BCN - DXB EK188 Y / BOEING 777-300ER - 16/03/2016: http://flight-report.com/en/report-14029.html
DXB - BCN EK185 Y / AIRBUS A380-800 - 27/03/2016: HERE
Preface: I went on a cruise with my family during Easter out of Dubai to the UAE and Oman. We wanted to spend two nights before the cruise sailed away from Dubai on Saturday so we decided to fly from Barcelona either on Wednesday or Tuesday. We firstly thought about flying on Qatar Airways via Doha as the price was much cheaper than on Emirates, however, we decided to fly Emirates as it was much more comfortable to fly directly than doing a layover. We wanted to have at least two full days in Dubai before going on the cruise so we decided to fly on Wednesday. By booking the 10 PM flight from Barcelona, we would be able to work and go to school on Wednesday which is the main reason for which we decided to book the red-eye flight that would land in Dubai at 8 AM on Thursday, allowing us two full days in Dubai. Therefore, our routing was completed.
We were staying at a hotel in the Internet City area in Dubai so we took a taxi at 5 AM in the morning for a 8 AM flight. Taxis in Dubai are really cheap by the way.
The ride to the airport was shorter than we expected meaning that we got there at around 5:20 AM.
The terminal looked very modern and stylish.
Views of Terminal 3.
We headed to the family check-in area because the line was a bit shorter than the regular line.
Before going through security and customs, my family went to the toilet. I waited for them seated in front of the departures screen.
Time to go through security. The line was quite long but there were many agents so we didn't wait for too long.
The building is extremely modern and allows a lot of natural light.
We had a lot of time to spare so we had a look at the duty-free and some other shops.
As we were very tired, we decided to go to our gate and have a seat there in order to have some rest.
Walking towards the area where gates C are located.
There was an interesting billboard of the evolution of aviation in Dubai.
It was quite a long walk.
We spent some time there having some rest until boarding was called.
Here's our plane for today's flight. It was a 2.5 years-old Airbus A380-800 painted with Arsenal FC livery.
Views of the Arsenal FC livery from the finger.
My seat for the following 7 hours.
Same IFE as on my BCN-DXB flight, great resolution and many hours of entertainment.
The window of the Airbus A380 is rather weird and is on the smaller side.
View from my seat 54K.
Legroom and pitch looked even better than on my inbound 777 flight.
The planes' cameras were a very entertaining feature, especially for aviation enthusiasts like us.
FA distributed hot towels.
They gave my younger sister a Lonely Planet bag which was a nice treat.
They also handed out the menu.
Push-back started at 8:40 AM. Not off to a good start.
Qantas Airbus A380 bound for Sydney rotating.
FlyDubai Boeing 737-800 for Tehran.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 for Hong Kong.
Taxiing towards the runway.
We were already half an hour late but still, we had to wait to get permission to take off as there was a lot of traffic.
We finally took off at 9:02 AM with about 45 minutes of delay.
Last views of Dubai International before rotation.
V1, rotate.
Positive rate, gear up.
Climbing to FL380.
The IFE's map was excellent, very detailed and with a lot of information.
FA served breakfast. The meal was fine but it was the fruit what was especially good.
Views of the cabin.
We went through some turbulence while flying over Iran.
The cockpit mode was entertaining.
Safety instructions.
Turkey.
Time for an IFE tour. The selection was great and you can even make calls while flying on the A380.
I especially enjoyed National Geographic's Ultimate Airport Dubai series.
We were served our main meal 3 hours and 30 minutes into the flight. I opted for the chicken. It was very tasty and it went well with the rice and tomato sauce.
Metal cutlery is always nice.
Again watching another episode of National Geographic's Ultimate Airport Dubai series.
I played a football game too.
Flying over Italy.
Emirates' magazine.
I went for a walk around the cabin.
We started our descent after 6 hours and 30 minutes of flight.
It was cloudy and rainy in Barcelona.
Views of the famous Montserrat mountain.
5 minutes for landing.
Castelldefels' beach in final approach.
50, 40, 30, 20, 10, retard, retard.
Reverse thrust, spoilers deployed.
Landed in Barcelona at 2:05 PM, 40 minutes of delay.
Last views of the cabin.
Waiting to pick up our checked bags.
Wait, you were served both breakfast AND lunch on this relatively short flight?! That's amazing!! Emirates's partner Qantas could learn a thing or two from this. Their meal service is downright shameful in comparison.