My first time flying with Emirates so thought I’d do a trip report on it.
My project requires my presence out in Dubai for a few days, unfortunately as the flight is (just) under 8 hours and it’s not overnight I could only get economy seats. No point going any other route as Emirates are pretty competitive ex-GLA.
Arrived at the airport via taxi with just my hand luggage, used the manned check-in desk rather than the machine and managed to get moved to the over-wing exit for 24B. No lounge access so made my way through security and sat in one of the bars with a view of the apron and had a Scottish brunch while watching the incoming plane land and taxi up to the gate.
An hour later made my way down to the gate past where the flight had mostly boarded, and ten uneventful minutes later I was sitting in my seat complete with complimentary newspaper. I’ve been hearing that the two daily Emirates 777-300 flights from Glasgow average a healthy 85% load factor and this was no exception, there couldn’t have been many spare seats, if any (a colleague on the same flight a few days later said they were looking for volunteers due to overbooking).
One issue with the over-wing exit is the lack of IFE during taxi and take-off however I was able to watch the on-board cameras on the screen and somebody else’s IFE. Such a simply idea but completely additive to watch.
I soon got stuck into reading a newspaper then dabbled with the IFE, watched the Steve Jobs film which was ok but not as good as some of the other documentaries made about him. I also found the headphones they provided to be rather uncomfortable after a few hours. Plane journeys are so much different when not having to look after kids! I logged onto the onboard wifi and managed to send the obligatory “I’m on a plane!” messages to Twitter and Facebook however the system went down after about an hour never to return (the live TV also went down so I assume it was a problem with their satellite link).
Lunch was served, and while it didn’t look the smartest presentation the lamb ragout was very tasty. I felt there could have been more rounds of drinks served, I did go back to the galley at one point for one. The lack of a decent bite later in the flight proved to be a problem. Here’s the menu:
Lunch Appetiser
Salad Niçoise served with green beans, potato and olives with tuna
Main Course
Grilled Chicken with rosemary demi‑glace, roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes with cheese
Lamb Ragoût served with pomegranate and apricot sauce, saffron rice and creamy spinach with artichokes
Dessert
Chocolate Mousse with cherry compote
Chocolate
Hot Drinks Tea or Coffee
Before landing
A selection of beverages will be offered with a sweet treat.
I tried to doze off for a bit especially as I wouldn’t be having much sleep in the next few days but found it pretty impossible in the Emirates economy seats which were fairly hard and I ended up with a numb botty. I had to go for a walk to get back the circulation then use the pillow provided for my posterior. The seats also lacked proper head support for a doze (unlike Virgin’s 747s).
So a fairly uneventful flight later we were coming into land at Dubai, again the IFE had to be put away however the cabin TVs were showing adverts and not the cameras or map which was disappointing. Landed at 12.15am local (on time) and taxied to the dreaded remote stand where we had to wait to disembark until enough busses showed up. The bus journey across the airport took a while as we had to cross active and busy taxiways at what is a crazy, crazy airport. Finally got into the main terminal, through a reasonably busy security (plenty of desks open at 1am) and into a taxi where I arrived at the hotel tired and reasonably hungry. Sadly the hotel couldn’t fix me up with any food so I hailed a taxi and he took me to where the taxi drivers go to eat, had an excellent curry at 2.30am.
Here’s my star ratings:
Ground 4* Great in Glasgow, not so great in Dubai
Crew 4* Pretty anonymous, functional, but did well for a full flight
Food 3* Main meal was great, let down by lack of drinks and substantial snack
Seats 4* Great having the ELR seats but they’re not as comfortable as Virgin EC seats
Entertainment 4* Great selection, few niggles with headphones and service
Overall it was a pretty good flight, maybe I was expecting too much as Emirates are held in pretty high regard but I didn’t find them to be any better than Virgin and indeed I found Virgin to exceed them in some ways. Would definitely use the route again.
