Aircraft leaving Dubai Airport. Photo / Getty Images
Plane: Emirates A380-800
Class: Business Class.
Price: Auckland to London, via Dubai in Business Class starts from $7349 return.
Luggage: Economy's allowance is 32kg/7kg. Business Class passengers can take up to 40kg of checked luggage.
Check-in: Online check-in followed by bag drop at Auckland airport. My suitcase was checked through to London and I had a pre-issued boarding pass so I didn't need to do anything at Dubai.
Airport experience: We landed at Terminal 3's A concourse. Getting through security to transfer to Concourse B was smooth and fast. I got the train to the terminal and then made my way to the Business Class lounge, which was next to my boarding gate. A hot shower was heaven after the previous 17-hour flight.
Flight time: After the marathon session from Auckland to Dubai, this leg was a measly 7 hours 30 minutes.
On time: We were about 50 minutes late taking off, with no announcements from the flight deck. I assume 7.45am is just a busy time of day at Dubai so we were queuing to get on the runway.
Seat: 14F, a middle seat configured for couples travelling together (as opposed to the aisle seats in alternate rows, which afford more privacy). I was in quite close quarters to my neighbour — at one point I embarrassingly noticed I was resting my foot on his knee without realising it — but the privacy screen between us meant we couldn't see each other's faces unless we chose to peer around. We didn't.
Service: Excellent; always ready to help, polite and friendly. The crew were from 21 countries and spoke 13 languages. Two of the British crew were really enjoying talking to a gentleman a few rows in front of me ... they stayed there for at least half an hour. Great for him, not so great for those of us trying to sleep.
Entertainment: Emirates' excellent ICE system with about 2500 channels. Plenty of new releases, podcasts and music to choose from. Food and drink: Very good. After take off we had a light continental breakfast, then for lunch later in the flight I had an Arabic mezze plate with hummus, olives, dolmades, artichokes, flat bread and a shanklish (Arabic cheese) salad. It was delicious. Main course was prawn machbous ... basically just a pile of rice with some huge prawns buried underneath. The dessert of passionfruit tart and redcurrants was a great way to end. There was plentiful alcohol on offer, at your seat or in the lounge at the back of the deck. I didn't indulge as I wanted a clear head when I landed in London, but a few British businessmen were taking full advantage.
Fellow passengers: A lot of business people, as well as Brits and Kiwis who had connected from the Auckland to Dubai flight.
Toilets: Four at the rear of the deck and they were always clean and tidy. The toilets on the port and starboard sides had windows, so you could look at the land far below.
Would I fly again: Absolutely.
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