I am new to Flyer talk so please bear with me.Having lived and worked in Dubai over the years and used Emirates Airlines extensively.I now believe that there Skywards Gold Card is really not worth the trouble. I have never had a Skywards upgrade on any of there flights, the ground services divison in Dubai Airport is appalling, the flights are never on time and all you hear when you fly through Dubai is " It will improve when the new Terminal is finished" Nothing will improve until they sort the main problem which I believe is there very very poor customer services policy.When you complain to Emirates they reply only under duress and to get a refund from Emirates takes months. All in all there reputation is only there because of there flight crews efforts to improve and keep a decent standard of service, as for the rest of the airline ground staff they need to remember they are in a people business and people can make or break businesses or even airlines.

Look around these boards; I think a lot of people will have the same opinion.

Billman


P.S. Gents, last night I went to one of the best restaurants in Dubai with the best service, Pier Chic at Al Qasar. The waiter had actually tasted the food and knew his wine. His suggestions were spot on and the view is amazing.

I told him it was the best dinning experience I have had in the last 4 years since I have lived in Dubai.

Although I agree that the airport situation is unacceptable, I have to admit that the reasoning is valid.

In the old old DXB airport, EK promised something new to reduce the congestion that is was experiencing. The larger (current) airport did reduce congestion and was way bigger than what EK needed, but in only a few years EK outgrew it and now needs an even bigger terminal. The reason that there is so much congestion and problems at DXB is that EK is, once again, growing too fast - and DXB cannot keep up.

I was horrified when EK started using remote stands again at DXB, but they really don't have a choice - if they want to keep expanding at their current rate.

Cheers

What's the deal with the new Dubai World Central airport? From what I've read it seems it will operate as a supplementary rather than replacement for the current DXB. Given that they have the opportunity to design from the ground up, it seems rather a waste that they will stay at the old airport rather than all relocate to the new one (yeah, I know the new terminal is coming, but given the rate EK is expanding, it will probably be obsolete from the minute it enters operations).

I trust your ears recovered quickly enough.

To the OP: Welcome to FT.

The situation concerning expansion of Emirates is certainly part of the problem in Dubai airport, however the fundamental issues will still be there, even after the new terminal is completed. Emirates Customer Care Services are supposed to be one of the market leaders in the Aviation Industry. there very very poor service tells me that customer services management at the top lets start at Executive level are not performing, this needs to be addressed to take them forward.(Anyone not performing remove them)
This month I will fly- TIP-DXB/DXB-BKK/BKK-DXB/DXB-GLA/GLA-DXB/DXB-TIP
if it was not for the flight crews who really make an effort I would have changed airlines to Qatar Airways. Emirates need to remember loyalty can only go so far.What about their loyalty to long service customers?