18 April update- C First lounge closed, got distracted and forgot to ask why. B lounges back to normal with the regular J and F lounge sides.

Everything busy this morning, transit security, lounges, concourses.

More travels with EK recently and a lot more coming in May.

HKG-DXB
Both flights of the day oversold. Was in donkey class expecting a cheeky upgrade but did not happen due to some late no shows (including me as I had another ticket on the same flight which I will not use until later in the year). Check in line was extremely long and they allowed me to check in about 6 hours early. Lounge was fairly busy largely due to the first flight going to Bangkok which is always busy. Onboard service was great as always, no complaints. Landed in at C gates.

DXB 24 hour layover
I would say there were equally the same amount of people going to immigration and to transit, which was good to see. There was a line at the normal immigration counters but was lots of empty ones at the smart gates. Bag came on the belt at no time. Got an uber to my hotel without any waiting or issues, car park was busy. Multiple uber drivers told me the same thing - it's picking up and May is the month they've been expected to go back to normal levels. There is traffic on the roads which is good to see and if one were to look at social media, it would seem everything is quiet. Spent a few hours at Dubai Mall, sure there are fewer numbers but as the night on, traffic did pick up. Marriott hotel where I stayed on Sh Zayed Road had a capacity of approx 60-70% according to the front desk. Breakfast was busy'ish so did reflect this.

Dubai Metro
I did get to experience this and was hoping I would get a seat given the low footfall but boy was I wrong!

EK600 to Karachi
Checkin was busy, had to wait in the business class queue for 10 minutes. Immigration and security was busy yet was prompt. Trains to concourse A were bursting. Business class Lounge at concourse A was only operational on one side (right hand side), The left hand side was closed off and only people who had boarding from one of those gates were being allowed to go through. Flight was smooth, I would say 80% capacity with a few empty seats here and there. Crew were ace and accommodting as always.

Whatsapp and SMS comms
See below example, it was good to see good use of technology to keep pax updated.

https://ibb.co/0pyrcspC

https://ibb.co/RkMbVMPQ

Hello all;
Have an IAH-DXB-BOM For Tuesday 5th. (First Flex Award)
IAH flights have not yet been reinstated as far as I understand.

In this case, can I call and ask for re-route on other airlines? (BA is the only one that has seats in First).
And I can only call within the 72-hour timeline?

Or will EK re-route through other departure points but via DXB (e.g., IAH-XXX-DXB-BOM)?

What is going on with the flight (215) it landed in Munich and now it isn't taking off until tomorrow. Dubai-LAX
Any ideas?

I'm hoping for some help... EK disrupted flights on my outbound and inbound flights (decreased frequency).

The flights are EU-TNR-EU

I'm asking for rerouting but they say it could only be on EK flights..

Original flights

May 15 KTW-WAW-DXB-TNR (arrival on May16), they cancelled DXB-TNR

May 29 TNR-DXB-WAW-KTW (arrival on May 29), they cancelled DXB-WAW

I asked for routing with Lufthansa and Ethiopian, or LO and Ethiopian but they say they can't do it.

What does the wisdom of the group recommend?

I believe they will try to give you the latter, and you are correct within the 72 hour timeline they will route you onto other carriers. If you have access to the gold whatsapp they will likely be able to help you move it more than 72 hours out.

Thank you! Will try to see what they offer.

Hello all - Update:
According to the Gold call center - EK 212 (IAH DXB) is scheduled to operate on May-5. So, they were unwilling to look at other options for that day.
So, we had to cancel this ticket completely.
The agent made me go through the refunds page on Emirates.com to request the cancellation and refund. (previously agents would cancel the ticket and refund miles.....maybe this is the new protocol for now?)

Yesterday's EK 211 did DXB MUC IAH (maybe fuel stop?); and consequently EK212 is running 2.5 hours late.
I believe it was the first EK211 ever since this situation started.

Considering the potential delays and the fact my family wants to avoid DXB - we had to cancel.

Looks like EK30 which was taxiing for take off at LHR is returning to stand.

well it kicked off a bit last night here

Seems someone got a bit 'upset'

Here is a video posted by a passenger.