dzinh
Active Member
- Joined
- May 19, 2009
- Posts
- 532
more pics on my blog
I've never intended to fly with Emirates until I needed to head over to Singapore to which Emirates had the perfect timing as well as fit perfectly into my budget which saw me book the flight ten hours before my flight.
I'm not usually one to leave flight booking up to a few hours before the flight but being spontaneous and living to you only live once meant I was paying quite a steep price for the flight which happened to fall into holiday season in Australia, but then again prices are always high when booking from Australia. With the flight departing Melbourne at 1900 meant that I could squeeze in a day of work before heading to the airport at 1630 which was perfectly timed just before peak hour on the freeway.
I walked through the doors of terminal two and headed for the departures hall which I made my way passed the Emirate check in which was crowded with passengers checking in bag. The great thing was I could bypass the lines with my hand bag and printed boarding pass which had the option of allowing me to head straight to the gate. I was stripped of status, lounge access and everything elite as I didn't hold status with Emirates or Qantas which didn't bother me too much as it was a one off flight.
The girl taking me to Singapore.
While waiting in the gate lounge my name was called over the p.a system which saw me at the gate as the agent needed to scan my passport to which she issued me a new boarding pass on Emirates stock. Boarding began to commence so she invited me to board along with the parents and children which was nice of her as the passengers made their way downstairs from the departure hall.
I was greeted by two bubbly flight attendants and was directed to turn right as I made my way down the colourful cabin towards row 35 Charlie.
My seat.
On the seat was a pillow, blanket and a pair of headphone to which I placed in the seat pocket before taking the opportunity to snap some pictures of the cabin.
Between seats and located just under the entertainment screen was a powerpoint which has become a thing of today and a necessity for all. The ICE system had a larger than normal and sharp screen which had a wide selection of movies, films, music and games which helped bypass time, it was unresponsive at time which I turned to the remote for ease when selecting and scrolling through items.
"Our economy class comes without compromise" - Taken from the Emirates website. The only thing that was compromised was space.
My flight to Singapore was a full and sold out flight meaning everyseat had a bum alocated to it. The Emirates economy class layout is a 3-4-3 which is ten across meaning a tight and narrow squeeze compared to other airlines who operate the same aircraft. It may not seem bad at all to the normal traveller but comfort factor breaks when you're sitting with your shoulders against your seat partner especially when it's a sold out flight. I was lucky enough to be travellng with a friend so we managed to maneuver into a few positions to try and find a comfortable spot which seemed to make the seven hour flight seem like a ten hour one.
The Boeing 777 is my favourite aircraft, not so with ten across in economy.
I could just embrace and accept the limited space for a seven hour flight to Singapore and couldn't be happier when the prepare cabin for descent announcement was made. The seat itself was comfy when in the upright position and I had a few inches of legroom from my knees to the seat infront. When the seat reclined it was a different story as the seat reclined and slides forward meaning my knees were touching the seat infront which makes it hard to rest and stretch your legs properly.
A storm was brewing behind those clouds.
As the final door was shut and the time was just over 1900 there was an announcement that there would be a ten minute delay as airport operations were still loading cargo which was fine. Another announcement thirty minutes later informed us that due to severe stormy weather all airport operations were on hold until the storm passed which lasted until 20:10.
In the time that we were waiting for the storm to pass flight crew handed out hot face towels, immigration forms for Singapore, food menu and did a pre departure water service.
It was 20:15 when airport operations recommenced loading the final pieces of cargo that saw us pushing back at 20:30, only an hour and half later than we were suppose to with an announcement from the captain that they would try their best to make up lost time. The flight crew was introduced and Emirates pride themselves for having multicultural crew with a total of 13 staff speaking different languages on the flight.
With a slight right turn onto the runway the worlds most powerful GE90 engines on any commercial aircraft let out an ear pleasing roar as we gained speed and gently glided into the air for Singapore. With a few turns here and there the aircraft continued to climb to a higher altitude as land began getting smaller. The seatbelt sign was eliminated a few seconds later before crew prepared the cabin for a dinner service.
