[Anonymous]

[AllOverTheGaff]

Of no surprise to anyone who has flown with the excellent Emirates Airlines, they’ve been the stand out winners at the business traveller (ME) awards.

http://gulfbusiness.com/2014/05/emirates-ihg-big-winners-business-traveller-middle-east-awards-2014/#.U2kfRfldUrU

Good for them – they even allow you to change flights if you ask them nicely.

Mums the word.
AOTG.

[Charles-P]

No surprise to me, I am a regular user and the service is always excellent. Great new aircraft, helpful, polite, knowledgeable cabin crew and good reliability. They deserve these awards.

[FirstClassWannabe]

Good for them but I won´t be trying them again. They let me down big time a few years ago and I would never step foot on their aircraft. Do they actually now have a proper first class? When I flew with them it was like an old style 90s J class. Yes I know I have seen the ads, but I had also seen them when I spent my hard earned cash on a supposed F flight only to get something completely different! All that glitters……..

[Charles-P]

‘FirstClassWannabe ‘ – I am very surprised to read that, the F class on Emirates is simply superb. Comfortable seat, excellent food and service. I suggest you give them another chance.

[DerekVH]

FirstClassWannabe is right, Emirates stil operate and old stlye J class configuration in First on a number of their aircraft with no direct aisle access if you happen to have a window seat forcing you to climb over someone if they are asleep (all BA CW bashers please take note!). I am due to board such an aircraft this weekend!.

[StephenLondon]

I’m with ‘FirstClassWannabe’ …had poor service on multiple sectors, crew who were lacklustre, food that was very indifferent, dirty aircraft and poor lounge experiences. Won’t be rushing back. Happily flew QR the other day…massively better than EK. Ditto EY. Great service. With EY’s product announcement, it is entertaining to watch EK quickly announce catch-up aspirations, whilst still flying 1990’s style F seats!

[SimonS1]

Always a curate’s egg with EK. Service can be either outstanding or lacklustre.

Plus much depends on the route and equipment. Some of it is in need of an upgrade as direct aisle access really is a must these days.

Personally I prefer it to coffin class but as always it’s a matter of choice….

[KarlMarx]

BT Middle East awards, no less.

I look forward to BA winning the BT UK awards again, comme d’habitude.

Local surveys favour local airlines.

[barbor219]

I guess you`re really a first class wannabe then

[AllOverTheGaff]

FirstClassWannabe – 06/05/2014 20:01 GMT
Do they actually now have a proper first class? When I flew with them it was like an old style 90s J class.

I guess they’ve not been as lightning quick as BA to replace their first class cabins….oh…hang on…..last time I flew BA in first it was the smelliest, oldest and least friendly flight I’ve been on, this was only last March too.

FYI, EK currently have 207 planes in the sky, of those some 25 have the old style seating, easy to root out as they are on A330-200’s or A340-300’s, all of which are being phased out and will be replaced.

Those replacements are in addition to EK being the largest A380 operator with 47 in service and 93 on order. Oh, they are also the largest operator of 777’s with 94 in service and 58 on order, some of those 777’s are only two class, again, easy to root them out unlike some airlines where it is “first class roulette”.

You cannot enjoy the extraordinary growth that EK as a business have enjoyed without an element of ‘catch-up’, which is where they are right now, but they are an innovative and forward-thinking organisation and I’ve had dozens of flights with them in 1st class and yet to have anything short of excellence from them.

Rgds.
AOTG.

[esselle]

Six F sectors and 10 J sectors on EK in 2013, all on either 380 or 773, none less than very good, many flawless.

[KarlMarx]

We recently did a long weekend in Dubai, travelling with Emirates in the A380 and were lucky enough to get seats in the first row of economy – 40 something, can’t remember exactly. The flight was excellent, we were amazed how quiet the big whale was and were lucky enough to have about 6 feet of legspace. The food and drinks also impressed. Would definitely use them again, though it wold be on leisure, as I don’t travel to the middle east or Asia on business.

[MarcusUK]

in all fairness, i get completely confused by all these award claims.
Certain awards always go to BA locally where they clearly are not the best. This link for Etihad shows they have won Best first Class for the last 5 yeas, and in total over 163 awards! Some of these are Skytrax, and with their new developments it would be hard to beat their new Apartments and Studios as BT have highlighted.

http://www.etihad.com/en-gb/about-us/our-awards/

These Airlines all have something to admire and be rewarded on. There are just too many awards, and none are definitive.
Even the BT awards are very regional, and highlight Airlines that we use in specific countries, with a bias.

So nice each Airline wins awards, but as to their validity against others from that source, i give them little notice.

Airlines that win awards from many sources, clearly there is a more global perspective and something to notice. The subject of much debate on the forum, but equally dubious.

[StephenLondon]

A380 EK First Class

Boarded, there was a wheelie on my seat, and a mobile charging that didn’t belong to me…whoops, it was a crew member’s! They didn’t think anyone “had” that seat (even though I’d had it booked for a month). Wheelie (with dirty wheels against my pillow) removed and seat wiped with a flick of fingertips, nothing more. No snack basket at my table (they were on others), blah, blah. Very lacklustre. Large gap in meal service. Got up to investigate to find crew eating their meal. Asked for an espresso after lunch and was told that it would be brought in a few minutes (crew still eating). Glass was a challenge to be refilled with fizz or wine or even water. It was astounding how mediocre an F flight could be. Asked to speak to purser (who had 4 years flying experience) who talked the talk but really couldn’t give a darn. Won’t even tell you about the 777 experience…other than to say I’ve had better service on board a Sealink ferry!

Etihad were truly outstanding in First Class, as were Qatar on my recent trip, even in business class, QR excel. I have a choice, and know where I’ll go. Alas, EK had the chance…

[Author]

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