To London and Barcelona via DXB on EK/QF A380 Y

[yflyer]

Close to boarding time, I reluctantly headed back indoors, through EU immigration, to the single CIP Lounge in BCN.

No difference what carrier you fly out of BCN: Practically all premium pax end up in this lounge. Not that it is a bad lounge, but you can forget about any kind of product differentiation...





Not many dining options, but many beverage options...









Nothing wrong with this lounge, but nothing remarkable either. I would rather have spent more time in the outdoor plaza...

[yflyer]

It was soon time to board the Whale Jet.



To be continued!

[yflyer]

Emirates use quite a number of jetways to board this plane, including a dedicated queue and jetway for F and J pax on the upper deck.



I boarded through one of the lower jetways...





And made my way right to the rear of the Y cabin, laid out 10 abreast in 3-4-3.

The aircraft today was A6-EDX, a three year old aircraft, fitted with the original A380 hard product (Not the 2nd generation A380 Y product I had on my outbound SIN-DXB leg).

Note the spacious emergency rows, and the empty space in front of the window seat just behind the emergency rows...



This was a huge aircraft, and it was 100% full in Y that day.



BCN does not see that much A380 traffic, and for many pax on the flight, this may have been their first A380 experience. One lady gasped when she saw the staircase at the rear of the cabin. She had no idea this aircraft had an upper deck...

[yflyer]

No amenity kits were distributed on this flight, but each seat came with a pillow, blanket and headset.



Full AVOD, with Emirates ICE system, broadly comparable with SQ's A380 IFE.



Emirates' ICE does give a lot more information about the aircraft (including rego), and of course Emirates also have video cameras fitted on the aircraft, accessible on the IFE.

[yflyer]

We took off from runway 25L...









Tail camera...



Sharp bank to the left after take-off...



Before leveling off for the 6 hour flight to Dubai...



Flight path showed a dotted line directly to Dubai (passing over Iraq...) but in fact, the actual flight path took a far more southerly route, and did not overfly Iraq.



Slightly gimmicky cockpit / "flightsim" map view. In the background, the cabin crew can be seen handing out hot towels prior to meal service...



As mentioned, a completely full aircraft, but it felt spacious and not too crowded.



If this was one of EK's 10-abreast 777's I am sure claustrophobia would have set in by now. By contrast, a completely full A380 still feels roomy and airy. Something to be said for the sheer size of the A380 cabin.

[yflyer]

It was time for lunch.



Two choices of main today, butter chicken or Western style lamb.



I asked the cabin crew for a gin and tonic to start, and this was brought to my seat moments later.



I chose butter chicken for my main.





This was a generous portion of butter chicken and fluffy basmati rice, topped by a single small (and deadly hot) chilli. Delicious...



White wine (French Bordeaux) in a small glass bottle to accompany the meal.



The meal tray also came with a small snack pack, containing dips and crackers -- these were a great mid-flight snack.

[yflyer]

Actual flight path taken was over the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt and Saudi Arabia...

[yflyer]

It was just past midnight as we began our final approach into DXB.



A smooth landing...



And a far more seamless transit experience in DXB, with none of the crowds and chaos of my outbound sector.

Within minutes, I was back in the Emirates Business Class Lounge in the A Concourse of the dedicated A380 terminal, for a short transit stop before my DXB-SIN sector.



I arrived in DXB around 12.40am. On the EK booking system, the preferred connecting flight would be EK432 departing at 2.45am for a 2.05pm arrival into Singapore. There would be ample time to connect. However, that flight was operated by the dreaded EK 10-abreast 777. Not a plane I would fly on willingly! Fortunately, EK354, an A380 service, departs 45 minutes later, at 3.30am, and gets into Singapore at 3pm. I chose that flight. Not only is the A380 far more comfortable, the difference in timing was minimal, and would also give me more time in the lounge (not to mention additional buffer time in case of delays).

It was a no brainer to connect onto EK354 and not EK432. And as a bonus, the later flight was also quite lightly loaded. When I got to the business class lounge entrance, I asked the lady manning the counter to check if the seat next to mine was empty. "You don't just have the row to yourself, you have the entire section of the cabin to yourself!" she said, and smiled. I would sleep well in Y on that flight!

But first, I would spend some time in the EK lounge...

[yflyer]

I began by walking the length of the Business Lounge, which occupies the entire level of Concourse A.



