Flying the Airbus A380 with Emirates

Onboard Emirates, February 2011

When I planned my last holidays in Thailand, in February 2011, no doubt it was an excellent opportunity to fly the A380 choosing Emirates for that purpose. Despite having direct flights from London to Bangkok with British Airways or even a Star Alliance flight with Thai Airways, as an aviation enthusiast I wanted to try the A380 and enjoy the experience of flying with a Middle East airline. So an extra stop at Dubai was mandatory. The 2nd leg DXB-BKK the airplane would be a 777-300ER, also a first for me.

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Flight to Dubai

I took a TAP flight from Lisbon to London/Heathrow (TP356, CS-TJG) and then moved from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 for my Emirates flight. Everything was easy with Emirates: online booking (I even pre-selected my seats), check-in, etc.

At the gate you had complimentary magazines and newspapers even for the class I was flying (Y/CL). I picked up a very interesting issue of "The Economist". I was able to see my EK A380 parked side by side with another A380 from Singapore Airlines. It would be the aircraft registered A6-EDL (cn 046).

The boarding was organized by aircraft zones which worked pretty well and has to be done for an aircraft this size. My seat was the 76A - right side window near the trailing edge of the wing, in the main deck.

My boarding pass

Seatmap from SeatGuru (click for larger image)

My last time flying in a 4 engined aircraft was 3 years before when I went to Luanda in a TAP's A340 (CS-TOA). From the window I was amazed with the huge area of the A380's wing. It's not only the span, but also the root chord. In fact, contrasting with the A330 and A340 which have an impressive wing aspect ratio of about 10, the A380 has a much lower figure due to its mean chord.

Carrying with me a duffle bag, I was comfortably installed in my seat. I believe the load factor was near 100%. The main deck cabin was spacious and the ceiling was very high. Every seat has a PTV installed ran by the awesome ice entertainment system of Emirates.

PTV / ice "Welcome"

Soon after boarding, we closed doors and started our flight to Dubai. After engine start-up, the huge flaps were set for take-off and they do a very loud sound while in transit to final configuration. During our taxi to the runway, cabin crew was busy distributing refreshing wipes and dinner menus while many overhead bins were still waiting to be closed. The bins were droop style and sometimes happened that female flight attendants had to wait for help to close them as most of the time they were heavily loaded. But it seemed to me that the A380 taxies at a very, very slow speed (probably due to its big inertia and to prevent break wear) so cabin crew had plenty of time to finish their before take-off procedures.

On the PTV I had the chance of seeing several views provided by exterior cameras. Take-off was powerful and those GP7000 were in fact very silent even at a high regime. You still got to be amazed with how easily the A380 flies, doing sharp turns in the air.

As I was leaving one of my favourite cities in Europe without paying a visit to it, I was playing with ice system and realizing that even if I lived 3 lifes in a row I wouldn't have enough time to see or listen to everything that was available for you!

When we reached cruise altitude, cabin crew started hand serving an insane amount of special meals, so passengers with regular meals had to wait a little bit for the trolleys. Options for the meal were "Chicken in coconut sauce" or "Fillet of cod". I was happy to have chicken served.

Every single Economy passenger was served a large tray! 

"Chicken with coconut sauce"

After the meal I explored as much as I could the experience of flying the A380.

What you see from left to right it's not the horizon line but the A380's wing! 

Flap track fairings and winglet

Sunrise - this is one of the most spectacular exterior cameras available 

Mood lighting system

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A380 and Emirates' Service

The A380 is a very comfortable aircraft from a passenger's point of view. The only thing I disliked was the air conditioning vents (permanent and non-adjustable) above the side seats of the main deck which directed the flow right over the passengers in those seats. Although it was not a problem for me, Emirates option for the droop style overhead bins can also be questioned as they are hard to close for the majority of passengers and cabin crew. I think most airlines flying the A380 opted for the standard type, like Air France:

• Before boarding I was worried about my iPhone's low battery, but that was until I found that every seat was equipped with a USB socket so I could charge the battery!
• The Mood Lighting System is also very nice. I hate those usual bright aircraft ceiling lights. The Mood Lighting System was running all the time, including during meal service.
• No doubt the A380 is a very silent aircraft, however not as silent as I thought it would be.
• The cabin crew call button is placed in the PTV's command. You also have buttons above you but most passengers (if any) won't reach them while seated.
• While having a 3-4-3 configuration in economy, aisles are wide so you can have a nice cabin walk to stretch your legs during flight. The regular toilets are also bigger than usual and nicely equipped.
• When on final approach we can really feel the main landing gears going down.
• Cabin crew give "Cabin Ready" status in the LCD Attendant Panels by zones.
• For the main deck (399 Economy seats) you will only find two minimal floor level galleys. There is another galley accessible through a lift.

