Virgin Australia partner Etihad Airways has upgraded its daily Perth-Abu Dhabi flights to the Boeing 787-9, with WA's business travellers set to enjoy a superb experience on the 11 hour flight.

Replacing the airline's previous Airbus A330-200 jets, the Dreamliner brings with it inflight WiFi and Etihad’s latest ‘Business Studio’ business class seats…

… which promise up to 20% more space on-board per passenger than the airline’s A330 business class (below):

Like the A330, the Business Studios provide direct aisle access for every passenger in a 1-2-1 layout, but with its fully-flat beds stretching up to 200cm in length to cater for taller travellers.

Read: Etihad Airways Boeing 787 business class

However, Etihad’s first class suites  won’t be available from Perth. Instead, Perth will get one of the newer batch of two-class Dreamliners configured solely with 28 'Business Studio' business class seats...

... and 271 economy ‘Smart Seats’, which boast a clever fixed-wing headrest to maximise your space and comfort while keeping your seatmates’ heads off your shoulders.

“Since launching flights between Perth and Abu Dhabi two years ago we have enjoyed strong two-way demand from business and leisure travellers on the route" said Etihad Airways Senior Vice President of Marketing, Shane O’Hare.

“The Dreamliner, which adds 518 weekly seats to the route, gives us the extra capacity needed to meet this ever-increasing demand."

Also read: Etihad opens new flagship First Class lounge at Abu Dhabi

Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT