Review of Emirates flight from Dubai to Cebu in Economy

This is my flight report from Dubai to Cebu with Emirates in Economy Class.
The flight duration was 8h20 and arrived 15 minutes before scheduled.
Se more about Abu Dhabi and Cebu in my personal blog: lostwithfabio.wordpress.com

Emirates have a free special transfer for Economy Class passengers from/to Abu Dhabi and another to Al Ain. The day before the transfer I tried to book it in the Emirates Office in Abu Dhabi but it wasn’t possible because I was flying with staff tickets but the guy told me to be 15 minutes before the bus departure.
I took the 10pm bus, in front of Emirates Office, and departed on time. After almost 2 hours I arrived in Dubai Terminal 3.

This Emirates 338 Flight was a triangular flight with Clark International as final destination (100km North of Manila) via Cebu International.
I was travelling with staff tickets so I went to Emirates special check-in for staff ticket, which can be reached by Economic Class Terminal (Accessed between check-in are 4 and 6) and also from Business Class (Between Check-in desks 59 and 60).

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After passing the security screening I took the underground to Concourse A. This massive Concourse is very similar with B but newer: With the Duty Free in the middle of the terminal surrounded by the boarding gates. The Business and First Class lounges are all upper floor with exclusive access to the boarding gates.
This 2 Concourses are part of Terminal 3 and serves Emirates and Qantas Flights, the Terminal 2 is for Fly Dubai, Gulf Carriers and low-cost and the Terminal 1 for the rest.
The Airport also had free-WiFi and accessible from all the terminal.

The Emirates have the concept of the Boarding Room implement in Dubai Airport which works very well because saves precious time. My boarding gate was the A17 and I arrived there at 01h30. The room also had newspapers and magazines.
At 2am I boarded the aircraft, the 1y old Boeing 777-300ER from Emirates, registration: A6-EPG. I was very warm welcomed by an Italian Cabin Crew which took a selfie with me and presented me the Business Class Cabin.
The Business class had 42 seats divided in 6 rows in the first section and the start of the second section of the plane. The Economy class had 385 seats and occupied the 2nd, 3rd and 4th section of the plane with lavatories in the end of each one.
My seat was the 46K, a window seat in the last 4th row of the plane.

After the aircraft boarded the crew started to deliver the menus, kids’ packs, refreshing towels and all the procedures for taking-off. The aircraft taxied to runway 12L and I departed 15 min ahead of scheduled.
As new, this aircraft had huge screens with the ICE (Emirates IFE) with thousands of hours of movies, documentaries and music, in my opinion, the best IFE system in the world. In the front pocket there were the “Open Skies” (EK’s Inflight Magazine), the Duty-Free Mag, ICE’s guide, a sickness bag and an envelope for donations to the Emirates Foundation.
About amenities, Emirates only provide a pillow, a blanket and handsets, less than the other gulf carriers (like Etihad or Qatar), which provides an amenities kit for Economy Class passengers.

40 minutes after departure they served the breakfast with a smoked turkey croissant with cheddar and mayonnaise, an Alpen Muesli bar and drinks.
3 hours before landing they served the Lunch. They had Cod yakisoba (fish in spicy garlic sauce) served with stir-fried noodles and vegetables but I chose Grilled chicken with black pepper sauce, green beans and mashed potatoes as main course, Soba noodle salad as appetiser, chocolate and mango fudge cake with raspberry coulis for dessert.

30 min before the arrival the aircraft started to descent and the crew secured the cabin. After fly over Cebu Island we landed 14min earlier, on the south runway and 5 minutes later arrived at the gate.

After leaving the aircraft (15min after arrival) the ground staff requested my ticked to check my final destination. 20 minutes later I claimed my baggage and passed in the customs after 5 minutes in the queue. Before the exit were several counters selling sim cards. To catch a taxi you must leave the airport and walk to the right all along the terminal, climb an escalator and then arrive in the taxi area.

Airline: Emirates - Flight: EK338 - Route: DXB-CEB - Date: 7/Nov/2016
Check-in: Staff - Time: 00h15
Seat: 46K - Class: Economy
Gate: A17 - Boarding time: 02h00
Scheduled Departure: 02h45 - Actual Departure: 03h00 - Runway: 12L
Scheduled Arrival: 15h35 - Actual Arrival: 15h21 - Runway: 04
Disembark: 15h35 - Baggage Claimed: 15h55
Aircraft: A6-EPG - Type: Boeing 777-31HER - MSN: 1357 - Age: 1y
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