Emirates EK 201 A340-500 JFK to DXB
Sep 23, 2006, 7:15 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 74
Emirates EK 202 A340-500 JFK to DXB
My flight to La Guardia was delayed due to Hydraulics problems and I worried 
about my connection with Emirates as I had to travel from LGA to JFK by local transit.. The security check earlier delayed things with a passenger in front of me with every possible banned item in his hand carry, from toothpaste, hair gel to shoe polish. Do they not read the large signs and events in the newspapers….Very frustrating. Fortunately our A320 left just 50 minutes late and watching some tarmac activity taking off fromrunway 6R on a wet evening with scattered clouds passing a taxing KLM 744 en route to Amsterdam. The A320 banked to the right and then continued on an almost straight route to LGA. An uneventful flight with service of a packet of sesame seeds snacks and a can of pop.
We reached sunnier skies over New York and the sun was slowly setting in the west, but with enough light to enjoy the view that was to come. We turned right and just under the wing the Manhattan skyline took shape, and I wondered if we would pass close by. On the other side of Manhattan, I noticed a 737 flying quite low over some buildings and when I looked straight down I realized it was turning sharply to the left to land onto the runway at LGA, which actually lay right below our aircraft
. I could only see the end of the runway before it passed under. I could not believe what was to happen, we were going to go right over the Manhattanskyline, the northern part which had the Empire State building. Fortunately for me the view of the entire skyline which stretched south from where the Twin Towers stood to the end which had the Empire State Building was visible from my window. The jet approached the buildings and we started to pass close to the buildings.. We had barely gone over them when the aircraft banked to the left again and we were now heading south with the tall skyscrapers just below my aircraft window . It was a sight to behold, all of Manhattan lay below me. We passed a couple of buildings including the Empire State Building building which definitely looked taller than the rest of them, and then banked left again, now with only the Northern side visible. Passengers on the right would have had the best view of the Twin Towers if they were still standing. I clicked away furiously making the most of the picturesque view below before it all disappeared in a blink of an eye 
. We continued in the direction from where we had just come before the little spin over Manhattan, and at which point we started that sharp bend to the left, the ruway at LGA clearly visible ahead, with a stadium. in view as well, which we later passed and and I swallowed hard wondering if our A320 would actually make it . Never had I ever had to land so close to the runway at the angle that this tiny bird was going to make. However, before long the wheels of the jet slammed onto the runway, the spoilers deployed and the jet taxied to the terminal like it had done so many times before.
Leaving the terminal in a hurry after collecting my bags, I found the ground transportation which was an Express bus to JFK. I had some other passengers on board and we left after short stops on the way, before leaving the terminal area completely. The last of the suns rays were setting in the west and when on the highway the silhouttes of the mid sized jets landing at LGA could be seen in the skies above . We passed the stadium I had viewed from the air a Continental 737 passed close to it, disappearing briefly behind and then as we raced ahead, it banked to the left and before long was right in front of us, passing us and touching down onto the runway at LGA. Before long and with not much traffic to delay, we passed many signs indicating John F. Kennedy was slowly approaching ^ . However nothing could have alerted me more than a departing South African 744
which appeared from behind some trees, its lights blinking in excitement and it’s sheer size so clearly visible as it banked sharply to the left like a wave of goodbye from the terminal it had just left. Very soon, the many terminals of JFK appeared and before long I was leaving the bus to walk in the large revolving doors with some very pretty Aer Lingus flight attendants who looked very sharp in their green outfits ^ . The Emirates counter seemed quite empty and I wondered if the twice daily flights were actually good for the airline. Check in was a breeze and so was security. I went down into the shopping areas and with not much to see I decided to pass security and try and get a view of the action at JFK from the boarding gates. Security was as tight here as YYZ, with shoes being removed and scanned, and some having to walk barefoot. That all done, I was happy I decided to come into the boarding areas as the large windows offered views of the many jets around, including the Aer Lingus A330heading back to Dublin. I walked right to the end where the Emirates flight was to depart and could see some flights landing and some taking off. A Lufthansa 744, Air France 744 were some take offs, while a TAM A330 landed. It was hard to see it all with the glare of the terminal lights shining on the glass. I had to push my face into the window 
like a child to get a glimpse of the activity in the distance. A KLM 777 was parked close by getting ready to leave for Amsterdam.
