kumrabai

I just noticed the 2012 awards. http://www.worldairlineawards.comI am quite struck by the performance (or lack of it) by Emirates. They come 8th overall, but don't win any category except IFE. Most worryingly for them I imagine is that they don't even get into the top 10 for Best Business Class - which is their meat and potatoes, and critical for longer term growth and profitability. It is hard to say what the trend is however, as previous years only show the top 3.

They do better in First - being fifth on the list.

So I guess the question is: is this a first measurable sign to Emirates that their J product is not going in the right direction? Or would they just say that their numbers / profitability disagree with awards like this one (although this is based on a huge pool of travelers from 160 countries)?

And congrats to Qatar Airways (I just wish they would stop using narrow bodies on my routes.... )

eightblack

My bet is that EK's senior management probably take the overall Skytrax results with a grain of salt, meaning that all awards like these are very subjective. There's a lot of cynicism over on other forums about the overall integrity of the award process.

I personally think that for EK to remain competitive, the 777 J product needs to be upgraded so it is fully flat. However, I'm not a big fan of the A380 J product. Just feels too boxy. I haven't flown Etihad or Qatar, so can't comment, but from what I've read, their J and F products look very good.

kumrabai

I always thought skytrax was hard to fake.... So many voters...

Anyway, on the competitiveness, I agree with you about the hard product. 777 J products, absolutely. And the A380, yeah, makes me feel a little freaky sometimes, like I'm being boxed in. It's a masterpiece of engineering to get so many J seats in that place, but still...

But the overall package for J needs strengthening, surely, not just the seats. Fixing the DXB lounge 'bus station' situation would be a start. J catering needs an overhaul I think, although it has got better on the longer routes. Medium haul is still glorified TV dinners.

But of course they deserve high credit for IFE, limos, connections, route network!

NeatStuff

Emirates J on both 380 and 777 is shabby compared to Etihad even though the Etihad J seats are a little narrow. Dont even get started on the 340/330. I haven't come across any airline with a 2-3-2 in J class. They really need to up their game, something aking to Singapore's plush wide J class needs to put in place. Food quality is pretty shocking as well. I fly them simply because of the convenience of it.

DYKWIA

BA has 2-4-2 in business

safari_7

Never been on Qatar or Etihad, but, they look to be mighty impressive .........

You cannot compare to the SQ product - they get down to the finer details of product and service!!!

Swiss was pretty good too - flew with them in October last year. Their food and wine was outstanding!!!

ung1

Surveys like this are so subjective, they are, in my opinion, totally meaningless. Unless you profile those 160m people properly, you don't know who is giving their opinion and what they are comparing too.

If EK can bring in revenue despite an inferior product, thats great for them. Look at the LH J hard product!

Having said that, while I've also flown QR and SQ in J, for me, EK remains miles ahead service wise. Of course it makes a difference that I have status on EK and none on the other carriers. And, while I love EK's F product, I haven't done F on QR/EY/SQ.

I'm not saying there's no room for improvement, but just that there are aspects of EK's product that make me miss the airline whenever I'm flying another airline.

MarkLHR

Those in the industry all know the more an airline pays to Skytrax the higher up the rankings it will go (with a bit of customer opinion taken into account to bring an air of legitimacy to the whole process)...a total farce as has been discussed elsewhere.

isle11

Its better to accept it and face it. Emirates service is not fairly the same in all sectors, and unfortunately they do not realize that they do it to their busiest of routes. Skytrax takes everything into account, and its unfair to label it money reckoning.

I was flying from AMS-DXB-MAA and I found DXB-MAA terribly aweful, and while returning in the same sector none of the crew member spoke any Indian language, forget about the native language. I was helping one of my co passenger to get his meal, the FT was visibly frustrated that the passenger cannot speak English. I'm not sure whether its quite a normal practice, but I have never found these in other airlines, they always make sure there is atleast one crew member who speaks the local ( or one of the local ) language. On the other hand I flown once with Ethihad, and have to say that it was just good.

Personally I don't complain much as I don't travel in those grey sectors, connections works good for me with Emirates and often gets the op-ups, so I dont mourn around, but with this sector based service I hope others will agree too who flies often between Pakistan/India/Srilanka to Dubai.

ung1

Perhaps you want to ask Skytrax how many of the people they interviewed don't speak English/ flew on sectors to Pakistan/India/Sri Lanka then, to prove your point above. I'm not saying it may not be true, but that without the details, we don't know.