Originally Posted by
Shareholder
Did a search under "Sydney", "SYD", "Auckland", "AKL" and "TransTasman" and got nothing, so here goes...
I managed to get one of those UA SFO-AKL Business Class fares ($1500 all in) and decided to fly EMIRATES from SYD-AKL rather than QF or NZ to experience its Business Class on a 777. In the past a AKL I've noticed two or three EMIRATES aircraft on the tarmac and wondered why so many at such a small remote city/airport?
Since EK depends on a lot of connection traffic, it has to time flights so that they arrive into DXB during certain time "banks." Due to this (and possibly also slot restrictions) the planes would be sitting at BNE/MEL/SYD for many hours with nowhere to EK. In order to make a bit of money / avoid "wasting" the plane they extended services on to AKL (from BNE,MEL,SYD) and CHC (from SYD.)
The SYD-AKL plane is a 777-300ER. Nice seats but not lie-flat or anything. Pitch around 60" One of the things I love about EK that is noticable compared to US cabins is the aircraft condition. I have always found everything clean, neat, in good repair. The cabin is always pleasant to be in, and the usually have flowers or something at the bulkhead. Makes flying a lot more pleasant.
Cheers