Hi everyone,

I've just come back from a one-month trip to South East Asia - by Emirates Airlines. I've got only two questions: Who else booked that airline since they've got pretty good, "competitive" prices and since they were told to have offer good quality? And who else has got as disappointed as I did?

You might want to read my letter of complaint I sent Emirates just by now after having heard nothing of them for two days.

"Dear Mr. or Ms.

„Wherever your travels take you, you’ll find comfort, convenience, and exceptional service are part of the Emirates experience.” – This is a slogan on your website and reflects the big promises that Emirates Airlines had made when I booked my flights to South East Asia last month.
What I’ve experienced on my flight back from Singapore, though, was not only some small disappointment, but real frustration. I've lost all my trust in Emirates and do not only doubt whether I ever want to fly with Emirates again, but whether I should actively recommend the same to my friends.
My flight back from Singapore to Zurich via Dubai meant the end of a one-month holiday in South East Asia, a long-deserved break from all the hassles I had. It helped me to re-tank some energy and get ready for the winter-stress. I knew about the inconvenient departure time at 2 am at Changi Airport as well as about the long travel time. On my flight to South East Asia, I had also learned about the inconvenient conditions at Dubai Airport with passengers that are camping in the corridors in the middle of the night, small electro-cars that travel back and forth and wake up the exhausted passengers. I had also got used to the smallest economy class seats I had ever seen when I boarded the aircraft from Dubai to Singapore – via Colombo as it turned out. That there would be a stop-over in Colombo was nowhere noted on my ticket nor announced during booking nor check-in. I knew about all this disadvantages and justified with the competitive price, shortly put, I was ready for that after my all relaxing holidays.
But what I was not ready for was a 7 and a half hour delay of my return flight and the eventual cancellation of the whole flight. Let me please summarize all the annoying and inconvenient hassles that Emirates Airlines imposed on their passengers – and crew – in that night.
First, the airplane was already delayed by the time of check-in at 11 pm. I was not informed by the staff but by a simple change in time on the flight ticket. The information screens behind the passport control confirmed this delay. By midnight, though, the flight got delayed by another hour, postponing the departure from 2.30 am (initial change of time included) to 3.30 am. The inconvenient security control before one can enter the waiting room of the gate would open at 2.55 am. In the meantime, passengers were sleeping on the floor in the corridors. That wasn’t a big problem as no other airline scheduled flight at this time of night in the terminal. A bigger problem was the fact that probably all stores at the terminal were closed after midnight, thus I could not get any refreshment that would have made the wait a little bit easier. So we kept waiting. Eventually, 2.55 am draw nearer and the security personnel started to set up the machines to let us in to the waiting room that offered seats and an internet access platform. But just when the clocks turned to 2.55 am, they retreated, made everything undone and turned off the lights in the waiting room – a short look at the departure screens showed that the flight was postponed to 4.45 am – no announcement from any personnel or speakers, though. The people got uneasy. At 3.30 am eventually, the speakers showed life signs of Emirates Airlines, announcing that refreshment would be served at some transfer point – I did not have the slightest idea where that could be. By the time, I figured it out and went there, there was no sight of Emirates officials or any food or drinks at all but only lots of female passengers sleeping on couches and wearing veils, thus probably of the same flight like mine to Dubai.
At around 4.30 am (probably), the security personnel showed up at the gates again and finally let passengers enter the waiting room. A short look out of the windows showed that the airplane was waiting. The flight seemed to take finally take off after 3 hours of delay without any information or assistance. But we were proven wrong again: Passengers were waiting in the crammed up gate for another two hours, eventually turning them from uneasy, worried or disappointed to upset: The first voices were shouting “Victor, Victor!” (probably the name of one of the two assistants at the gate), calling for explanation or support. The people started to queue up again in front of the security control to head out into the corridor and to the restrooms. Somewhere at around 5 am, another lonely speaker announced refreshments in an Emirates lounge somewhere over the transfer desks causing an even longer queue in front of the security control as thirsty and hungry people and children wanted to get some refreshment. Finally, at around 6.30 am, the gate opened and people were “kindly requested” to take their seats. I do not remember whether the speaker also said something about the weather conditions in Jakarta (where the flight came from) that made the plane being that late or whether the talk among the people eventually revealed that as the passengers from Indonesia had to disembark at some time in between. At 6.45 am, I was finally sitting in the airplane and waiting for take-off. But the airplane did not take off. People waited until 7.15 or 7.30 am, when the captain made announcement over the speakers in a desperate voice. First, I was angry about the man in charge, sitting in the cockpit for at least 2 hours by now. But his explanation brought light into the whole story: There was bad weather in Jakarta. It caused engine problems that got fixed in Singapore, thus the further delay. The repairs were made but not accepted by Dubai Airport which did not want to allow any landing of airplanes repaired in that procedure but calling for a complete overhaul of the engine. The crew was asking for another aircraft or the re-booking of the passengers to other airlines. The request was declined without any further information what should or even could and was allowed to be done. “You … we are all victims … victims of Dubai, Emirates Airlines,” the captain concluded and announced that there would be no other option left but to disembark and cancel the flight. The crew would take things in their own hand and look for a hotel where passengers could spend the day until the machine is repaired which should take another 11 hours (at least). We had to wait another half an hour till the preparations were made for the transfer. Re-entry applications to Singapore were handed out, instructions to take the baggage at the check-out counters and some refreshments from the crew which was very nice. (I want to thank to the cute, German hostess in particular!) But back in the waiting room of the gate, people had to queue up again, of course, security control and application forms had to be done and many people desperately called for a re-booking. Eventually, there were two lines – for transfer to hotel and re-booking. But the personnel did not do the re-booking for whole groups according to final destination, but for passengers queuing up one-by-one, making that second queue wait for another two hours. Many frustrated passengers stepped in between, making the other passengers in line angry. The personnel did not ask them to step back in queue but assisted them till the uproar was that big that they made them simply waiting in front of the counter. Eventually, an assistant announced that a flight with the same machine would be schedule at 9.15 pm. The time seemed quite exact, considering that it was a whole 12 hours ahead. “How can we trust you?”, was my question and the other passengers joined in. “The connecting flights are scheduled according the normal arrival times of airplanes. There are not that many flights to destinations in Europe and Africa from Dubai. How do we know that we do not have to wait another ten hours in Dubai?” This question found echo, too. But most passengers could or did not want to think that far any more. They were tired, took the vouchers for the hotel and trotted off.
I’ve arrived in Zurich not on Sunday but Monday – a huge delay. I was and am still exhausted, missed an appointment. Today, I checked my emails for any letter of excuse by Emirates. They know my email address. Nothing. How do I have to understand a behaviour that seems so bold and arrogant?
“Wherever your travels take you, you’ll find comfort, convenience, and exceptional service are part of the Emirates experience.”
In my eyes, Emirates Airlines did not show any interest in the sake of their passengers making a huge breach of trust. And as I feel ripped-off, I call for a refund. I want my flight back refunded – for me and preferably for all passengers that faced the same “experience”.

With regards,
xxx"

Was there anything similar that happened to you with another airline? For my part, I will spend the additional 200 $ and fly Singapore or Swiss Airlines in the future - to arrive at time and relaxed.

Gruss Karakasa