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Emirates operates a daily Airbus A380 between Sydney and Christchurch. Prior to the Qantas codeshare agreement, they used to have daily MEL-AKL, SYD-AKL and BNE-AKL flights. These used to operate as generally flights arrive into Australia in the early morning and don't leave until late evening to optimise the connections at DXB. Fun fact: In 2015, I got to try BNE-AKL, which was my first A380 flight (image below).
It is a bit sad that those 5th freedom routes are all gone, but we still have one remaining route which is SYD-CHC. It was reinstated in March this year to a lot of fanfare and advertising. Christchurch is currently the smallest city in the world to have a daily A380 service.
The airport even organised a "Planespotters' park" for the day of the return.
I had been eyeing a flight on the A380 first class for a very long time. Probably ever since I saw that infamous Casey Neistat video and this was one of the more budget friendly option of achieving this bucket list.
The flight takes off at 7:50am, so we decided to get there nice and early (around 5am) to make the most of the experience. There is no chauffeur service on these Trans Tasman services let alone on a points redemption. There were 4 lines for checkin - economy, internet checked-in, business and first. However, all lines were empty and signs were pointing towards a fairly empty flight. Check-in staff told us there were only 2 others in the first cabin.
Emirates directs its passengers to go to the Emirates lounge, but flyers familiar with Sydney will know that the Qantas First lounge is the place to be. The first class lounge is exclusive to first class passengers of Qantas and its partner airlines. The guest list also includes Qantas platinum/Oneworld Emerald frequent fliers.
This lounge is beautifully designed. Inside, the ceilings are high and well lit giving it a very spacious feeling. Most importantly, there are plenty of windows for planes- potting. They have the mechanical flight information display systems that are really cool. In fact, the lounge agent was so nice to reset the whole display just for me to video :). There are a variety of seating spaces and the food is table service based on an A la carte menu. I have attached a quick look at the menu of the day. There is a live kitchen and bar area where the food is made to order and our pancakes arrived swiftly. The lounge features a spa facility offering 20 minute complimentary treatments, but these were all booked out on our visit.. Make sure you make your appointment as soon as you arrive at the lounge. Lounge offers multiple shower facilities perfect for freshening up after a long flight. And, on the other side, there are dedicated meeting rooms available.
We also make a quick visit to the Emirates lounge just for the experience. This one is located on the far end of the Terminal closer to the Emirates gate. The lounge is noticeably quieter than the other. While the food isn’t a la carte, there are some good options here along with a self service drink station. I am also surprised to find out that this lounge can be accessed when travelling on any Qantas codeshare flights. Might be a worthy alternative when flying economy with Qantas status. Some of the seats near the window had good views out to the tarmac. This lounge also features shower facilities.
We have been extremely lucky to try a few premium products, but this is our first time traveling first class and we were honestly super excited for it. We got to the gate too early and the flight had a 30 minute delay, so we were just waiting for our turn to board the plane. Sydney airport uses dual boarding for the A380s and this meant direct access to the upper deck where the first and business cabins are located.
Upon boarding, we are greeted by the lovely crew who escort us to our suites. First impressions of the cabin is just wow, so we took a deep breathe in to calm ourselves down. The suits really feel luxurious with the leather seating and the gold trims.
About the seats, they are plush leather and quite wide at 23”. The head rests can are adjustable for comfort and of course the leg room is large with a 86” seat pitch. The seat comes with some one touch control buttons.
In front of us, we there was giant 32” LCD touch screen. Next to it, a mirror and a wellness kit which has some basic essentials. Also in this panel is the wall socket and USB outlet.And to the right of the seat, we have what is possibly the coolest feature of the seat, the motorised personal mini bar. There are 3 lights here including this dimmable table light, the reading light and the adjustable spot light. We have a second small screen which serves as dual purpose. On top of being a standalone screen, it can be used to control almost everything with seat as well as the lights, shades and the door.
Lastly, to the right to we have some additional storage spaces.
One of the striking aspects of this seat is just private it is. We really had to try hard to see each other or anyone during the flight.
There is also the door to close the suite, but this function cannot be used during take off.
Emirates A380s feature 3 different cameras - front, belly and tail which added significantly for the takeoff and landing experience.
You can get a preview of the seat prior to seat selection there as well on the web site. I initially went for row 1, but later realised that it features one less window and is a bit narrower due to the curvature of the aircraft. Rows 2 and 3 are probably the best options for window seats.