I tried to get a good shot of our Emirates AirbusA340-500 but only the nose section and part of the starboard side of the aircraft was visible behind the boarding gate attached to it. Soon the boarding call for EK 202 was announced and we started to board the A340-500 . I was hoping the 12 hours 30 mins flight was going to be a pleasant one. We were welcomed on board by very friendly flight attendants, who actually briefly lost their smile in amazement
when I asked to photograph them . They beamed even more 
when I clicked away. The aircraft was clean and we boarded directly into the Economy section of the aircraft. I was assigned seat 36A and I was soon settling into it. The space on the jet I loved so much was terrible. The seat in front of me was almost touching my knees if I slid lower into my seat. I tried to sit back but it didn’t help. I looked around to see what was causing this and I realized the lower back rest in the seat was activated. I pressed the button on the arm rest and the portion pushing outwards on my lower back moved back into the seat allowing me sit back properly. I decided not to use that option again on the flight. The ICE entertainment system standing for Information, Communication and Entertainment was on the fairly large screen on the seat back video in front of me. I pushed some buttons and the forward camera came on and I could see some vans mover around in the front of the plane, and it was very clear. The fact I would be seeing the take off through these very cameras excited me tremendously .
I decided until that happened to explore what other options were available. The Entertainment option just blew my mind over 500 channels of the latest blockbuster movies, music albums, TV shows, comedies the choices were endless, that I actually put the entertainment guide away . I had +12 hours to decide what to watch. The passengers had now boarded and the announcement for ground staff to leave the plane was made by the captain. The winglet of the Emirates A340-500 with the logo in Arabic shone in the bathing lights of the terminal building and the last of the vehicles around the aircraft left as the beast was pushed back out of the terminal area. We soon taxied out of the terminal areathe aircraft lights dimming as we approached the runway for our take off which was to be on 4R. A Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 stood eerily still in the darkness and then began its take off roll, only its thunderous boom audible it disappearing from view as we pushed down the tarmac.
We turned left and the lights of the CX 744 blinked as it climbed up into the night sky , becoming one with the :-: stars :-: on this beautiful evening at JFK. We turned onto the runway and within minutes were racing ourselves down the length of 4R. The video on the screen in front demonstrated the roll as the runway lights raced towards me as it would seem, the camera slowly adjusted zooming outwards as the nose lifted and the letters 22L moved quickly under it and within seconds the runway could be seen no more on the scree, only the lights that lay ahead of us. I looked out of the main window and the winglets of the A345 moved upwards as the jet banked to the right to climb out of the busy JFK area. We continued to climb ahead and then banked right again heading down towards the Atlantic Ocean from where after a while we would turn left and travel along Long Island, which would disappear into a blur in the distance as the cabin lights came on later as we climbed higher, though at a very low rate of climb. We were still at FL2800 some 30 minutes into the flight. The cabin bustled with activity as the meal service began. Hot towels were distributed before we had even taken off from New York. The mood lightingwas set on, which resembled the setting sun, even though it was just 3:30am local time
.
What was surprising the meal service was delivered under these conditions . The meal was relatively nothing much to talk about, though what impressed me is the way the meal service was delivered. Each flight attendant took a cart to the front, a total of three carts. The first delivered the meal trays minus the main choice , which was delivered by the second, and the third poured the drinks . So the
were served relatively fast, even though there was no hurry as we still had +11 hours out of the total flying time. After the meal trays were cleared, the mood lighting turned to stars on the ceiling, which was the most beautiful thing I have even seen in an aircraft cabin. It almost seemed like the captain opened the aircraft to expose the :-: stars :-: above. That did not last too long, and before long the entire cabin plunged into the usual dark cabin, with some reading lights and the glaring seat back video screens throwing pools of light here and there. A flight attendant walked down and asked all to shut down their window screens. I could not understand why, considering it was already dark outside …I decided to test the ICE system and it was a breeze to use and before long King Kong was playing on the screen in front of me. The passenger at the side of me slept with his reading light on, and the guy behind kicked furiously into the back of my seat to settle into his cramped one. This was going to be fun all the way to Dubai 
.