Savoury biscuits and a drink run was performed while dinner was still heating up in the galley to which the announcement for crew to cease work and return to their seats as we would be facing turbulence. The plane shook and rattled as the captain managed to climb to a higher altitude and avoid the turbulence to which the crew recommenced their work ten minutes after.
Chicken tagine with cous cous and grilled vegetables.
Beef or chicken? I decided on the chicken for dinner which was served with a Arabic mezze, pita bread and accompanied by a carrot cake. The meal was piping hot and had enough taste which went well with the pita bread, it was a meal eaten to stabilize the stomache and wasn't something that had a wow factor about it. The vegetables were fresh and crisp which is always a delight over the sometimes soggy and bland vegetables I've come across on some airlines. The meal also had a romeso spread with crackers which didn't appeal to me, it was like eating capsicum on crackers. The carrot cake was nice although after tasting a bite I could taste a weeks worth of sugar in that tiny slice.
Metal cutlery was also featured which is a nice touch and much better than any plastic fork especially when its a flimsy plastic fork. Giving Singapore airlines a run for their money which is always nice especially in economy.
Trays were swiftly cleared thirty minutes after the crew began the meal service and a check on the inflight map showed that we were only flying past Alice Springs which meant there was 5 hours of the flight left.
Cabin lights were dimmed and the mood lighting was switched on to ease and create a relaxing mood in the cabin. The Boeing stars began to twinkle above as the moodloghting was phased out which reulted in a semi dark cabin. I managed to squeeze in a hours nap before waking up to which crew were doung a snack service of warm pies in the dark.
The crew on the flight had smiles all round and were extremely young in their late twentys with the conversation that I had in the galley. They say a crew can make or break a flight and in this instance they were able to balance out between the comfort face of the flight.
We began descent into Changi airport one hour behind out estimated arrival hour which saw the plane glide down gently as we taxied towards the terminal. Passengers who were connecting onto Dubai were in luck as the gate for that second leg was the gate next to our plane which was in final boarding stages.
To be honest I probably wouldn't fly Emirates economy again unless I didn't have a choice due to comfort factor being a huge priority for me, especially with several other airlines who offer a more spacious economy cabin but besides that a very nice flight which I would rate just below Singapore airlines.
I've never intended to fly with Emirates until I needed to head over to Singapore to which Emirates had the perfect timing as well as fit perfectly into my budget which saw me book the flight ten hours before my flight.
I'm not usually one to leave flight booking up to a few hours before the flight but being spontaneous and living to you only live once meant I was paying quite a steep price for the flight which happened to fall into holiday season in Australia, but then again prices are always high when booking from Australia. With the flight departing Melbourne at 1900 meant that I could squeeze in a day of work before heading to the airport at 1630 which was perfectly timed just before peak hour on the freeway.
I walked through the doors of terminal two and headed for the departures hall which I made my way passed the Emirate check in which was crowded with passengers checking in bag. The great thing was I could bypass the lines with my hand bag and printed boarding pass which had the option of allowing me to head straight to the gate. I was stripped of status, lounge access and everything elite as I didn't hold status with Emirates or Qantas which didn't bother me too much as it was a one off flight.
The girl taking me to Singapore.
While waiting in the gate lounge my name was called over the p.a system which saw me at the gate as the agent needed to scan my passport to which she issued me a new boarding pass on Emirates stock. Boarding began to commence so she invited me to board along with the parents and children which was nice of her as the passengers made their way downstairs from the departure hall.
I was greeted by two bubbly flight attendants and was directed to turn right as I made my way down the colourful cabin towards row 35 Charlie.
My seat.
On the seat was a pillow, blanket and a pair of headphone to which I placed in the seat pocket before taking the opportunity to snap some pictures of the cabin.
Between seats and located just under the entertainment screen was a powerpoint which has become a thing of today and a necessity for all. The ICE system had a larger than normal and sharp screen which had a wide selection of movies, films, music and games which helped bypass time, it was unresponsive at time which I turned to the remote for ease when selecting and scrolling through items.
"Our economy class comes without compromise" - Taken from the Emirates website. The only thing that was compromised was space.