My project requires my presence out in Dubai for a few days, unfortunately as the flight is (just) under 8 hours and it’s not overnight I could only get economy seats. No point going any other route as Emirates are pretty competitive ex-GLA.
Arrived at the airport via taxi with just my hand luggage, used the manned check-in desk rather than the machine and managed to get moved to the over-wing exit for 24B. No lounge access so made my way through security and sat in one of the bars with a view of the apron and had a Scottish brunch while watching the incoming plane land and taxi up to the gate.
An hour later made my way down to the gate past where the flight had mostly boarded, and ten uneventful minutes later I was sitting in my seat complete with complimentary newspaper. I’ve been hearing that the two daily Emirates 777-300 flights from Glasgow average a healthy 85% load factor and this was no exception, there couldn’t have been many spare seats, if any (a colleague on the same flight a few days later said they were looking for volunteers due to overbooking).
One issue with the over-wing exit is the lack of IFE during taxi and take-off however I was able to watch the on-board cameras on the screen and somebody else’s IFE. Such a simply idea but completely additive to watch.
I soon got stuck into reading a newspaper then dabbled with the IFE, watched the Steve Jobs film which was ok but not as good as some of the other documentaries made about him. I also found the headphones they provided to be rather uncomfortable after a few hours. Plane journeys are so much different when not having to look after kids! I logged onto the onboard wifi and managed to send the obligatory “I’m on a plane!” messages to Twitter and Facebook however the system went down after about an hour never to return (the live TV also went down so I assume it was a problem with their satellite link).
Lunch was served, and while it didn’t look the smartest presentation the lamb ragout was very tasty. I felt there could have been more rounds of drinks served, I did go back to the galley at one point for one. The lack of a decent bite later in the flight proved to be a problem. Here’s the menu:
Lunch Appetiser
Salad Niçoise served with green beans, potato and olives with tuna
Main Course
Grilled Chicken with rosemary demi‑glace, roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes with cheese
Lamb Ragoût served with pomegranate and apricot sauce, saffron rice and creamy spinach with artichokes
Dessert
Chocolate Mousse with cherry compote
Chocolate
Hot Drinks Tea or Coffee
Before landing
A selection of beverages will be offered with a sweet treat.
I tried to doze off for a bit especially as I wouldn’t be having much sleep in the next few days but found it pretty impossible in the Emirates economy seats which were fairly hard and I ended up with a numb botty. I had to go for a walk to get back the circulation then use the pillow provided for my posterior. The seats also lacked proper head support for a doze (unlike Virgin’s 747s).
So a fairly uneventful flight later we were coming into land at Dubai, again the IFE had to be put away however the cabin TVs were showing adverts and not the cameras or map which was disappointing. Landed at 12.15am local (on time) and taxied to the dreaded remote stand where we had to wait to disembark until enough busses showed up. The bus journey across the airport took a while as we had to cross active and busy taxiways at what is a crazy, crazy airport. Finally got into the main terminal, through a reasonably busy security (plenty of desks open at 1am) and into a taxi where I arrived at the hotel tired and reasonably hungry. Sadly the hotel couldn’t fix me up with any food so I hailed a taxi and he took me to where the taxi drivers go to eat, had an excellent curry at 2.30am.
Here’s my star ratings:
Ground 4* Great in Glasgow, not so great in Dubai
Crew 4* Pretty anonymous, functional, but did well for a full flight
Food 3* Main meal was great, let down by lack of drinks and substantial snack
Seats 4* Great having the ELR seats but they’re not as comfortable as Virgin EC seats
Entertainment 4* Great selection, few niggles with headphones and service
Overall it was a pretty good flight, maybe I was expecting too much as Emirates are held in pretty high regard but I didn’t find them to be any better than Virgin and indeed I found Virgin to exceed them in some ways. Would definitely use the route again.
Last edited by Fuzzy14 on 07 Mar 2016, 13:41, edited 1 time in total.