We had passed way south of St' John'stracking down towards the British coastline at which point I fell asleep. I later woke up over Bucharest where it was already daylight. I decided to test out the forward camera and the downward camera in daylight. It was fun ^ and fortuntely we had some nice weather allowing us to see what we were flying over. I thought the view outside the cabinwas better. We continued over most of the middle of Turkey before we entered Iranian airspace and continued southeast over most of Iran. We had been served breakfast by a very friendly crew at some point over Turkish airspace. With some 1:30 mins left in the flight people began to start preparing to freshen up. I got to the back and got another photo of the crew.Soon the Zagros Mountains lay below us, the last light of the sun’s rays shone on the tops of it’s peaks, the ruggedness of the mountain preparing us for the harsh climate and weather of the Middle East. Soon the Iranian coastline lay behind us as we began our descent into Dubai airspace ^. The last of the evening light shone in the reflection of the huge engines of the Airbus A340-500. We progressed closer to Dubai. It had now gone dark and the approaching lights of the city of Dubai shone outside the cabin window. Soon we were over the city itself, the cabin lights had now dimmed and the lights of the city were the only bright ones outside the window. We continued eastwards leaving the bright lights behind before we U-turned and headed back to the coast, landing on Runway 20L which slowly started to take shape in the seatbackvideo.
We landed shortly and the long journey from New York had now come to an end. We taxied to the terminal and parked close to an Emirates B777-300 and behind it stood two SQ 777’s. The Sheikh Rashid Terminal looked elegant and the famous control tower gleamed in the bathing lights of the terminal building. Dubai Airportwas amazing, huge, bright and just past customs and Immigration a troupe of dancing arablocal men welcomed passengers to the United Arab Emirates and Dubai
about my connection with Emirates as I had to travel from LGA to JFK by local transit.. The security check earlier delayed things with a passenger in front of me with every possible banned item in his hand carry, from toothpaste, hair gel to shoe polish. Do they not read the large signs and events in the newspapers….Very frustrating. Fortunately our A320 left just 50 minutes late and watching some tarmac activity taking off fromrunway 6R on a wet evening with scattered clouds passing a taxing KLM 744 en route to Amsterdam. The A320 banked to the right and then continued on an almost straight route to LGA. An uneventful flight with service of a packet of sesame seeds snacks and a can of pop. We reached sunnier skies over New York and the sun was slowly setting in the west, but with enough light to enjoy the view that was to come. We turned right and just under the wing the Manhattan skyline took shape, and I wondered if we would pass close by. On the other side of Manhattan, I noticed a 737 flying quite low over some buildings and when I looked straight down I realized it was turning sharply to the left to land onto the runway at LGA, which actually lay right below our aircraft
. I could only see the end of the runway before it passed under. I could not believe what was to happen, we were going to go right over the Manhattanskyline, the northern part which had the Empire State building. Fortunately for me the view of the entire skyline which stretched south from where the Twin Towers stood to the end which had the Empire State Building was visible from my window. The jet approached the buildings and we started to pass close to the buildings.. We had barely gone over them when the aircraft banked to the left again and we were now heading south with the tall skyscrapers just below my aircraft window . It was a sight to behold, all of Manhattan lay below me. We passed a couple of buildings including the Empire State Building building which definitely looked taller than the rest of them, and then banked left again, now with only the Northern side visible. Passengers on the right would have had the best view of the Twin Towers if they were still standing. I clicked away furiously making the most of the picturesque view below before it all disappeared in a blink of an eye . We continued in the direction from where we had just come before the little spin over Manhattan, and at which point we started that sharp bend to the left, the ruway at LGA clearly visible ahead, with a stadium. in view as well, which we later passed and and I swallowed hard wondering if our A320 would actually make it . Never had I ever had to land so close to the runway at the angle that this tiny bird was going to make. However, before long the wheels of the jet slammed onto the runway, the spoilers deployed and the jet taxied to the terminal like it had