My flight to Singapore was a full and sold out flight meaning everyseat had a bum alocated to it. The Emirates economy class layout is a 3-4-3 which is ten across meaning a tight and narrow squeeze compared to other airlines who operate the same aircraft. It may not seem bad at all to the normal traveller but comfort factor breaks when you're sitting with your shoulders against your seat partner especially when it's a sold out flight. I was lucky enough to be travellng with a friend so we managed to maneuver into a few positions to try and find a comfortable spot which seemed to make the seven hour flight seem like a ten hour one.
The Boeing 777 is my favourite aircraft, not so with ten across in economy.
I could just embrace and accept the limited space for a seven hour flight to Singapore and couldn't be happier when the prepare cabin for descent announcement was made. The seat itself was comfy when in the upright position and I had a few inches of legroom from my knees to the seat infront. When the seat reclined it was a different story as the seat reclined and slides forward meaning my knees were touching the seat infront which makes it hard to rest and stretch your legs properly.
A storm was brewing behind those clouds.
As the final door was shut and the time was just over 1900 there was an announcement that there would be a ten minute delay as airport operations were still loading cargo which was fine. Another announcement thirty minutes later informed us that due to severe stormy weather all airport operations were on hold until the storm passed which lasted until 20:10.
In the time that we were waiting for the storm to pass flight crew handed out hot face towels, immigration forms for Singapore, food menu and did a pre departure water service.
It was 20:15 when airport operations recommenced loading the final pieces of cargo that saw us pushing back at 20:30, only an hour and half later than we were suppose to with an announcement from the captain that they would try their best to make up lost time. The flight crew was introduced and Emirates pride themselves for having multicultural crew with a total of 13 staff speaking different languages on the flight.
With a slight right turn onto the runway the worlds most powerful GE90 engines on any commercial aircraft let out an ear pleasing roar as we gained speed and gently glided into the air for Singapore. With a few turns here and there the aircraft continued to climb to a higher altitude as land began getting smaller. The seatbelt sign was eliminated a few seconds later before crew prepared the cabin for a dinner service.
Savoury biscuits and a drink run was performed while dinner was still heating up in the galley to which the announcement for crew to cease work and return to their seats as we would be facing turbulence. The plane shook and rattled as the captain managed to climb to a higher altitude and avoid the turbulence to which the crew recommenced their work ten minutes after.
Chicken tagine with cous cous and grilled vegetables.
Beef or chicken? I decided on the chicken for dinner which was served with a Arabic mezze, pita bread and accompanied by a carrot cake. The meal was piping hot and had enough taste which went well with the pita bread, it was a meal eaten to stabilize the stomache and wasn't something that had a wow factor about it. The vegetables were fresh and crisp which is always a delight over the sometimes soggy and bland vegetables I've come across on some airlines. The meal also had a romeso spread with crackers which didn't appeal to me, it was like eating capsicum on crackers. The carrot cake was nice although after tasting a bite I could taste a weeks worth of sugar in that tiny slice.
Metal cutlery was also featured which is a nice touch and much better than any plastic fork especially when its a flimsy plastic fork. Giving Singapore airlines a run for their money which is always nice especially in economy.
Trays were swiftly cleared thirty minutes after the crew began the meal service and a check on the inflight map showed that we were only flying past Alice Springs which meant there was 5 hours of the flight left.
Cabin lights were dimmed and the mood lighting was switched on to ease and create a relaxing mood in the cabin. The Boeing stars began to twinkle above as the moodloghting was phased out which reulted in a semi dark cabin. I managed to squeeze in a hours nap before waking up to which crew were doung a snack service of warm pies in the dark.
The crew on the flight had smiles all round and were extremely young in their late twentys with the conversation that I had in the galley. They say a crew can make or break a flight and in this instance they were able to balance out between the comfort face of the flight.
We began descent into Changi airport one hour behind out estimated arrival hour which saw the plane glide down gently as we taxied towards the terminal. Passengers who were connecting onto Dubai were in luck as the gate for that second leg was the gate next to our plane which was in final boarding stages.
To be honest I probably wouldn't fly Emirates economy again unless I didn't have a choice due to comfort factor being a huge priority for me, especially with several other airlines who offer a more spacious economy cabin but besides that a very nice flight which I would rate just below Singapore airlines.
