There was only a fraction of the plane's more than 500-person capacity aboard for the Sydney-Auckland leg of the Emirates flight.
Lucy Bennett flies Emirates from Sydney to Auckland.
The plane: Airbus A380 - the giant of the skies.
Class: Economy, but so empty it felt like business.
Price: $300, or thereabouts.
On time? We left Sydney a little later that the scheduled 7.50am departure time but the pilots made the time up in the air and we arrived right on time at 12.55pm.
My seat: 167D, window seat but because the plane was near empty; I luxuriated in an entire row.
Fellow passengers: Tourists and returning Kiwis scattered through the plane. There were so few people I could hardly see anyone from my prone position in my row.
How full? As I've often found on this leg of Emirates' Sydney-Dubai service, there was a fraction of the plane's more than 500-person capacity.
Entertainment: Emirates has a comprehensive inflight entertainment system with screens embedded in the seat in front. Latest movies and old classics abound. The duty free magazine is always entertaining. If you're in the market you can buy everything from a Louis Vuitton yoga mat to a yacht. I wasn't in the market.
The service: Polite and accommodating, always welcome when you've been up since 5am.
Food and drink: The menu is never as exciting on the morning flights, the usual weird consistency of the egg has something to do with it, but at least my first choice was still plentiful.
The toilets: No need to time my run to avoid having to queue awkwardly in the narrow space.
Luggage: A generous 30kg limit. Plenty of room in the overhead lockers for my laptop and hand luggage, and no one checked the weight.
Would I fly this again? Always my airline of choice for transtasman flights.
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