This particular last aspect, and knowing that Emirates serve large trays for everybody, makes the EK A380 a difficult aircraft for cabin crew. And you notice that when you have to wait at least 15 minutes to have your drinks served after having the tray placed in front of you (fortunatelly the tray already has a sealed cup of water) and wait more than one hour for crew to remove the trays from passengers.

Aspects like flap noise, double red beacon at the top of the chubby fuselage, galley lift, cabin size, wing root chord, "drop down" bins, Open/Close buttons to assist door opening made me remember the good old L-1011.

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Flight to Bankok

When I arrived at the amazing Dubai airport (I saw several EK A380s lined up!) I had to walk a long distance until I reached the gate of my next flight. The 777-300ER registered A6-EBW was already there getting prepared.

After flying the A380, I must say the 777 did not impress me at all. I had another window seat (40A) but I did not have the USB socket and the ice system installed was not as good as that in the A380. Despiste being a -300ER, the cabin seemed a little bit worn out. The only thing that caught my attention was the very spacious aft galley, in fact the biggest one I ever saw.

For lunch I chose "Chilli lime fish" a meal that was, as in the first flight, very tasty. Some minutes before starting our descent to Bankok I was tempted to ask for the "Instant cup noodle soup" that is available in this flight at any time, according to the menu, but I didn't want to bother the cabin crew.

Landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport was pretty smooth and it was the second time I landed there, the first  one being with "my" CS-TMP.

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Return flights

For the return it was surpring to fly again the same A380 (A6-EDL) in the BKK-DXB leg. For this flight I selected the seat 81A. It has to be one of the best Economy Class seats of EK's A380. You can enjoy your window while having emergency row's leg space and avoiding the "double excuse" situation. See the seatmap posted earlier in this post.

TAP codeshare @ Suvarnabhumi!

 

The second leg (DXB-LHR) was flown in a different A380, this time the A6-EDI.

A6-EDI @ DXB

 

PTV - seat 68B

@ Dubai/DXB airport

Still at the gate - view from tail camera

 

 

After these two A380 flights, it was a shock to get on board a tiny TAP's A319 bound to final destination - Lisbon.

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Overal Impression

I loved the experience of flying with Emirates. Whether you fly the A380 or the Boeing 777 you have a very good product and service for long haul flights. The A380 is an amazing aircraft!

Operação 'Air Finland'

Al Ain, March 2008

Flying for Air Finland

O plano de voo inicial sugeria uma aterragem em Abu Dhabi, após um voo-posição com a duração de 6h55, a partir de Lisboa.
Complicações à chegada, supostamente com autorizações de aterragem, desviaram-nos para a cidade de Al Ain no Emirado de Abu Dhabi, onde acabaríamos por ficar baseados. Afinal, em termos de operação era irrelevante um ou outro local: serviria apenas de escala técnica para reabastecimento de combustível e troca de tripulações para os voos que seriam realizados entre a Suécia, Finlândia, Cambodja e Tailândia.
The original flight plan determined that we were supposed to land in Abu Dhabi after a position flight with a duration of 6h55, originating from Lisbon. However, problems with landing permits diverted our flight to Al Ain, the Garden City in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi - where we would be based after all. For our operation it was absolutely irrelevant because it was only a technical stop for refueling and change of crews. We would fly passengers between Europe (Sweden and Finland) and the Far East (Thailand and Cambodia).

