Review of Emirates flight Budapest → Dubai in Business

Airline, airport and travel agency employees used to get heavily discounted tickets from airlines almost whenever they wanted to travel - but this was decades ago. Airlines rarely offer real discounts nowadays. I was however lucky to get an open-jaw ticket on Emirates in business class from Budapest to Dubai to Vienna for about 25% of the regular price. The only small drawback was that lounge access and airport transfers were not included.

I took a taxi to the airport. I paid 8000 HUF (23 €).

Budapest Airport has three terminals. Terminal 1 opened in 1950 and was last open for scheduled flights in 2012 (General Aviation is still based here). Terminal 2 opened in 1985 and now has two parts, 2A and 2B which are right next to each other. Emirates uses Terminal 2B.

The airport has many flights and is often overcrowded - but it wasn't this time.

Emirates has a separate check-in area. Priority check-in is available for First Class, Business Class and Platinum/Gold/Silver passengers.

A negative PCR test was requested along with the usual travel document. The check-in agent was helpful and friendly. The supervisor said "welcome" and "thank you" to all business class passengers.

About 90% of the passengers seemed to be Hungarian leisure travellers. A family of five travelling to Phuket upgraded at the airport.

Priority security control is available for business class passengers. The agent working there was refreshingly polite and friendly.

The common part of the airport between terminals 2A and 2B.

I went to Cafe Frei as I didn't have lounge access. There's a large choice of coffee from all over the world. Strangely enough the prices were not shown on the menu - something that almost never happens in Hungary. The prices were however not high, only around 2 to 3 Euros for a coffee.

There were not many people in this part of the terminal.

Our bird for today's flight. The aircraft's registration number is A6-EPN and it first flew in 2016.

Boarding is at a separate gate for First Class, Business Class and Platinum/Gold/Silver passengers.

Boarding started at 14.25. My boarding pass beeped when I was going through the gate. The agent told me: "The supervisor needs to talk to you. There's only economy catering loaded for you." But then the supervisor came and told me that he had fixed this.

This aircraft has a three class configuration (First, Business and Economy). Business class has 7 seats in a row in a 2-3-2 configuration - certainly not the most spacious on the market. But I had a window seat so I didn't really mind.

Legroom is huge.

A pillow and a blanket were waiting on the seat. Headphones and water were in the seat pocket.

A mask and some hand sanitiser was distributed shortly later - very much appreciated in times of Covid.

A window is missing at seat 11A but there are still two other windows.

An expected flight time of 4 hours and 50 minutes was announced.

The purser came to me: "How are you? Please let me know if you need anything."

A hot towel was offered right before departure.

Push-back was at 15.00 for a scheduled departure time of 15.10. Take-off was at 15.10 from runway 31L.

Some nice views after take-off as we were heading towards Dubai.

Some warm nuts were offered after the plane reached cruising altitude. I asked for some Veuve Clicquot champagne. Refill was offered several times.

Let's see the drink menu for this flight. The choice is very impressive.

And what's for dinner?

The appetizer was served on a tray together with some salad and bread. I chose Roasted Duck with sesame plum sauce and potato salad with pear. It was very good.

My main course was Chicken with mustard sauce served with roasted potatoes and sautéed spinach with garlic. It was quite good.

Blueberry and vanilla slice served with orange compote. It was very good.

Service by the cabin crew throughout the meal service was excellent.

Emirates has by far the best selection of movies and music in the sky - see my next review (Dubai to Vienna) for more details. I watched a South African movie.

I noticed the nice mood lighting in the cabin after I had finished the movie.

View over Basra in Southern Iraq.

Flying over the Gulf between Bahrain and Iran.

Approaching Dubai.

We landed in Dubai at 22.58 and were at the gate at 23.01 for a scheduled arrival time of 23.20.

The arrival hall at Dubai Airport is very impressive.

There was only a short queue for immigration. There was no health check - I only had to show my passport. The officer gave me (and all other passengers) a 1 GB free SIM card for Dubai.

Thank you for reading my flight report.