I’ve flown with Emirates a few times over the years, and as it’s often regarded as one of the best airlines, it’s a carrier that I use quite often for my clients. A United Arab Emirates airline, with their main hub based in Dubai, Emirates now flies to 85 countries worldwide. It’s an airline you can fly almost anywhere with, and it’s great for regional airports in the UK. I flew with them on my recent trip to Mauritius, and thought I’d give a bit of an overview.
Pros:
– As I’ve mentioned previously, flying economy with any airline is never a fantastic experience – planes have to be as full as possible to make money and that’s never going to change. However, if I was going to fly with anyone, a middle eastern airline would be one of my first choices. The average age of an Emirates plane is just 5 years, which means that the aircraft you fly on is more likely than not to be in good shape. From a safety and comfort point of view, this is a huge positive.
– In terms of facilities, I also find Emirates to be up there with the best. To begin with, the entertainment system is fantastic, with so much choice, and you can start watching before you even take off, which many airlines don’t allow. Seating is relatively comfortable, and you tend to have more legroom than on other carriers. As well as this, the toilets get cleaned throughout the flight, which is a massive thing for me, as I tend to head to the bathroom mid-flight to clean my teeth and freshen up.
– Something super exciting about Emirates, is that they’re soon to launch a Premium Economy class on some of their routes. This is a great addition, especially as few airlines currently offer this, and many are swaying away from BA. I think that this will open Emirates up to many more people, offering a greater level of comfort, at more accessible prices.
Cons:
– Service wise, on the whole I think Emirates score pretty highly, however I do think that this can slip on their A380 services, especially when it’s a busy flight. If you’re sat in the wrong place, you can feel a bit forgotten about, and you do get the feeling that the staff are quite stretched. However, as Emirates slowly phase their Airbuses out, in favour of the dream liner, this shouldn’t be an issue for too much longer.
– The only other real negative about this airline, is that their advertised connection time is often quite short, sometimes only an hour! While this may seem great, please, please remember that if you’re delayed on your first outbound flight, you may end up sprinting through Dubai airport, or even worse, missing the flight completely. If possible, go for a connection of at least 2 hours, as it can really dampen your trip if you miss your next flight!
Overall, it’s an airline that I’d recommend to anyone. The positives outweigh the negatives in my opinion, and they’re an airline that looks towards constant improvement, which in my book, is always fantastic. Just remember those connection times!