Assim que nos aproximamos do Dubai (na altura, ainda a caminho de Abu Dhabi) e com a cabine vazia de passageiros, alguém alertava os restantes colegas, com muito entusiasmo à mistura, para as seguintes vistas magníficas que podíamos apreciar a partir do nosso veterano Lockheed.
As soon as we got close to Dubai (still on our way to Abu Dhabi) someone alerted that we could see the Dubai's coast and its artificial islands from our flying Lockheed.

The World

Ainda se consegue ver o impressionante Burj Dubai
Also visible the Burj Dubai

Palm Jumeirah & Burj Al Arab

Palm Jebel Ali

Depois de algum tempo de sobrevoo a baixa altitude, estávamos finalmente em direcção a Al Ain. A aproximação a este aeroporto é verdadeiramente impressionante pois mais parece que vamos aterrar no deserto, no meio do nada!
After some low altitude flying, we were finally heading to Al Ain. The approach is very impressive because it seems we are about to land in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nowhere!

Finalmente, alguma vegetação já na final curta
At last, some signs of life on our short final

Aterragem...
Landing, spoilers up!

Airbus A300 de um operador desconhecido
Airbus A300 from an unknown operator

Aparato militar
Military stuff

Terminal de passageiros de Al Ain
Passenger Terminal Al Ain

G-OBYB da Thomsonfly, aparentemente avariado
It seems this Thomsonfly Boeing 767 went tech

Ficámos a descansar no Hotel Hilton de Al Ain que tem uma torre com os habituais quartos de hotel e umas tantas 'vivendas' junto à piscina. Por confusão ou falta de atenção por parte dos responsáveis do check-in do hotel, eu e outro colega de cabine acabámos por ficar naqueles que seriam as melhores habitações individuais com dois andares, o que deixaria o nosso Cmdte surpreendido quando soube de tal sorte!
We stayed at Hilton Al Ain which has standard rooms and duplex villas with separate kitchen and dining areas nearby the pool. Me and another flight attendant colleague were lucky enough to stay, each one, in those villas. Our Captain was really surprised when he was aware of that because he had a standard room in the main tower of the hotel!

Não costumo ligar muito a hotéis. Desde que os quartos sejam limpos, tenham um ar condicionado que funcione e condições razoáveis de isolamento acústico e solar, por mim até um quarto exíguo como aquele em que fiquei no hotel Ibis em Charles de Gaulle, serve perfeitamente. Mas de facto, não posso negar que as condições com que me presentearam foram as melhores que tive até hoje!
I don't care much about the hotels. As long as they are clean, have a working air conditioning system and reasonable acoustic insulation, I'm happy with that. Even that exiguous room that I stayed in Charles de Gaulle Ibis hotel works for me. But I cannot deny these were the best hotel accommodations I have ever experienced!

Os meus aposentos
My accommodations

Uma cozinha própria!
A kitchen just for me!

Mas como nem só de boa vida vivem os tripulantes do segmento ACMI, havia que trabalhar e, no dia seguinte, iniciámos a operação para a Air Finland fazendo AAN-BKK-AAN-HEL, tendo a minha tripulação ficado com a parte oriental da rota. A primeira perna entre Al Ain e Bangkok seria novamente um voo-posição, desta vez com a duração de 5h18.
Mostro, de seguida, algumas fotos desse voo.
But this is not only about good lazy life! Next day we would initiate our operation for Air Finland doing the following sequence: AAN-BKK-AAN. The first leg was still a position flight of 5h18 and only in Bangkok we would receive the passengers on board that had Helsinki as their final destination. I was part of the crew flying between Middle East and the Far East.

Boeing 767 ainda empandeirado
Same Boeing 767 still grounded

Pouco após a descolagem do aeroporto de Al Ain
After take-off from Al Ain airport

Um imenso deserto...
An immense desert...

Oportunidade também para mais umas fotos à cabine do CS-TMP...
It was also an opportunity to take more photos to our CS-TMP cabin...

... tendo uma delas entrado no Airliners.net.
... one of them was successfully uploaded to Airliners.net.

A magnífica asa do L-1011 com uma flecha acentuada de 35º medida a partir de 1/4 da corda e que lhe permite um voo de cruzeiro a 90% da velocidade do som, apesar de actualmente estar limitado a M.86 (este sim, um valor de utilização mais frequente) por imposições do espaço RVSM.
The wonderful wing of the L-1011 has a sweep angle of 35º that enables it to reach speeds of 90% of the speed of sound, although it is limited do Mach .86 when flying in RVSM airspace.

