, a trip which takes less than an hour and a half each way.
It drops the travellers at its 'Travel Mall' near downtown Dubai, from where there's a handy metro service to the key areas of the commercial and tourism capital of the United Arab Emirates.
There are also taxis available at the Travel Mall — a typical fare to the historical and atmospheric Deira Creek area is around €13.
If you use the Etihad service, and want to get a taxi, just be sure it's a proper taxi (they're distinctive and metered). Like any city where tourists land, there are sharks waiting to scalp you with a 'taxi' drive in ordinary cars.
On the return journey, you can check in and drop your bags at the Travel Mall up to 24 hours before your flight. That's a handy way of giving yourself unworried time two metro stops back at the extraordinary Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa complex.
The coach service is operated by Etihad itself. It isn't a walk-up, you have to book, which you can do online at the same time as you book your flights.
