A Long Trip Via Dubai - Hong Kong to St. Petersburg
With no direct flights from Hong Kong to St. Petersburg, many tour operators use Cathay Pacific and Aeroflot to Moscow with either a domestic flight or a train connection. I wasn't planning to try my luck with Aeroflot while Cathay doesn't fly frequent enough to support a longer tour, so Emirates it was, with a long transit in Dubai to make the journey ever more painful.
Emirates' 777 is a cramped jet with 1 additional seat per row than other airlines. The 3-4-3 configuration is quite intense but at least the televisions were huge. Legroom was decent but the seat did feel a bit narrow.
Considering it is a red-eye flight, I wasn't too hungry to feast on dinner. A 2nd meal came before landing to stuff me beyond full.
Breakfast is served. Presentation looked a lot better than other airlines through simple things like an angled plate that looked more Business Class style.
Welcome back to Dubai. I quite like displaying the aircraft ID on their flight map - a great feature for enthusiasts!
With a 5-hour transit that I wasn't looking forward to, security was exceptionally quick and I soon emerged at the customer service desk to get my meal voucher. Emirates provides meal vouchers for long transits that are valid at several restaurants in the terminal. They are quite attentive on the details, with a whole rack of strollers on display.
Still full from my 2 meals during the overnight hour, I opted for a salad instead. I would think vegetables are costly in this desert oasis.
Luckily, many planes were taxiing out to keep me company.
Electronic maps are placed throughout the terminal. These machines will show the passenger's gate number after scanning the boarding pass. However, the passenger's name is also displayed, so remember to log out immediately after use!
To be continued. If you cannot wait, the full report is on my website : http://www.globalphotos.org/ek-hkgled.htm