Dubai Airport.
The plane: A compact B777-300.
Class: Economy, as always.
Price: $520 (I know this because... see below).
Flight time: About six hours over some dramatic landscapes from the deserts around Dubai to snow-flecked Stockholm. About 20 minutes late taking off because of heat haze and traffic, but the time was made up in flight.
My seat: An aisle seat, 43G.
Fellow passengers: Looked to be mostly Swedes going home rather than tourists to Sweden.
How full: Close to squeezing, but comfy enough.
Entertainment: Always hard to argue with Emirates' sheer diversity of options from radio interviews to current movies.
The service: Excellent and efficient. Young kids got games, colouring books and cheerful blankets early on. The crew, from 11 countries, spoke 13 languages.
Food and drink: Decent continental breakfast (fruit, cheeses, croissant) and lunch (grilled chicken or grilled salmon as mains). The salmon came with a delicious dill sauce. Nice prep for the seafood in Stockholm.
The toilets: Yes, there were. Clean and small.
Luggage: A 17kg bag in the hold, and in the overhead locker a small carry-on, a very large thick coat, scarf and woollen hat for Stockholm in winter.
The airport experience: Ummm. Because I'd missed my flight the day before, I spent 24 hours in Dubai's cavernous airport which is a story for another day (and an experience I do not recommend).
Would I fly this again? Yes, with family at the far end it is necessary but the flight is reasonably quick, the food good, the movie choices excellent and the airline reliable.
