Sydney to Auckland in First Class with Emirates
Flight: EK412
Carrier: Emirates
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800 – A6-EDD
Scheduled Departure time: 08.45
Duration: 3h 15m
Scheduled Arrival time: 14.00
Class: First
Seat: 2K (
seat plan)
After using the facilities I left the lounge and made my way to Gate 57, where the aircraft was waiting. There was quite a crowd at the gate and it was clear that boarding had already started. Economy boarding was underway, by row number, and there was a long queue for the left most door which led to a separate air bridges at doors M1L and M2L, both for economy passengers.
I skipped through the queue to the other side of the gate to get a shot of the aircraft. The view wasn’t that great, but I was able to get a photo.
Emirates A380 – A6-EDD
I made my way back through the economy queue and waited around the ‘First and Business’ barriers. An agent was there and she started checking boarding passes. She told us that the crew were not yet ready for boarding, but we could make our way up to the gate door and wait a few minutes.
Boarding
Boarding for First and Business Class started at 8.20am, as advertised. My boarding pass was scanned and then I followed the couple in front of me as we made our way to the First and Business air bridge which was connected to door U1L. The slight incline was noticeable as we made our way to the aircraft.
The couple in front of me were, ironically, the same couple that occupied the First class check in desk earlier.
Boarding
As I boarded my boarding pass was checked by a friendly crew member and another crew member was ushered over to show me to my seat. I made my way across the galley and turned left (yes!) and headed towards my seat, 2K.
The crew member opened the wardrobe and offered to take my jacket from me. Oddly, when in the wardrobe, jackets hang down into the front of the suite. This is a little odd in my opinion, as a small divider would not have significantly eaten into the available leg room. Once done I started to get myself sorted out whilst the crew member asked if I would like a drink. She didn’t offer any choices, but of course I went with Champagne.
Making my way to 2K
The Suite
My first impressions were that the cabin seemed a little cluttered, with all of the individual suites and the high walls. The configuration is 1-2-1 with 4 rows (staggered), giving a total of 14 suites. In contrast, Qantas for example place their First class suites on the lower deck, which is much wider, with a configuration of 1-1-1 and 14 suites. This meant that the Emirates suite was a lot less spacious than some of the competitors, although more specious than others (BA on their 747 and 777 aircraft for example). As far as I am aware, Emirates is only one of two A380 operator’s to place First class on the upper deck (the other being Lufthansa, although in a much less dense configuration).
The seat of course did not feel cramped however, and there was plenty of space at the front of the suite, whilst the side was taken up with the table, mini bar and storage areas.
There are no overhead lockers in First class, so all bags are stored in the suite itself, at the front and are secured by two straps to stop them moving around in flight.
On my seat was a large pillow and blanket with all of the other amenities located around the seat. The mini bar was open, as was the vanity mirror and writing kit drawer. Headphones were placed in a pocket in the side of the suite.
Overview of 2K
Leather seat – fully adjustable
Looking forward – reading light, IFE screen and table lamp
Magazine pocket and headphones
Luggage storage
The seat itself was very large and comfortable. It was quite high off the ground and consequently, my feet didn’t actually touch the floor when I was seated! In front of me was the large 23 inch IFE screen as well as a separate desk, reading light and desk lamp. Seat 2K has three windows, all of which have electronic blinds that can be raised or lowered individually or together. Additionally, there was the standard Emirates touch screen remote controller. I haven’t really got on with this is in the past, having found it particularly difficult to use when trying to control the IFE. Luckily, there is a separate IFE controller handset which is very similar to those found on most aircraft.
Wireless controller, window blind buttons and call bell
IFE controller
Mini-bar, with a selection of soft drinks
The seat has multiple pre-set positions, for take-off and landing, dining and sleeping. The problem with the take-off and landing position is that it moves the seat too far forward so that the controller (which has to stay in place on the ground) is very difficult to see and use. In addition, the seat is too far forward to make the side drinks table useful. The side area near the mini bar is very thin, so placing a drink at a more comfortable distance is precarious. The seat is also not close enough to the front desk area to make reaching comfortable either. All in all, not particularly ergonomic. In flight however, the seat position can be adjusted backwards and forwards to make accessing these areas easy.
