sftrvlr
Dec 2, 04, 6:07 pm
We don't see too many reports about Emirates, and since it was the first time I've flown on them, I thought I'd write about it. This was the end of a 2 week trip to Asia. I spent a week in Malaysia, then met up with a friend in Bali for another week. We flew to Colombo to pick up a ticket back to San Francisco. The fare was only US$900 for Business Class to fly Colombo-Singapore on Emirates (where we stopped overnight for dinner) then Singapore-Tokyo-San Francisco on United. We upgraded from United Business to United First using 1K Systemwides.
EK348 / CMB-SIN
Having never been to Colombo before, we weren't sure how speedy check-in would be. The hotel said we needed a 2 hour check-in for Business Class (3 hours for Economy) so we arranged to arrive that far ahead. Colombo airport was far more organized and efficient than I had expected! You had to show your ticket just to enter the terminal, then show it again to enter into the check-in area. At this point all baggage was hand searched. Not particularly thoroughly. Emirates uses Sri Lankan Airlines check-in counters at Colombo, with a dedicated line for Business Class. There were 3 or 4 passengers in the Economy Class lines, and nobody at Business Class. The check-in agent seemed a bit bothered that we'd interrupted her chat with her colleague, but checked us in swiftly without much conversation or any pleasantries. She asked if we wanted our luggage checked all the way to San Francisco, which we declined since we needed it for the overnight in Singapore. Three minutes later we were the only passengers at the immigration counters to leave Sri Lanka. A quick stamp in the passport, and we were all set to go.
Emirates uses the Sri Lankan Airlines lounge at Colombo, which is, to say the least, a bit old! The usual setup with reasonably comfy chairs, sofas and tables. I would say the lounge could hold 50 or so passengers, so it must be pretty full when they have several flights at once. Ours was the only departure at that hour of the morning (1055AM) so it was pretty much just Emirates passengers. They had a fairly decent spread of hot and cold snacks (excellent spicy grilled chicken strips!), as well as some mid-level liquors in the open bar. An internet terminal that was permanently stuck on the Sri Lankan Airlines home page, and plenty of newspapers and magazines. All-in-all, not bad. We discovered that the flight was delayed by half an hour when we overheard some other passengers talking about it. It would have been nice if they told us at check-in, or made an announcement!
We left the lounge about 45 minutes before the new departure time to check out the rest of the terminal. They had a restaurant, a fairly well stocked duty free with good prices, and some other small shops selling knick knacks from the island. The whole place really looks like something that hasn't changed since the mid 1970s. It doesn't look like they are doing anything to upgrade the landside area, but a new pier is being built airside, so they should have gates with jetways in the near future. There appear to be only 4 gate areas, which are not very large, so they don't let you through security until about 30 minutes before your flight. As I waited to put my bags on the x-ray and remove my stupid belt that always sets off the alarm (note to self: leave it at home, next time) a couple of people just wandered around the side of the magnetometer without being challenged! I would think that in a country with a history of terrorist violence that they would be a little more aware! The person looking at the x-ray was engrossed in conversation with a colleague, and didn't seem to be watching her screen all that much. All stands at Colombo are remote, so you take a bus to get there. Business Class passengers are held in the departure gate until everyone else has boarded, then they get their own bus. Driving up to that huge, shiny Emirates 777, parked between a Sri Lankan Airlines A330 and a Kuwait Airways A300-600, was amazing! I love the colors of both Emirates and Sri Lankan.
Boarding for Business Class was through L2, and we were greeted and directed across the galley and to the left to 5 J and K. I can't say I'm in love with the Business Class cabin on Emirates. The seats are an odd sort of purple/beige color combo, which just seemed to look worn and a bit dirty to me. Or maybe they were a bit worn and dirty. They are electronically adjustable, and the seat pitch looks to be about 45 inches. Recline not quite as good as United, but certainly acceptable for this short (4 hour) flight. The foot rest was horrid, though. It didn't come up very far, and wasn't made for anyone who is tall. I didn't use it. The cabin was about half full. Pre departure champagne was offered and accepted. I love the uniform that the female FAs wear with the red hats, and sort of vail like thingy. The men look terrible in their trousers that are the color of dirty desert sand, though.
A quick word from the captain, with an apology for the delay, and the doors closed and we were off. Safety video in Arabic, then English. Emirates lived up to their reputation of having FAs from all over the world as an announcement was made that they were able to communicate with us in Arabic, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, German, French, Spanish and Italian! As we taxied to the runway, I noticed that there are bunkers located every few meters along the runway that are staffed with soldiers with automatic weapons. Probably to try to prevent a repeat of a few years ago when Sri Lankan lost half their fleet during an attack on the airport. A short takeoff roll, and we were underway to Singapore.
