Flaneurs

My point was exactly this. The current 90 second journey IS terrible considering what an F ticket costs and frankly how good the hard (and soft) product is throughout the rest of the system. I feel that there is a disconnect between sipping champagne and nibbling on caviar transatlantic then having to get mashed into a metro to change terminals. I have no problem with this if paying and flying Y but it really isn’t a quality F experience on par with the lounges and onboard showers that EK and EY have become known for. I am as hopeful as anyone that there will be a luxury train between the airports as I adore quality train travel. I simply wanted to point out that if the current metro style terminal transfer is a harbinger then we may need to lower our expectations of what a longer journey could look like. It would truly be amazing and a draw to the airline if the train had ultra-luxury compartments stocked with minibars, snacks, hand lotion and full size birthday cakes! Much less expensive to do this on the ground than what they have accomplished in the air.

skywardhunter

I don't see what the big deal with the current terminal transfer train is, it's not that bad. If you can't stand in a train for 90 seconds how do you survive queuing at the supermarket? The train has never been so full that I've been "mashed" into it, a few times I've been the only one in the compartment, usually there are about 3 or 4 other people.

Is it a downgrade from the lounge and onboard F? Absolutely, EK could easily have a dedicated J/F compartment in the current APM, but I think the stated concerns are a little exaggerated

DYKWIA

They should have a nice private transfer for F passengers like LH do. You get met at the airbridge and then transferred by car to the next terminal, where there is a dedicated security checkpoint for F passengers.

skywardhunter

But what about those going to A just to use the lounge, or arriving in A and wanting to use the lounge before going to their gate in B/C?

Also as was discussed on here before the sheer volume of F pax makes this a behemoth task

Flaneurs

I don’t pay $15,000 to go to the supermarket. There is a slightly different expectation.
If you haven’t been mashed into the terminal transfer trains at DXB, we must travel at different times of day. I do admit however they are not full all the time but it seems like when they are, half the trains are not operating.

Thanks, DYKWIA. That would be great.

Flaneurs

Voluntary terminal transfers to visit a specific lounge are excepted from the F transfer service?

skywardhunter

I transit almost exclusively during the midnight peak, and never been "mashed" into the train

extramileage

I really don't think replicating the LH model in DXB is feasible given the number of F pax and aircraft movements (LH fleet - according to wikipedia - has 69 aircraft with F config of 8 each, or 552 seats across all hubs, which is equivalent to less than 40 EK A380s).

HOWEVER, I don't see why an F Bus can't connect F Pax from either remote stands or between concourses A & B/C.

eternaltransit

There already is an F bus for remote stands!

I agree internally the walking can be tedious.

extramileage

Yes, that was my point, but there is only one and goes to either A or B, not both. Adding a second wouldn't be so hard.

mecabq

Echoing what some others have posted, I have occasionally fantasized about an airside train linking the airports. The trains could include cargo cars to transfer luggage behind-the-scenes too. Imagine that, one airport combining DXB/DWC/AUH.

Anyone in the UAE could simply drive and park at whichever one is closest to home and then depart from any gate. And ditto on exit; take the train and then connect to local ground transportation at the exit closest to your destination.

The biggest downside, other than cost and keeping the train viaduct secure, might be that the MCT would be have to increased to 3-4 hours. Also the time to arrive before your flight, unless you could be sure which gate it was departing from, though that can change.

They could try to group the flights in a certain way so that many popular itineraries would have shorter connections (not requiring the transfer between cities), but that would be difficult. For example inbound and outbound GCC connections would be at different ends since few people connect from one to the other. (Of course that would cause an inconvenience for people doing day trips between either Dubai or Abu Dhabi and another GCC city.)

Ditto for, say, inbound Indian subcontinent flights and outbound flights to the east and vice-versa. Of course, with all of the constraints on viable connecting itineraries and aircraft assignments there would be too many constraints to optimize much.

Still, as the crow flies, it's only 28 miles from DXB to DWC and a further 46 to AUH, so it might be possible to get from DXB to AUH in less than an hour without fancy technology. Fun to ponder in any event.

ioto1902

Doesn't the ad say that Dubai is the "city of endless possibilities" ?

Well, I believe that marketing guys always speak true.

S c 0 TT y

Emirates Group Security and Etihad Aviation Group sign MoU for cooperation in Aviation Security

https://emirates-group-news.prezly.c...ation-security

skywardhunter

Nice! Emirates Group Security have a pretty good reputation from what I've heard, that being said the overall intelligence and security apparatus in the UAE is apparently pretty clued up