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633 reviews
HKG-DXB Emirates A380 First Class
The Emirates limousine driver arrived on time despite the rainy weather this day in Hong Kong. I got in his Mercedes Benz SUV and we were off to the airport, arriving in about 30 minutes. A quick trip despite of the weather I thought. Of course I was anticipating my first Emirates first class flight but it wasn’t like I’d never seen the first cabin on the upper deck of the A380 jet. After completing the business class flight on Emirates in 2018 the flight attendant happily showed me the cabin as well as lavatory with showers. The would be my second time flying an A380 with a shower, and I would continue to be showerless at 40,000 feet.
With no special first class ground service at Hong Kong I went straight to the Emirates lounge which was a combined first and business class facility. In the reception area stands a beautiful model of their A380 aircraft. It is an attractive lounge, well appointed with plenty of food, drink and comfortable seating.
I was warmly welcomed into the lounge and offered drinks by a staff member. Politely I choose to have a look around first. Once seated I was again approached for drink orders. Certainly non-typical of airline lounges. however only of handful of people were in the lounge at this time.
Refreshments and food offerings.
Before long I decided to head down to gate 60, only a short walk from the lounge. Such a beautiful view of the Emirates A380 readying for its flight to Dubai with the unsettled weather and mountains in the background.
Boarding commenced slightly behind schedule but not so late to jeopardize a on time departure.
And the rains began again as we boarded.
Heather, the purser on this flight, talks to one of 3 first class passengers (including myself) on this flight. Heather introduced herself to me before departure and came through the cabin saying thanks and good-bye towards arrival, but that was about it.
The cabin holds 14 suits on the A380 and is quite airy even with this density, in part because all overhead bins have been removed. The suites themselves are smaller in terms of first class seat size on some other carriers, but well designed and very comfortable.
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At the top of the A380 staircase a first class beverage display was set up. Unfortunately a short time after this flight, Emirates announced they would not be offering this first class display on A380 flights.
The lavatory is spectacular. While the cabin and suites have over the top bling, the lavatory is decorated in warm, natural tones that you might even want in your own home.
Toiletries are placed to perfection. And there are two of these lavatories, on either side of the staircase, for first class passengers only.
Seat 1K.
Under the monitor is where all carryon bags are stored. Unfortunately at the end of the flight when I was retracting the extended foot rest back to landing position, the foot rest caught on the corner of my luggage and bent the frame. The case was only on its second trip!
Your personal non-alcoholic mini-bar.
This was the older IFE system. The tablet weighed a ton. And it wasn’t very responsive at all. The storage compartment was broken, you can see that with the lid down it’s not flush to the table. Otherwise lots of bling.
At first I thought the hook was to hang something on, turns out it’s to support the dining tray which was extremely heavy.
Each suite has its own closet.
Amenities were outstanding, including excellent sleepware. Not so sure out the “moisturizing” part, but the pants are top notch.
I still don’t like upper deck A380 windows, but do like the LH A380 in its new colors. Also the Hong Kong Airlines A350 was the same one I flew in on from Taipei.
Off into the sunset.
Apple juice was offered before departure.
Due to the weather the ride was a but bumpy and made the Dom photos a little blurry. But it still tasted good.
Food and beverage menus.
Time for the flight to become disappointing.
As mentioned FA Heather was no where to be found. In charge of the first class cabin was Kimberly, a nice enough early 20’s I’m guessing inexperienced flight attendant. Service was slow in part due to the weather and probably about an hour after departure the table was set.
Except instead of bringing the Canapé, I was brought the caviar. At this point I was really hungry having not eaten anything in the lounge, so I didn’t complain. But to forget a complete course??
And the caviar was well, decadent as always.
I asked for another appetizer, the Arabic mezze.
It was absolutely terrible. Clumps of feta cheese, canned green bean salad, toubuleh that was basically parsley with oil, and fritters that reminded you of some bad crab rangoons at the local Chinese takeout. Oh, and some raw cauliflower and carrots just for fun.
I moved on to order the Chateau Pontert Bordeaux. “We don’t have that selection on this flight.”
The main course was a good business class meal. Over-sauced beef tips with so called fried rice mixed with vegetables and bok choy. Other than the plating I could see this meal on any of the Asian carriers from Hong Kong to Taipei in business class.
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The good, or bad, news depending on your perspective, is Emirates pours your wine into a fairly good size decanter. After little food, a lot of Dom and then one or maybe two of these it was soon to be lights out.
But first I had the dessert which was a raspberry gâteau and it was nothing special.
I had planed for a shower 60 minutes before arrival as well as a visit to the bar in the back of the plane. My body had other plans. I awoke on decent into Dubai.
Visit Rewardflying.com for full review and redemptions for this flight
http://www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2019/4/7/emirates-a380-first-class-hkg-dxb
As much as Emirates is well renowned for their First Class experience, it was missing on this flight. They will have a chance to redeem in a few hours.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 5 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Hong Kong (HKG) → Dubai (DXB).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Cathay Pacific avec 8.4/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 8 heures et 48 minutes.
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4 Comments
As far as the F ground experience goes, it doesn't seem as special or glamorous in outstations as in the DXB hub with mixed F/J lounges and practically no F-specific ground services. However, I am pleasantly surprised about the lounge agents doing drink services--I've only experienced that on very rare occasions--notably in VS lounges.
The uber-blingy look of the cabin looking a bit long in the tooth--it was already of questionable taste when it was first introduced over a decade ago, but now it looks really out of place and tacky. Granted, the design of the seats is well though-out and functional IMO--it's just the aesthetics that are a bit cringe-worthy. Luckily, the new F suites are much more elegant.
Yikes, poor bag!
Unfortunate that the service was unpolished, you would think EK would only put their most experienced cabin crew in First--this is the impression I've always been under. Forgetting canapés before the caviar course is a total #FirstWorldProblem, but when shelling out for Intl First, you expect service to be flawless.
Thanks for sharing!
Was not impressed with the older 380 cabin. Read to they are starting to retire the old ones. Speaking of new F suite in 777s, one month to go for me!
The 777 F suite looks like it will we a good experience, are you going for the centre seat with the high definition windows?
Boss of Emirates has confirmed that this will not be rolled out onto A380 as Airbus and they have called quits on it. Shame,
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