Flying Business Class from Amsterdam to Dubai with Emirates
Posted on 05 September 2010 with 1 comment from readers
The new Emirates daily flight from Amsterdam to Dubai is already worrying the Dutch national carrier KLM. For the Dubai airline has pulled out all the stops to provide a state-of-the-art service on this route using the latest Boeing 777-200 series.
In Business Class this means 20-inch TV monitors of the same size offered in the First Class on rival Etihad as well as an amazing new flat-bed seat complete with a comprehensive massage programme. This is all controlled from a games-type consol.
Large screen TV
With a screen of this size movies are far more enjoyable, and you have a choice of 100 in the entertainment system. Relax and let Hollywood while away the time, or choose from the 400 CDs.
However, you are not likely to want to miss the superb in flight cuisine, again ahead of First Class on some airlines. The service was also immaculate on this flight, and quite a contrast to the sloppy, self-service on offer in many restaurants in Amsterdam.
You started with a choice of crab meat salad or corn-fed chicken, and then had a choice of four main courses: lamb knuckle, Balinese chicken, pasta with mushrooms or roasted sea bass. And for desert, praline and chocolate delice, cranberry tart, fresh fruit and a cheeseboard.
The wine selection was also excellent with a particularly good 2003 claret. All the dishes and wines were available despite the flight being full, unlike ArabianMoney’s recent experience on British Airways.
Poor lounge
Emirates passengers presently use the shared Servisair lounge in Schipol airport and this was the only weak part of the trip. Schipol is a large and sprawling airport and the lounge was hard to locate and a long walk from the gate.
On arrival in Dubai you have the ultra-modern Terminal Three which is only available to Emirates, and facilitates easy transfers for onward destinations. For clearly many passengers on our flight seemed to be traveling on beyond Dubai to Asia or Australasia.
Indeed, that is the beauty of any new flight feeding into the extensive Emirates network. Amsterdam is not just directly connected to Dubai but has a new access point for the rest of the world.
1 Comment posted by readers:
Now be honest, are you on the Emirates payroll?
Ed Note: No – but this remains a bellwether company and you can learn a lot about where Dubai and the UAE are going by following Emirates. Indeed, I first found Dubai by taking an Emirates flight!