Aqui provavelmente já a sobrevoar a Índia
Probably at this time we were overflying India

Com o pôr do Sol iniciámos a nossa descida para Bangkok envoltos num cenário de cores, nuvens e relâmpagos verdadeiramente assombroso.
We started our descent at sunset which provided a colorful scenario as we got surrounded by an amazing cloud formation with a terrific lightning show.

Escureceu muito rapidamente e quando aterrámos no aeroporto Internacional Suvarnabhumi - um dos mais impressionantes em que já estive até hoje - já era completamente de noite.
It got dark really fast and when we landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport - the most impressive one I ever saw until that day - it was already night.

Lembro-me de ter visto durante a final curta, o L-1011 cargueiro da SkyEyes Airlines lá estacionado!
I remember seeing during the final approach one freighter L-1011 belonging to SkyEyes Airlines which was parked at the airport!

Durante a rotação, abastecemos o catering para receber os nossos passageiros e alguns tripulantes da Air Finland que foram incansáveis em agradecer-nos o facto de os termos ido lá buscar, pois estavam 'presos' em Bangkok devido a uma greve interna que afectava a Air Finland.
During our turnaround time, we got the catering onboard for our passengers and we got in touch with some Air Finland's cabin crew members which were stranded in Bangkok together with the passengers for a long time and that were very thankful to us for helping them to get back to their homes. The flights disruption was due to an internal strike that affected Air Finland.

Durante o carregamento das refeições entra um tailandês eufórico e a dizer em boa voz "Portuguese airplane!", respondendo eu "yeah" seguido da justificação do local "I saw the flag on the nose of the plane... Ronaldo!!!"
Before boarding and while the meals were being loaded we had a visit of a Thai airport/airline employee saying in a very euphoric way "Portuguese airplane!". I answered "Yes, it is!" and he replied "I saw the flag on the nose of the plane... Ronaldo!!!"

E lá vão os jogadores de futebol como o Ronaldo e o Figo construindo a popularidade do nosso país lá fora, enquanto eu tentava disfarçar as dores fortes e agudas de não poder desembarcar naquele aeroporto e visitar aquela terra!
In fact, it's because of football players like Ronaldo and Figo that our country is still known far away. That employee was happy by that connection between a Portuguese airplane and one of its idols. In contrast, I was angry and not so happy because I could not disembark and visit his city - Bangkok!

Já com os passageiros embarcados, descolámos para um voo tranquilo novamente em direcção a Al Ain. Contráriamente aos meus receios iniciais, os finlandeses revelaram-se passageiros muito ordeiros e civilizados e sem grande apetência para o álcool.
Em Al Ain, outra tripulação da Luzair rendeu-nos para fazer a perna "europeia" enquanto o avião reabastecia para mais umas 4/5 horas de voo.
With our passengers already on board we departed in direction to Al Ain again. Against what I feared, the Finnish didn't give us many problems, particularly in what concerns excessive alcohol consumption. After all, I learned that they don't drink that much when returning home.
At Al Ain airport, another Luzair crew took the airplane for the European leg, while the aircraft was refueled for another 4 or 5 hour flight time.

De volta ao Hilton, mudança de quarto, desta vez para a torre do Hotel - só se pode ser Xeque por um dia... Algumas vistas do meu novo quarto.
Back to Hilton and this time I got a regular room in the hotel tower - you can only be Sheikh for one day... Some of the views from my room's window.

Curiosa a iluminação do caminho no monte...
Curious path illumination on the mount...

Ao pequeno almoço, o Sr. encarregue de fazer as omoletes a pedido, com aspecto indiano, topou que comunicávamos entre nós - tripulação - em português, e qual não foi a sua alegria em poder falar português connosco! Era um indiano de Goa a trabalhar nos Emirados Árabes!
At breakfast, we caught the attention of the employee preparing the eggs requests. We were speaking Portuguese between us and he was an Indian guy from Goa, a territory that was under Portuguese rule for many years. He was very happy to find someone that also spoke Portuguese!