Drinks service commenced about 15 minutes after takeoff, with 2 FAs staffing 2 carts. One for each aisle. They served back to front. A gin and tonic with ice and lemon and a plate of delicious mixed nuts went down well! We were asked for our main course orders for lunch, but hadn't been offered a menu. Apparently it was supposed to be in the seat pocket, along with the headphones. We had neither. I don't use the headphones since I have my own, but a menu would have been nice. The FA took a menu from the passenger behind me, and handed it to us to share. The choices were grilled chicken with chili sauce, traditional Sri Lankan curried beef, or a club sandwich. My seat partner chose the chicken. I had the beef. Appetizer was a choice of spicy grilled shrimp with salad, or cold poached salmon with salad. The shrimp and the curry were both excellent ... and spicy. Bread offerings were pita bread, garlic bread, and other assorted rolls. A glass of Pauillac went down nicely as well. Too bad I was never offered a refill! In fact, there was no second offering of bread or beverages during the meal service. I asked for another glass of red, and it came with cork floating all over it. I rang the call button 3 times for the refill, then twice more for a new glass minus the cork. There doesn't appear to be a chime in the galley when you ring, so the FAs only know to check the cabin if they happen to look up at the colored lights above the curtains to the galley. Our FA seemed rather disinterested in the whole service aspect of her job. Oh, well, I'll chalk it up to having a bad day. After the main course was cleared, we had a choice of cheese or desert. This was the best cheese selection I have ever seen in Business Class. There were 6 choices from all over the world, individually cut and served from a cheese board. There was an offering of port and liquers as well. I was a pig and had some of each cheese with another glass of Pauillac. A wonderful end to the meal.
Time to fire up the entertainment system and see how it compared to Krisworld (we flew into Colombo on Singapore Airlines.) It's called ICE, and it is better than Krisworld in my opinion. The video monitor is huge, and there are about 400 choices on demand! I listened to music mostly. You can flip around the different CDs and play selected tracks. This entertained me for the next hour, and it was time for descent and landing at Changi. It was also fun to watch an Arab gentleman (I assume he was Arab since he was wearing a traditional robe and keffiyeh) from Economy keep walking up into Business Class and just sitting down and buckling his seatbelt. Then the same FA would come up and ask him (in Arabic) to move back to Economy. It was so funny!
An extremely bumpy descent and landing in thunderstorms at Singapore, where we docked at a close-in gate in T1. A 10 minute wait at immigration behind a 747 load from Hong Kong on Cathay. Bags were on the belt when we got to baggage claim. Into a London Cab, blissfully air conditioned, and off to the Conrad for the evening. Less than an hour from plane to bed ... I love Singapore!
So my overall impression of Emirates is that it is certainly a world class airline, but not quite at the level of Singapore, Cathay or Malaysia. Good food and wine, and service was fine, but nothing really special. I do think the Business Class seat needs to be revamped, and I hope they change the color scheme in the cabin. And I think I'm going to head back to Sri Lanka and spend some time (we only spent one night this time) there before starting my next ex-Colombo ticket. The people were wonderful, and the country looks like it has lots to offer.
EK348 / CMB-SIN
Having never been to Colombo before, we weren't sure how speedy check-in would be. The hotel said we needed a 2 hour check-in for Business Class (3 hours for Economy) so we arranged to arrive that far ahead. Colombo airport was far more organized and efficient than I had expected! You had to show your ticket just to enter the terminal, then show it again to enter into the check-in area. At this point all baggage was hand searched. Not particularly thoroughly. Emirates uses Sri Lankan Airlines check-in counters at Colombo, with a dedicated line for Business Class. There were 3 or 4 passengers in the Economy Class lines, and nobody at Business Class. The check-in agent seemed a bit bothered that we'd interrupted her chat with her colleague, but checked us in swiftly without much conversation or any pleasantries. She asked if we wanted our luggage checked all the way to San Francisco, which we declined since we needed it for the overnight in Singapore. Three minutes later we were the only passengers at the immigration counters to leave Sri Lanka. A quick stamp in the passport, and we were all set to go.
Emirates uses the Sri Lankan Airlines lounge at Colombo, which is, to say the least, a bit old! The usual setup with reasonably comfy chairs, sofas and tables. I would say the lounge could hold 50 or so passengers, so it must be pretty full when they have several flights at once. Ours was the only departure at that hour of the morning (1055AM) so it was pretty much just Emirates passengers. They had a fairly decent spread of hot and cold snacks (excellent spicy grilled chicken strips!), as well as some mid-level liquors in the open bar. An internet terminal that was permanently stuck on the Sri Lankan Airlines home page, and plenty of newspapers and magazines. All-in-all, not bad. We discovered that the flight was delayed by half an hour when we overheard some other passengers talking about it. It would have been nice if they told us at check-in, or made an announcement!
