A clear evening for our departure out of Pearson airport. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 9:45pm and we arrived around 6:45pm to ensure there were no delays during check in and security.
All J class check in counters were busy and we waited 5 minutes before being helped by the next agent. All documents were checked including PCR results and after, our bags were tagged all the way to Male (Maldives). The check in agent said to remember to fill out the Maldives health declaration form while we were in transit at Dubai airport.
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Pearson airport was fairly quiet in the check in hall. Security was quick and we were on our way to the Plaza Premium lounge.
The lounge had apparently reached its ‘maximum capacity’ but still allowed Emirates F/J passengers to enter. Everyone else was denied entry. We had a small bite to eat to keep us full till the dinner service on the plane. Food and alcohol was served by the staff while non alcoholic drinks was self service from a machine.
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Junior was getting bored hanging around and doing nothing, so we left around 8:45pm and went down for a walk around the gate area. Boarding was at gate E73 and had already begun well before the indicated time on the boarding pass.
Our seats were in the mini cabin which was in front of the lounge area. The entire J class was full for this flight and we had a bad luck of a group of young gentlemen who stayed up the entire flight being loud.
The flight was delayed by 30 minutes due to a baggage incident in the airport. Once resolved, we were on our way with the taxi to the runway being super short.
The amenity kit - looks like Emirates is reducing costs.
Menus were distributed and meals choices for dinner were taken while on the ground and served around 90 minutes after take off. Meal choice for breakfast was also taken.
Aberfeldy scotch on the rocks and nuts to start.
Arabic mezze for the appetizer.
Lamb curry for the main which was delicious.
Chocolate gateau for dessert which was meh.
Between dinner and breakfast, it was a toss up of trying to get sleep, tend to Junior’s needs and ignore the chatter from the bar area.
Starry night.
Breakfast was served around 2 hours to landing. Went with the scrambled eggs and sausage option and it was tasty.
Landing was uneventful and we disembarked fairly quickly. We had 10 hours of transit before our next flight to Male. We decided to book a room at the Dubai International Airport hotel which was located on the airside part of the terminal.
Overall, nothing much to rave about. No issues to complain about other than the loud chatter from the bar area (bit of a toss up whether there will be people or not and unfortunately, it was a packed flight).
Hi Injian13, nice to see one of your reports again! Also nice to see an EK A380 review in the pandemic-era since A380s have become so rare in the past year.
I'm the same way. Check-in and document checks can be a big hassle during these pandemic times so it's smart to get to airport early to avoid stress and rushing. And if anything it gives more time to relax in the lounge!
Food offering in the lounge looks really nice with several hot options. Onboard the catering looks really good by current standards! The lamb curry looks delicious. Only the pre-departure drink is missing, but that's understandable since ventilation isn't as efficient on the ground when the engines aren't running to cycle the air through the HEPA filters.
Thanks for sharing!