There is ample seating in a variety of layouts, as well as F&B, showers, business centre, rest area and children's play areas. The entrance to the lounge is in the middle, with the layout mirrored on each side.







Business Centre...



One of several bar/refreshment areas...



One of the dining areas where hot and cold selections were served.





Unlike the EK F Lounge, and the J lounge in one of the other DXB terminals, this lounge surprisingly did not have tables and chairs for proper dining. Instead, you brought your plates to the sofas, with low tables, and dined there.

[Update: On my next visit to this lounge, I did manage to locate a separate dining area, with proper tables and chairs, where you could consume food from the buffet.]

[yflyer]

Wooden presentation boxes of high-end Bateel dates were available throughout the lounge...



Some of the wines and beverages on offer that evening...







I had a glass of the Chateau Du Tertre (Margaux, 2005), which was excellent.





Fairly good selection of liquor...

[yflyer]

Bakery items...



And Arabic flat bread...



...which went very well with the various dips and mezze available.



Leek and asparagus soup...



Salmon fish cake...



Pasta and vegetables...



The pasta was a little soft, and not al dente, but why eat pasta in Dubai, when you could have delicious chicken biryani...





Grilled chicken and beef stroganoff, with a very tasty creamy garlic sauce...



And if you really wanted comfort food, hot dogs were also available...

[yflyer]

Desserts were inexplicably placed out of reach (and almost out of sight) behind the counter.



I had a fruit salad for dessert...

[yflyer]

There were several areas to rest in the lounge, with recliners, blankets and amenity kits (containing eye shades and sockettes). However, there weren't too many of them, and I would not be surprised if all the recliners were occupied at peak periods.



That said, when I was there, between 00:30 and 02:45, the lounge was not very busy, and there was ample space to rest. Perhaps it was because this was a Friday evening / Saturday morning. The work week in Dubai is Sun-Thu, so this was the middle of the weekend.





A few screened-off rest areas were available as well.



A recliner behind each wooden partition...

[yflyer]

Boarding of EK354 took place directly from the lounge.



I am now of the view that this feature, direct boarding from the lounge, is one of the unique selling points of transit in DXB: Once off your inbound flight and past security screening upon arrival in DXB, you can head straight to the lounge to relax before boarding your flight directly from the lounge. This really maximizes time in the lounge and avoids having to contend with crowds and queues at the boarding gate. This is a service innovation masterstroke that greatly improves the customer experience when on transit in DXB -- and something that will be impossible to replicate in Changi, or almost any other airport, for that matter.



This was the menu for EK354...snack service followed by breakfast (with noodles in between if you were hungry).



No pictures of the catering. After take-off, I just asked for cup noodles and a whisky, and slept right through the entire flight on my "flat bed" of 3 Y seats.

It was a cloudy afternoon in Singapore as we landed...









Not a lot to say about my DXB-SIN sector, except that there is something to be said for a lightly-loaded A380 on an overnight flight. I am quite sure the experience would have been quite different if I had flown on the earlier 777 service.

As it was, I felt very well rested after sleeping for a good part of the 7 hour flight.

[yflyer]

Overall experience on EK (and one sector on QF)? A perfectly feasible way to travel to Europe, with the transit stop in DXB adding a little time to the trip, but not drastically impacting rest or sleep schedules.

Would I do this one-stop journey again, compared to non-stop on SQ or BA (Or LH to FRA)?

Certainly a non-stop journey has it's advantages, and it is hard to beat the overall experience on SQ whether on the A380 or 77WN.

Emirates hard product was very good, and service was fine as well, if not quite at the same level as SQ. Just as an anecdote to illustrate the variations in levels of service, on one of my EK sectors, I asked a cabin crew member with a beverage trolley if I could have a whisky. She replied "I don't have whisky", and left it at that. I had to request that she bring it to me later (Which she did...). Whereas on SQ, I am certain that if I had made that request to one of SQ's cabin crew in Y, and the beverage was not on hand, he/she would have responded "I'll come back to you" and he/she would have been back with my preferred drink in minutes (if not seconds...). SQ remains the leader as far as cabin service is concerned, and the new hard product on the 77WN is as good as any I have flown.

But if the price and schedule were all right, and if there were no sardine can sectors (i.e. 10-abreast 777's) involved, and if I had access to the DXB lounge, I would happily do this again on EK (Or QF).

I am now thinking that for my next trip to Europe, I should plan to do this on Qatar Airways, to check out their A350 (and 787...)...

Thanks for reading!