We left the lounge about 45 minutes before the new departure time to check out the rest of the terminal. They had a restaurant, a fairly well stocked duty free with good prices, and some other small shops selling knick knacks from the island. The whole place really looks like something that hasn't changed since the mid 1970s. It doesn't look like they are doing anything to upgrade the landside area, but a new pier is being built airside, so they should have gates with jetways in the near future. There appear to be only 4 gate areas, which are not very large, so they don't let you through security until about 30 minutes before your flight. As I waited to put my bags on the x-ray and remove my stupid belt that always sets off the alarm (note to self: leave it at home, next time) a couple of people just wandered around the side of the magnetometer without being challenged! I would think that in a country with a history of terrorist violence that they would be a little more aware! The person looking at the x-ray was engrossed in conversation with a colleague, and didn't seem to be watching her screen all that much. All stands at Colombo are remote, so you take a bus to get there. Business Class passengers are held in the departure gate until everyone else has boarded, then they get their own bus. Driving up to that huge, shiny Emirates 777, parked between a Sri Lankan Airlines A330 and a Kuwait Airways A300-600, was amazing! I love the colors of both Emirates and Sri Lankan.
Boarding for Business Class was through L2, and we were greeted and directed across the galley and to the left to 5 J and K. I can't say I'm in love with the Business Class cabin on Emirates. The seats are an odd sort of purple/beige color combo, which just seemed to look worn and a bit dirty to me. Or maybe they were a bit worn and dirty. They are electronically adjustable, and the seat pitch looks to be about 45 inches. Recline not quite as good as United, but certainly acceptable for this short (4 hour) flight. The foot rest was horrid, though. It didn't come up very far, and wasn't made for anyone who is tall. I didn't use it. The cabin was about half full. Pre departure champagne was offered and accepted. I love the uniform that the female FAs wear with the red hats, and sort of vail like thingy. The men look terrible in their trousers that are the color of dirty desert sand, though.
A quick word from the captain, with an apology for the delay, and the doors closed and we were off. Safety video in Arabic, then English. Emirates lived up to their reputation of having FAs from all over the world as an announcement was made that they were able to communicate with us in Arabic, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, German, French, Spanish and Italian! As we taxied to the runway, I noticed that there are bunkers located every few meters along the runway that are staffed with soldiers with automatic weapons. Probably to try to prevent a repeat of a few years ago when Sri Lankan lost half their fleet during an attack on the airport. A short takeoff roll, and we were underway to Singapore.
Drinks service commenced about 15 minutes after takeoff, with 2 FAs staffing 2 carts. One for each aisle. They served back to front. A gin and tonic with ice and lemon and a plate of delicious mixed nuts went down well! We were asked for our main course orders for lunch, but hadn't been offered a menu. Apparently it was supposed to be in the seat pocket, along with the headphones. We had neither. I don't use the headphones since I have my own, but a menu would have been nice. The FA took a menu from the passenger behind me, and handed it to us to share. The choices were grilled chicken with chili sauce, traditional Sri Lankan curried beef, or a club sandwich. My seat partner chose the chicken. I had the beef. Appetizer was a choice of spicy grilled shrimp with salad, or cold poached salmon with salad. The shrimp and the curry were both excellent ... and spicy. Bread offerings were pita bread, garlic bread, and other assorted rolls. A glass of Pauillac went down nicely as well. Too bad I was never offered a refill! In fact, there was no second offering of bread or beverages during the meal service. I asked for another glass of red, and it came with cork floating all over it. I rang the call button 3 times for the refill, then twice more for a new glass minus the cork. There doesn't appear to be a chime in the galley when you ring, so the FAs only know to check the cabin if they happen to look up at the colored lights above the curtains to the galley. Our FA seemed rather disinterested in the whole service aspect of her job. Oh, well, I'll chalk it up to having a bad day. After the main course was cleared, we had a choice of cheese or desert. This was the best cheese selection I have ever seen in Business Class. There were 6 choices from all over the world, individually cut and served from a cheese board. There was an offering of port and liquers as well. I was a pig and had some of each cheese with another glass of Pauillac. A wonderful end to the meal.
Time to fire up the entertainment system and see how it compared to Krisworld (we flew into Colombo on Singapore Airlines.) It's called ICE, and it is better than Krisworld in my opinion. The video monitor is huge, and there are about 400 choices on demand! I listened to music mostly. You can flip around the different CDs and play selected tracks. This entertained me for the next hour, and it was time for descent and landing at Changi. It was also fun to watch an Arab gentleman (I assume he was Arab since he was wearing a traditional robe and keffiyeh) from Economy keep walking up into Business Class and just sitting down and buckling his seatbelt. Then the same FA would come up and ask him (in Arabic) to move back to Economy. It was so funny!
An extremely bumpy descent and landing in thunderstorms at Singapore, where we docked at a close-in gate in T1. A 10 minute wait at immigration behind a 747 load from Hong Kong on Cathay. Bags were on the belt when we got to baggage claim. Into a London Cab, blissfully air conditioned, and off to the Conrad for the evening. Less than an hour from plane to bed ... I love Singapore!
So my overall impression of Emirates is that it is certainly a world class airline, but not quite at the level of Singapore, Cathay or Malaysia. Good food and wine, and service was fine, but nothing really special. I do think the Business Class seat needs to be revamped, and I hope they change the color scheme in the cabin. And I think I'm going to head back to Sri Lanka and spend some time (we only spent one night this time) there before starting my next ex-Colombo ticket. The people were wonderful, and the country looks like it has lots to offer.