done so many times before. Leaving the terminal in a hurry after collecting my bags, I found the ground transportation which was an Express bus to JFK. I had some other passengers on board and we left after short stops on the way, before leaving the terminal area completely. The last of the suns rays were setting in the west and when on the highway the silhouttes of the mid sized jets landing at LGA could be seen in the skies above . We passed the stadium I had viewed from the air a Continental 737 passed close to it, disappearing briefly behind and then as we raced ahead, it banked to the left and before long was right in front of us, passing us and touching down onto the runway at LGA. Before long and with not much traffic to delay, we passed many signs indicating John F. Kennedy was slowly approaching ^ . However nothing could have alerted me more than a departing South African 744
which appeared from behind some trees, its lights blinking in excitement and it’s sheer size so clearly visible as it banked sharply to the left like a wave of goodbye from the terminal it had just left. Very soon, the many terminals of JFK appeared and before long I was leaving the bus to walk in the large revolving doors with some very pretty Aer Lingus flight attendants who looked very sharp in their green outfits ^ . The Emirates counter seemed quite empty and I wondered if the twice daily flights were actually good for the airline. Check in was a breeze and so was security. I went down into the shopping areas and with not much to see I decided to pass security and try and get a view of the action at JFK from the boarding gates. Security was as tight here as YYZ, with shoes being removed and scanned, and some having to walk barefoot. That all done, I was happy I decided to come into the boarding areas as the large windows offered views of the many jets around, including the Aer Lingus A330heading back to Dublin. I walked right to the end where the Emirates flight was to depart and could see some flights landing and some taking off. A Lufthansa 744, Air France 744 were some take offs, while a TAM A330 landed. It was hard to see it all with the glare of the terminal lights shining on the glass. I had to push my face into the window like a child to get a glimpse of the activity in the distance. A KLM 777 was parked close by getting ready to leave for Amsterdam. I tried to get a good shot of our Emirates AirbusA340-500 but only the nose section and part of the starboard side of the aircraft was visible behind the boarding gate attached to it. Soon the boarding call for EK 202 was announced and we started to board the A340-500 . I was hoping the 12 hours 30 mins flight was going to be a pleasant one. We were welcomed on board by very friendly flight attendants, who actually briefly lost their smile in amazement
when I asked to photograph them . They beamed even more when I clicked away. The aircraft was clean and we boarded directly into the Economy section of the aircraft. I was assigned seat 36A and I was soon settling into it. The space on the jet I loved so much was terrible. The seat in front of me was almost touching my knees if I slid lower into my seat. I tried to sit back but it didn’t help. I looked around to see what was causing this and I realized the lower back rest in the seat was activated. I pressed the button on the arm rest and the portion pushing outwards on my lower back moved back into the seat allowing me sit back properly. I decided not to use that option again on the flight. The ICE entertainment system standing for Information, Communication and Entertainment was on the fairly large screen on the seat back video in front of me. I pushed some buttons and the forward camera came on and I could see some vans mover around in the front of the plane, and it was very clear. The fact I would be seeing the take off through these very cameras excited me tremendously . I decided until that happened to explore what other options were available. The Entertainment option just blew my mind over 500 channels of the latest blockbuster movies, music albums, TV shows, comedies the choices were endless, that I actually put the entertainment guide away . I had +12 hours to decide what to watch. The passengers had now boarded and the announcement for ground staff to leave the plane was made by the captain. The winglet of the Emirates A340-500 with the logo in Arabic shone in the bathing lights of the terminal building and the last of the vehicles around the aircraft left as the beast was pushed back out of the terminal area. We soon taxied out of the terminal areathe aircraft lights dimming as we approached the runway for our take off which was to be on 4R. A Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 stood eerily still in the darkness and then began its take off roll, only its thunderous boom audible it disappearing from view as we pushed down the tarmac.
