This is the second leg of my trip to Harare. The Emirates chauffeur arrived at the Marriott Marquis about half an hour earlier than scheduled. As a result I got to the airport by 7:30am for my flight. I went to the business class lounge in the B concourse and it was packed with people. The Harare (via Lusaka) flight was leaving from one of the C bus gates, which was also packed with people. When boarding time came, economy class passengers boarded first while business and first class passengers had to wait until all the economy passengers had boarded the busses. It was a 15 minute drive around the airport before we reached our plane and once on board, this was the surprise that was waiting for us.
A flashback to the 90s. Crappy seats that had a lot of people grumbling and complaining to the crew. What a difference between this and the business class seat on the 380 that brought me from SFO-DXB. According to the gentleman across the aisle, Emirates usually flies their oldest (and crappiest) planes to Africa.
The crew on this flight were really friendly and they seemed to genuinely like each other and were having fun. I find that on all the Emirates flights that I have been on, the crew seem to just tolerate each other and there is very little camaraderie. We left about 15 minutes late. Drinks and snacks were then served. Sorry I forgot to take photos, but here's the menu:
Light Bites Selection os Sandwiches Creamy Vegetable Pie Chicken Malai Tikka Swiss Meatballs Filled with Cheese Coconut Tart
Followed a few hours later with lunch:
Appetiser Traditional Arabic Mezze Smoked Duck Potato and Leek Soup Seasonal Salad
Main Course Roast Lamb Shoulder Chicken Biryani Pan-fried Pacific Cod
Dessert, Cheese and Fruit Chocolate Tart Meringue Log Cheese Board Seasonal Fruit
I had the meatballs, which were actually quite tasty. For lunch I had the duck appetiser, which was okay. I wanted the Chicken but they were out and had the lamb instead. This was truly one of the most disgusting meals I've ever had. I think others felt the same way as all the plates I saw going back into the galley, the food had hardly been touched.
Soon we landed in Lusaka, a few minutes behind scheduled.
About 80% of the passengers got off in Lusaka and only three people got on to go to Harare.
A light snack was served on this short flight to Harare:
Seasonal Fruit Cold Platter Caramel Choux
For those looking for a place to stay in Harare, I highly recommend the Amanzi.
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Verdict
Emirates
3.8/10
Cabin2.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi3.0
Meal/catering3.0
Emirates Lounge - Business (Gates B)
6.0/10
Comfort6.0
Meal/catering6.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Services7.0
Dubai - DXB
5.5/10
Efficiency7.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0
Harare - HRE
5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0
Conclusion
This plane has clearly seen better days. The seat was very uncomfortable and when the person in front reclined, their head was almost on your lap. Emirates has a serious problem with business class consistency across their planes. Service was generally good on this flight, however the food was pretty awful.
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Thank you BenChDC, this is indeed enlightening, illustrating as you said the issue airlines are facing with consistency of their product/service/offering.... Thanks god the EK A340-300 and A340-500 will be retired soon... You would have been very disappointed after having such high expectations...
Thats because it was South Africa. Although the a330 & a340 are now retired from Emirates, until very recently my regular flights from Dubai to Uganda were on the 'crappy' planes.
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3 Comments
Thanks god the EK A340-300 and A340-500 will be retired soon...
You would have been very disappointed after having such high expectations...
Emirates usually flies their oldest (and crappiest) planes to Africa.
From reading this I thought that too. But lo and behold, I got a realitively new (possibly retrofitted) 777-300 with updated IFE on EK764 JNB-DXB
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