Emirates

I didn't have many hopes for this Emirates flight because most planes in and out of Dhaka are older Boeing 777's and Airbus A340s, but this flight was amazing. It was Emirates new Boeing 777-300ER. Seat space was adequate and cabins were clean. Entertainment was much better than the one on Dubai-Dhaka. Cabin crew were friendly and food was delicious. Definitely recommended.

Rome to Kolkata via Dubai with Emirates. Website easy and functional. This was a multi-leg journey from Rome to Kolkata with return from Delhi. Staff were courteous and very professional. Boeing A380 on the journey is really pleasant thanks to the large space for the legs, the television film in many languages, and really excellent service onboard. Meals, snacks, blankets, drinks all good, and thanks to the crew present and fast.

When I first travelled Emirates over 5 years ago I could not sing their praises enough. However I have just returned from Munich having one of the worst experiences ever. After moving seats because my entertainment screen did not work, I was seated in one of the two remaining empty seats. I was seated in 48J between two obese travellers and a young woman. As the obese lady needed 1.25 seats it was 12 hours of hell. The food trays were left for an hour which made it impossible to go to the bathroom or move around. Window shades were left open when it was sleep time, when I asked an attendant to request it to be closed I was informed "sorry the man is asleep". If a plane is going to be 100% full may I suggest they put on the amount of staff required to service the customers. On the first leg of my journey it was 45 mins before I got a glass of water, I rang the bell but no one replied. I was next to the window and man next to me had all his computer gear (large laptop) because his entertainment system did not work. At the last leg of my journey waiting to use the bathroom for a good ten minutes it was opened by an attendant, who removed the garbage bags so I could use it. Waste was overflowing in the restrooms. The worst was being locked into my seat by food trays, left for what seemed forever. The last experience I had like this was with a Quantas flight to Hong Kong, at least they apologised and explained that they were on staff member down. When are airlines going to realise that economy flyers are their bread and butter and we have a voice. I would rather pay another 15% and be treated as a guest and not an inconvenience.

London Heathrow to Guangzhou via Dubai return on Emirates. London to Dubai on an A380 plane quite full, food was reasonable but trays are now smaller so portions smaller. Cabin crew went through the motions, efficient but strange that drinks followed meal and not served before or with any haste. Dubai to Guangzhou on a Boeing 777 - plane virtually full, seat comfort not as good, seats narrow and 3x4x3 layout. Cabin crew efficient but hardly a smile. Flight on time, but beware of Guangzhou airport, it's very slow to get through, large queues. Inbound from Guangzhou to Dubai 5 days later on Boeing 777, an older aircraft, again very full. Similar hard narrow seat, cabin crew seemed more interested in preening hair and chatting to each other than dealing with passengers. Food quite good, a better menu. Dubai to London on the A380 - on time, cabin crew served a continental breakfast that was very small and unappetising. Lunch followed later - on the menu it looked good, but it was quite poor.

I recently flew Emirates from Gatwick to Johannesburg via Dubai return, outward in economy and return in business. The difference is remarkable, in that their economy product is actually much better than business, notwithstanding the extra legroom, flat bed etc. The business product food has become unbearably overcomplicated and plain, and more familiar dishes would be much better. Its almost impossible from the menu descriptions to imagine what you will end up with. The age old problem of Emirates running out of preferred choice continues to be endemic to both classes. Wash bags have been axed on day flights in business class, magazines reduced considerably and the DXB lounge shabby (albeit work is ongoing). Queues for the toilets in the lounge are the norm and poor signposting leaves 10s of travelers lost in a daze. Service standards and crew standards are excellent as is the bottom line standard for Emirates but I can't help thinking that with a bit more focus on the business side, they could be back to where they should be - an industry benchmark.

Bangkok to Birmingham via Dubai with Emirates. I have been using Emirates for the past 10 years and the service has gone downhill. The positives are a great entertainment system, good prices if the flight is booked at the right time but that's about it. Nowadays the meals have been scaled down and they must be using a cheap supplier as they have gone downhill on the culinary front - none of the meals that I have had over the past couple of years have been very nice, especially when you compare the economy cabin food of Singapore and Malaysia Airlines both of whom were excellent. I also find that it depends on the crew if you get attention on your flight - on this flight both legs the crews were not at all interested in the passengers, no water runs were made, you had to ring continuously for drinks and then you were served by a surly crew.

Dubai to Melbourne via Kuala Lumpur with Emirates, and we were pleasantly surprised. The seats (20F/G) were narrow but had decent legroom. Neither of us are tall, but we could have readers and glass cases in the seat pocket and not be bothered. The entertainment system is great : lots of choice and I do like watching the forward looking camera on take-off and landing. The food was good too. Problems are that seats are very narrow, so bumped the neighbour when eating, the food tray is huge - everything comes at the same time, so there is no room on the tray table for wine bottle or discarded containers. Coffee cups are poorly designed, any turbulence and it sloshes out. But overall, for economy, a not so bad experience.

A380 business class seat, IFE and onboard bar are still excellent, chauffeur service and Dubai lounges are top-notch. However, the food is quite average with menus remaining the same for several months on some routes. Also, the quality of the cabin staff service be very different from one flight to another. A good choice if seat and IFE are what matters for you.

Once more some serious differences between these two Emirates flights. From Osaka to Dubai, with a 23:40 departure, dinner was served at 01:30. An old plane, not really a flat seat. Poor drinks and poor food. From Dubai to Geneva, everything was quicker and smoother, nice drinks, food, and a pleasant crew, including a great FA from Ile Maurice. Once more, there is a feeling that there is a second class Business Class on Emirates. Note that "free" wi-fi is 10MB, and after 15 mn, you start being charged.

I was excited to be flying Emirates A380 business class for the first time. Chauffeur service top notch. Seats well-designed, but the film choice was poor. The onboard service was appalling. The problem being that there are so many people in business class in the upper deck of the 380 that the logistics of meal and drinks service go up the creek. Added to which the stewards/stewardesses act like automatons with no common sense and often poor or no English. One example of cock-eyed service is that my wife and I were sitting next to each other but service came from different aisles so she might be waiting patiently for her soup while I am waiting (less patiently) for my pudding. And her wine steward wasn’t permitted to fill up my glass and my aisle wine dispenser appeared 40 minutes later. Seemingly the only way to beat the system is to go to the bar at the back of the section but that would have requires all sorts of seat contortions. On a 7 hour evening flight you expect to get some decent sleep but there isn't enough sleep time when the airline's gambit is to stretch out drinks and dinner unendingly. Not a success for the airline which is sad. Will not go Emirates again, certainly not on the evening flight.