As the title suggests, I had my first experience of Emirates yesterday. Not sure how I managed to avoid them this long (just clocked my 969th flight) but the impression was pretty outstanding.

I've flown with a lot of airlines, mostly European and American, but this is my first time with one of the ME3. The route was DUS-DXB, class Economy, aircraft A380. At DUS I feared boarding would be the uncomfortable mess it is with most other airlines, but they boarded a totally full A380 with record speed and efficiency (why can't Lufthansa do that?). Plus, everybody was friendly and welcoming all the way from check in to reaching my seat (69H). (Why can't Lufthansa do that?).

I must say, this was one of my best Y-class flights ever and although full the cabin never felt crammed the way US carriers do. The seat wasn't too bad for a Y seat (none of that Recaro rubbish, thank heavens) and legroom was sufficient for somebody of my size.

The catering was excellent, for Y-class, with adequate portions and decently prepared meals (I had Arabian lamb stew with Pilau rice). There was a good choice of drinks, decent enough wine selection, even a choice of beers as well as liquors and spirits (I had a Henessy cognac). Later, on this 6-hour route, there was an ice cream service, as well as regular drinks runs.

But the winner hands down is the ice entertainment system, which if anything has a bit too much choice. I practically needed the duration of the flight to choose what I wanted to hear and see . There is a huge choice of films and TV series (including a complete Doctor Who season!). The music choice is endless and I tip my hat to an airline that puts the complete works (more or less) of Schoenberg and Webern on their IFE system. The classical Arabian and Arabian fusion sections were fascinating as well.

So, finally I can see that the European airlines truly have something to be afraid of. They can be jealous of such a product, even at the basic level where I was sitting.

I thought that this thread might be useful for other first timers out there, or those scrolling through this site looking for information.

Great to hear that your first experience of Emirates was such a positive one, in so many respects - not least given that you have travelled with a lot of other carriers against which you can measure. Here's hoping it remains that way for you ! ^

I think it only fair to say that Emirates have been around long enough for other carriers to have decided many years ago whether or not they are truly 'jealous' or 'afraid', in the way you suggest they are. I hardly need tell you that no airline is 100% perfect 100% of the time - as borne out by the fact that we see many posters coming on to report very unhappy experiences and a litany of complaints about service, whether in the air or on the ground (the latter being more of an issue with EK in general.....). Although I'm a big fan myself, even I had a messy boarding process on a flight earlier this year, in dramatic contrast to your own. Sure, it was, in fairness, an exception amongst many trouble-free trips. However..... worth noting, this was not only in their home base of DXB (where I firmly believe they really have little excuse for not getting it right) but with a 777 rather than the much larger A380 ; and in business class too.

Of course you can only speak as you find, and I repeat that it's good you came away with such a positive impression of Emirates after your first flight with them. And specifically as regards the ICE ......well that's certainly one aspect where I personally can't recall ever reading ANY criticism ...!!

Thanks for your thoughts, OP - it's refreshing to have a first impressions post about economy class on EK, rather than all the firstworldproblems of J and F reports

Too true...

If you judge EK based on Y expectations, my guess is it's really up there. Don't get me wrong, there ARE other Y products better then EK. But if you measure based on price vs comfort, it really is a good product.

If you choose to fly EK more often, you will notice that FAs may not always be as nice as your first flight. Also the food is dependent on outbound flight location (I've had some really nasty ones), but the drink choices are very good. As for the ICE... hands down the best I've ever seen (or heard about).

Hope you enjoy your next flight.

You forgot to add the complimentary Wi-Fi you get onboard EK, as this is also a huge bonus for flying EK. Both Kuwait and Etihad Airways charge outrageous fees for using the onboard Wi-Fi.

Back on the EK Bandwagon again Aceboy?

😁

I guess you missed my recent aviation experience which can be found here:

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...d.main/269078/

After being treated as a kinder-garden in business class on Kuwait Airways I decided to stick with Emirates, but will keep my expectations low on mileage upgrade to avoid any further negative experiences

It is true that no airline can be 100% perfect 100% of the time and an entity as large as Emirates must end up having issues from time to time. I seem to be lucky in that the vast majority of my flights tend to be positive experiences, although I try always to board with low expectations. Surly cabin crew are rare in my experience, you probably have to do something to end up provoking their ire although exceptions can always happen. I read in other forums that unruly passenger incidents are becoming more and more frequent these days. So far I have been mostly lucky with my fellow passengers and have interacted with some really great people in economy class. In business and first you tend to interact less with people, if at all.

Retreading what I wrote, I think that I was wrong to write that other carriers are jealous of the Emirates product. But they could possibly envy the enormous success Emirates has enjoyed to a certain extent!

The fact that the ice system offers free wifi completely escaped me! I for one am happy to leave the internet behind for a few hours as I spend enough time on it. Not to mention, of course, that there is such a huge choice of stuff to see on the ice system anyway.

To respond to lighthand I indeed agree that food quality is very much dependent on station of origin. D�sseldorf must be a good one. Munich and Frankfurt are not IMO. I wonder what my flight originating in Dubai will be like. In a couple of days I will be flying back to DUS, but this time on the 777 aircraft.

Nice to see they stock the Hennessy Paradis cognac in Economy.

I'd be extremely surprised if that were true !

In fairness, the OP did mention Hennessy cognac - but not the Paradis version generally available in F class only.

The Hennessy collection comprises a pretty wide price range, with XO and Paradis being at the top end (and I'm pretty sure there are a couple of 'very rare' types beyond even those)

In Y, it's Hennessy VS miniatures.

didn't miss it*chuckles*, i just try to keep my aceboy google searches to an absolute minimum, preferably around the zero mark.

Welcome back mate, this forum just aint the same without you, looking forward to your next exclusive trip report for the front of the EK bus.

It's not the ICE system per se but dependant on the aircraft type - all A380s and some 777s (i.e. very old 777s and very new 777s) have it. 10MB free, then 1USD for 500MB - some restrictions apply over various countries and regions (e.g. not much coverage over the North Pole, banned over India, China)

Ex-Dubai has so far not disappointed me. The biggest bug bear for me is Ex-Buenos Aires and Rio, even in J unfortunately. I don't blame EK for this, as other airlines flying from the location (that I've flown with) has the same poor quality of food.

Best advice knowing these issues, is to bring your own fav cup noodles on board. During my last flight out from GIG (Rio) in J, my seat mate was almost drooling as he look at my big bowl cup noodles.