Como a greve na Air Finland prolongou-se, a nossa companhia foi contratada para fazer mais um voo, desta vez até Phnom Penh no Cambodja - outra cidade em que gostaria de ter tido a oportunidade de desembarcar... A diferença relativamente ao voo anterior seria a de que teríamos passageiros nas duas pernas, aqueles que já vinham de Helsínquia/Estocolmo, e os que regressariam a casa. Voltámos a ser rendidos em Al Ain, descansando lá essa noite e ficando à espera de ordens para regressar a Lisboa, posicionados numa qualquer companhia...
Because the strike was prolonged, we would do another flight, to Phnom Penh in Cambodia - another place I wish I had the opportunity to visit... This time we would have passengers on both legs: those who came from Helsinki/Stockholm and those who were returning home. Again, our crew was replaced by another one when we got back in Al Ain and we stayed there one more night waiting for instructions to return to Lisbon, deadheading on a random airline...

Acabámos por ficar praticamente dois dias no Hilton de Al Ain, em tranquilidade absoluta, trabalhando para o bronze debaixo do sol árabe e aproveitando a piscina e o mini 'aqua-parque'. Os nossos colegas 'europeus' regressaram a LIS no próprio CS-TMP, a partir de Estocolmo.
We stayed in Al Ain for almost two days in an absolute relax mode, working on a tan under the strong Arabic sun, enjoying the pool and the mini water park. The colleagues that replaced us in Al Ain went straight to Lisbon on our own plane after disembarking passengers in Stockholm.

Havíamos de regressar num final de tarde, fazendo 2 horas de estrada até ao aeroporto de Abu Dhabi onde iríamos apanhar o voo LH623 da Lufthansa num espectacular e moderno A330-300 com matrícula D-AIKD. Ao contrário do D-AIKB em que tinha voado por alturas do Hajj, este A330 já se encontrava retrofitado com um sistema individual de entretenimento em classe económica. Em termos de amenities foi sem dúvida o melhor avião em que voei até hoje, com a cabine em mint condition.
We started our return journey in the end of an afternoon, with a two-hour trip by road to Abu Dhabi Airport where we boarded Lufthansa flight LH623 to Frankfurt. Our aircraft was a modern A330-300 registered D-AIKD already equipped with an individual IFE installed in every seat - contrary to what I found on D-AIKB when I got back from the Hajj operation. In terms of amenities and comfort, that was until that day, the best aircraft I've been on, still with its cabin in mint condition.

Durante o taxi-out, tive a oportunidade de avistar o L-1011 CS-TEB da euroAtlantic que ali estava por causa de uma C-Check efectuada na GAMCO e que se prolongou indefinidamente devido a uma reparação complexa que teve de ser levada a cabo por motivos de corrosão. Dentro de poucos dias, também ele estaria de regresso a Lisboa.
During our taxi-out, I had the opportunity to spot euroAtlantic's sole L-1011 that was performing a C-Check carried out by GAMCO that was taking too long because of a structural repair due to corrosion. A few days later, this aircraft would be back in Lisbon too.

O nosso voo até Frankfurt contemplou ainda uma paragem no Bahrain. O serviço de bordo da Lufthansa, contrariamente ao avião, deixa um bocado a desejar para um voo daquela duração. Não falo da prestação profissional dos colegas de cabine, mas sim daquilo que nos é oferecido. Este voo serviu apenas para reforçar a impressão com que já tinha ficado no JED-FRA que tinha feito também na Lufthansa, cerca de dois meses antes. No regresso a Lisboa, novamente num A321-100 (D-AIRA), foi-nos servida exactamente a mesma bandeja com queijos, fiambre e pãezinhos, incluindo também um pacote de sumo de laranja.
The flight to Frankfurt had a stop in Bahrain before proceeding to Germany. I was a little bit disappointed with the catering offered although Lufthansa crew members were always very professional doing their job. As our final destination was Lisbon we took another Lufthansa flight, this time an Airbus A321-100 (D-AIRA) during which we were served the same type of cold breakfast I experienced a couple of months before when returning from the Hajj: a tray with varieties of cheese and cold meats. Our mission for Air Finland was  finally over.