In terms of privacy, the suites are staggered, so it is not possible to see more than the IFE screen and table of the other suites when looking forward, it therefore feels very private. There are also electronic doors which can be closed when sleeping or resting to further add to the privacy. The controls for these are located on the wireless controller. In addition, it is possible to light up a ‘do not disturb’ light when the doors are closed.
It seems as though Emirates would like passengers to treat the suite much like a hotel room. The suite guide constantly makes reference to this and even encourages passengers to call ‘room service’ if they need something. It is possible to use the in-seat phone to speak to the cabin crew in the galley. Although, I’d just press the call button!
Seat position, PC power and privacy lights
Looking back to the rear of the cabin
Looking forward – view into 1F and beyond
Emirates logo at the front of the cabin
Cameras – if you are eagle eyed, you may notice a small dark grey panel on the wall at the rear of the cabin. Well, this is a video camera, part of a multi camera set up that Emirates have on their A380 and a customer option offered by Airbus. If you’d like, you can see how many you can spot in the photos taken around the aircraft!
As I started getting used to the seat controls and familiarising myself with the suite another crew member came along to offer slippers and eye shades. No amenity kit was offered on this flight. On longer flights an amenity kit and sleep suit is offered. She also checked to see whether I had ordered a pre-flight drink or not. I mentioned that I had and she said that she would be out with it shortly.
A note about the styling: I’m not a huge fan. To me, the wood and gold aspect is a bit chintzy. I much prefer modern European styling such as can be found on the Lufthansa A380, with use of white panels, dark panels and light wood to create a classy, quality feel. The gold trim and around everything does nothing for me and if anything, spoils the feeling of ‘class’. However, it doesn’t of course spoil the feeling of space and comfort, which is where Emirates First Class suite performs well.
My Champagne arrived, as a pre-filled glass, rather than it being poured at my seat. I couldn’t tell you whether it was actually Dom Perignon or not as there have been rumours of the crew only serving the Business Class Champagne on the ground. Based on the colour and the smooth taste, I’d like to think it was the Dom.
Pre-departure Champagne
As boarding continued, the crew came around to offer the menu (leather bound) and wine list and then came through the cabin offering dates and Arabic coffee, both of which I declined as I do not like either, but it was still a nice touch.
At 8.35am, 10 minutes before our scheduled push back, the Captain came on the PA system to announce our flight time of 2 hours and 40 minutes (boo, I wanted it to be longer) and our cruising altitude, 42,000 ft. He explained that boarding and cargo loading were both still in progress but we should expect to push back shortly.
The crew then came around to offer a hotel towel, which was gratefully received by me as I was feeling a bit tired because of the early start and the lack of sleep the night before.
Landing cards were then handed out, and quickly recollected! The crew member had handed out the ‘aircrew’ landing cards rather than the passenger ones. Oops.
I looked over at 1F whilst finishing up my Champagne and noticed that she had placed her feet up on the writing desk. What was that saying about ‘First class but no class’? I don’t really blame her as the foot rest was integrated into the seat itself and could therefore only be extended after take off.
Classy
Five minutes later I heard the doors being closed and we started to push back. It was 8.50am at this point, so we were only running five minutes late. I switched to the tail camera and watched as we taxied out the main runway. Like some other airlines, Emirates allow passengers to use the IFE at all stages of the flight.
The safety video was played, firstly in Arabic and then English. It was odd that the crew were no-where to be seen at this point, not even to point out the nearest exits.
We took off at 9am and when we actually left the ground it came as a bit of a surprise as for one, it didn’t seem like we were going fast enough, and two, it didn’t sound we were going fast enough! I had forgotten how stupidly quiet this aircraft is and I suspect that with the suite, extra sound proofing had been included making it even quieter.
Lining up for take-off
Climbing up through the clouds
The seat belt sign was turned off after 10 minutes and passengers were free to move around the cabin.
I started by taking a quick video to give an overview of 2K. You can view it here:
Video – An overview of 2K