Inflight service begins with a welcome drink. FA told us Dom Perignon cannot opened when in the ground, so I go for the Moet. This is followed by the hot towel service which accompanies the Arabic coffee and dates. At this point, I also get told off for filming. I wasn't taking any pictures of the crew or other people, but they didn't even want me showing the interactions. Hence, I don't have a picture of the dates selection, but essentially it was box with a few different options. I picked the almond one.
Shortly, after takeaway we are provided a menu book, which also has the drinks list. So, it is time to open up the massive tray table in anticipation of the breakfast service. The table is massive and can probably double up as a head rest.
I go through my new reading material. It must be noted that emirates makes the menu available a few weeks prior to departure on their website. The breakfast begins with a generous serving of fruits which are accompanied by some bread in a well presented table setting. This was followed by the mains. I went for scrambled eggs which was served with smoked salmon. My partner opted for the omlette and chicken sausages. Both the options were good although nothing too exciting here. To be honest, there is only so much you can do with breakfast. If you prefer having a proper first class meal, you could go for the evening return flight from Christchurch, but the lounge there is just a 3rd party lounge and it is a bit of a let down. Cant have it all I guess.
it is now time for the best perk of this flight. The shower is located at the front of the upper deck next to the stairs. There are two of them and they are very big and definitely the biggest toilet on a plane I have seen and the crazy part is that the floor is heated too. The FA shows me around the shower and provides me with the instructions. We are provided with an array of amenities to use in the shower. On top of this, we get the Bulgaria amenity kit that comes with all the essentials. There is a men's and women's version. The shower has a seat and a handle in case there is turbulence while you are here. Showering at 40000ft in a plane is definitely an over the top experience and in most cases not necessary, but we are lucky to have experienced it. The water was surprisingly quite hot and had good pressure too.
Be sure to request the shower use as soon as you settle down on your seat. As this is a short flight, it may not always be available especially if it is full
As we approached the west cost of New Zealand, there was still one last thing left for me to. So, I walk past the mostly empty business class cabin to the back where I find myself standing in the Emirates bar. The crew here were super friendly. Unlike the first class, they were happy for me to film anything. They also took polaroids for us as a memoir. The bar was a larger space than I imagined and I was rather surprised by how quiet it was.
Emirates recently introduced free WIFI on flights if you enter your Skywards number. For some reason, they wanted you to log into Skywards account to use this feature. SQ just asks for the number. I forgot my password and so couldn't use it or test the speed of the connection.
Emirates provides us with real good quality Bowers & Wilkins headsets. The inflight entertainment section is extensive and there is a seat to seat calling feature.
Emirates A380 is no doubt the best way to cross the Tasman currently and in first class, it is the ultimate luxurious experience. Considering, it was just a 3 hour flight, we were honestly overwhelmed by all the features of the flight. This was a nice sampler into how the 1% travel and things like the closing door and the shower were great to experience. However, most of the time, we would probably not be able to justify the upgrade for this short flight.
So, in short, if you haven’t tried first class, this route is definitely a lower cost option worth considering. But otherwise, you might want to save your money/points for a longer route.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 4 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Sydney (SYD) → Christchurch (CHC).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Emirates avec 8.4/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 52 minutes.
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5 Comments
Great way to try out the first class of Emirates. I just had a look at the airfare for a one way SYD-CHC and they sell the seat for $1600 AUD, quite expensive whereas a BKK-HKG sells for "only" 545 € one way in F. This flight is on my to do list and I hope one day I'll experience it, or even on a longer flight (let's dream lol)
I also flew on two of those former route between AKL and MEL and AKL-BNE-DXB in Y. Great way to cross the tasman sea :) That's a pity those flights are gone, but I wonder if LAN still flies SYD-AKL with their 787, an option I tried once.
How many miles EK asked for this trip ?
Used Qantas points for the trip. Needed 65k of those. But, the taxes were quite low at 180AUD compared to insane numbers seen on the other routes.
I'm sure somebody has a good explanation for this question, but wonder why most carriers put the F cabin upstairs on the A380. It is much narrower and the curvature (especially by the front of the plane) is quite substantial making the space feel tighter. Maybe it doesn't matter for SQ when you have a 1-1 configuration, but a 1-2-1 upper deck seems tight for a F product. Shower has to fit upstairs?
It sure is! One of my favourite lounges of all time.
Too bad the cabin crew in F were so strict about filming, especially since you weren't filming them at all. It sounds like they were polite about it, but still surprising.
It is impressive that EK provide a full long-haul style First class service on such a short flight, including access to the showers! I can understand that it's all a bit overwhelming for such a short flight and hard to really take it all in and enjoy it all!
Thanks for sharing!
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