We turned left and the lights of the CX 744 blinked as it climbed up into the night sky , becoming one with the :-: stars :-: on this beautiful evening at JFK. We turned onto the runway and within minutes were racing ourselves down the length of 4R. The video on the screen in front demonstrated the roll as the runway lights raced towards me as it would seem, the camera slowly adjusted zooming outwards as the nose lifted and the letters 22L moved quickly under it and within seconds the runway could be seen no more on the scree, only the lights that lay ahead of us. I looked out of the main window and the winglets of the A345 moved upwards as the jet banked to the right to climb out of the busy JFK area. We continued to climb ahead and then banked right again heading down towards the Atlantic Ocean from where after a while we would turn left and travel along Long Island, which would disappear into a blur in the distance as the cabin lights came on later as we climbed higher, though at a very low rate of climb. We were still at FL2800 some 30 minutes into the flight. The cabin bustled with activity as the meal service began. Hot towels were distributed before we had even taken off from New York. The mood lightingwas set on, which resembled the setting sun, even though it was just 3:30am local time
. What was surprising the meal service was delivered under these conditions . The meal was relatively nothing much to talk about, though what impressed me is the way the meal service was delivered. Each flight attendant took a cart to the front, a total of three carts. The first delivered the meal trays minus the main choice , which was delivered by the second, and the third poured the drinks . So the
were served relatively fast, even though there was no hurry as we still had +11 hours out of the total flying time. After the meal trays were cleared, the mood lighting turned to stars on the ceiling, which was the most beautiful thing I have even seen in an aircraft cabin. It almost seemed like the captain opened the aircraft to expose the :-: stars :-: above. That did not last too long, and before long the entire cabin plunged into the usual dark cabin, with some reading lights and the glaring seat back video screens throwing pools of light here and there. A flight attendant walked down and asked all to shut down their window screens. I could not understand why, considering it was already dark outside
…I decided to test the ICE system and it was a breeze to use and before long King Kong was playing on the screen in front of me. The passenger at the side of me slept with his reading light on, and the guy behind kicked furiously into the back of my seat to settle into his cramped one. This was going to be fun all the way to Dubai . We had passed way south of St' John'stracking down towards the British coastline at which point I fell asleep. I later woke up over Bucharest where it was already daylight. I decided to test out the forward camera and the downward camera in daylight. It was fun ^ and fortuntely we had some nice weather allowing us to see what we were flying over. I thought the view outside the cabinwas better
. We continued over most of the middle of Turkey before we entered Iranian airspace and continued southeast over most of Iran. We had been served breakfast by a very friendly crew at some point over Turkish airspace. With some 1:30 mins left in the flight people began to start preparing to freshen up. I got to the back and got another photo of the crew.Soon the Zagros Mountains lay below us, the last light of the sun’s rays shone on the tops of it’s peaks, the ruggedness of the mountain preparing us for the harsh climate and weather of the Middle East. Soon the Iranian coastline lay behind us as we began our descent into Dubai airspace ^. The last of the evening light shone in the reflection of the huge engines of the Airbus A340-500. We progressed closer to Dubai. It had now gone dark and the approaching lights of the city of Dubai shone outside the cabin window. Soon we were over the city itself, the cabin lights had now dimmed and the lights of the city were the only bright ones outside the window. We continued eastwards leaving the bright lights behind before we U-turned and headed back to the coast, landing on Runway 20L which slowly started to take shape in the seatbackvideo. We landed shortly and the long journey from New York had now come to an end. We taxied to the terminal and parked close to an Emirates B777-300 and behind it stood two SQ 777’s. The Sheikh Rashid Terminal looked elegant and the famous control tower gleamed in the bathing lights of the terminal building. Dubai Airportwas amazing, huge, bright and just past customs and Immigration a troupe of dancing arablocal men welcomed passengers to the United Arab Emirates and Dubai
Last edited by Bringingtheworldcloser; Sep 25, 2006 at 8:05 pm
Sep 24, 2006, 9:28 am
#5
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: 99654
Programs: Many
Posts: 6,450
Welcome to FT! excellent report^
I've been to Dubai very often, but I've never been welcomed by those
Dancing men. (or women).. ever..
EK is an excellent airline.. but there is one thing I Dont like about
Dubai.. it takes a loooooong time to get out of the airport or to get around.
They could have designed it a little better.
I've been to Dubai very often, but I've never been welcomed by those
Dancing men. (or women).. ever..
EK is an excellent airline.. but there is one thing I Dont like about
Dubai.. it takes a loooooong time to get out of the airport or to get around.
They could have designed it a little better.
Sep 24, 2006, 10:08 am
#6
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Bos
Programs: FB-Gold, SPG-Plat, Priority Club-Plat
Posts: 438
This was really an excellent report, I did enjoy reading it. To the OP, you are a very good writer, I look forward to reading any future trip reports you post. And thanks for posting this one.
Sep 24, 2006, 4:18 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 74
Originally Posted by More Champagne Sir?
^^ Excellent trip report!! By the way, that would be Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets.
regarding the stadium.... And once again thank you for all the kind comments 
Sep 25, 2006, 8:39 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 74
Originally Posted by Duckie
The crew would have asked you to close your shades because the sun would have come up part way through your flight and woken everyone without eye shades.
. What is strange, the blinds remained closed for the entire flight and it was only when landing in Dubai were the blinds put up again.