Originally Posted by Lumpster
1) how busy is the Melbourne-Auckland leg likely to be and what do you think my chances are of being able to keep my First seat from the 13hr leg on the short 3.5hr flight to/from Auckland? Do they make all passengers get off the plane in Melbourne before continuing on to Auckland?
Just done a similar trip myself, except I flew into CHC via SYD, but back from AKL via MEL. The SYD-CHC had 2 people in F, me and an old geezer who I think was moved there as he required virtually full time assistance from one of the cabin crew. On the way back, there were about 6 in F on the AKL-MEL leg.
Originally Posted by Lumpster
4) I have read on seatguru that the seat width on the A330-200 in J is just 18" (only 0.5" wider than Emirates economy and narrower than BA's World Traveller Plus). Is this right? If so, it sounds fairly poor, despite a ridiculous amount of leg room...
I'm a big lard arse, and I've always felt pretty comfortable in the A330-200 seat. Always managed to get some sleep on the overnight flight.
You didn't say when your trip is booked for, but the A330-200 is being replaced by a B77W from 26/10/2006.
You other option is to take the day flight from MAN-DXB, and have a night in a hotel near the airport. I'd recommend this, as the 3 hour layover in DXB is at the busiest time, and even the F lounge is packed. I struggled to find a seat a few weeks ago.
Originally Posted by Lumpster
5) There seems to be loads of debate about ICE vs non-ICE equipped planes - what IFE system does a A330-200 have and what does this offer passengers?
The A330 has the older, non-ICE system. It's a rolling video, so no pausing FF/REW etc. There are about 12 film channels, plus TV and radio. Details of the movies for the month are on the Emirates website.
Cheers,
Rick