First of all, may I apologise for the epic delay for this report. I know all the A.netters out there appreciate reports that are up to date, so I apologise for that. I've forgotten some of the detail but the bulk of the material is still there.

After an amazing trip that started in London, it was time to go home. Fast forward 35 days later, I'm in Rome at Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci) Airport.



After catching the Fiumicino Express from Roma Termini station.


Walkbridge across the main road to the Airport.


Main terminal complex.


Heading into T3.


FIDS.


Slightly dark in T3.


I arrived at the airport around 1:15pm for a 3:25pm departure. I took the airport express from Rome's Termini station in the city region. The owner of the hostel I was staying at suggested I get to the train station earlier just in case the trains were running late. He also shocked me by saying he preferred to fly Ryanair compared to his flag carrier Alitalia. Heeding this advice, I got to the airport in plenty of time. The train ride took about 50mins from the main station and took in some good scenery as we headed to the coast where Fiumicino is located. The airport itself is decently sized but showing it's age. I quickly moved to the Emirates check-in desks and there were 6 open, taking passengers for the one Emirates flight that was departing that afternoon (my flight) back to Dubai. It took a while to get my bags checked in. The queue was moving quite slowly, with a few families with kids not helping. However there was plenty of time prior to boarding, so no problems there.



Bit of a queue.


You know you are at FCO!


Upper level of the concourse.


Heading to the gates.


Post-security shopping.


Airside.


Domestic birds.


And more, with construction work on the new pier.


Waiting for the train to the satellite terminal.


AC763


CO762? First time I’ve seen this type in the flesh.


AC763


Ural Airlines, an airline I’d never heard of prior to this.


MH772ER back to KUL


An Alitalia 772ER. First time I’ve seen this airline in the flesh as well! (We are very starved of exotic airlines in Perth!)


This 772ER christened “Porto Rotondo”


A Kuwaiti A332




Tail of another exotic airline I’d never seen before.


Very retro looking control tower.


Beautiful Day.


And again.


The EK 773 finally pulling in and the CO 762 taxiing out to the runway.


US A333 and an TS A310.


A 773 operating EK98 today, and not a 77W as scheduled.


Italian (non-EK) staff did all the checking in duties. I was assigned 47A and away I went. Security checks were a breeze and I was soon air-side. I had about 80mins till boarding so I just decided to explore and check out the birds on the tarmac.



My boarding pass.


There was an AC 763 going back to Montreal (I think), a MH 772 back to KUL, an Air Transat A310 (an airline I'd never seen before), a CO 763 going back to EWR, a US 333 to PHL amongst others. It was the first time seeing some of these 'exotic' airlines (for me anyway) in the flesh.



The 773 about to take me to DXB.

25th July 2010
Emirates Flight EK98
Rome Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport (FCO) - Dubai International Airport (DXB), 4316km
Boeing 777-300, A6-EMM, MSN 29062, delivered to Emirates on 12/11/1999, 47A
Scheduled - 15:30-23:00 (5hrs 30mins)
Actual - 15:45-23:20 (5hrs 35mins)

View Large View Medium Photo © Sven Waerder

View Large View Medium Photo © Lars Hentschel

View Large View Medium Photo © Jussi Seppala - flyFinland

View Large View Medium Photo © Raimund Stehmann

We were soon notified just prior to the scheduled boarding time that it was going to be delayed from 2:45pm to 3pm. There was also a last minute equipment change from a 77W to a 773. We finally began boarding at 3:05pm with lots of people jostling and pushing in the queue that had formed around the gate. It was pretty chaotic and not at all what I expected. A fellow passenger and I exchange bemused looks and wondered what was going on. He was actually flying back to MEL after a similar trip in Europe. We began chatting whilst waiting for the queue to clear.


47A.


Another jet just taking off.


By the time I got to 47A, there was a Pakistani gentleman sat in my seat. I politely showed him my boarding pass and asked if he could move. He initially refused, but I insisted and he caved in and sat in 47B (where he was meant to be sitting!). I sat down, it was 3:20pm and the boarding process was still going on. The passengers were mostly travelers (lots of Indians, Italians and quite a few Aussies) with lots of families.


ICE Welcome screen.

I found the 3-4-3 layout used on EK's 777s not at all uncomfortable. The width of the seat was okay (I was sitting in a two-some, so maybe that helped). There are IFE boxes under all "A" seats but they didn't severely affect leg room. The departure time came and went and boarding was still going on. I must note that there was no real sense of urgency in either the passengers of the crew in finishing boarding and getting the aircraft ready. The Indian/Asian/Caucasian crew quickly concluded boarding at 3:30pm and began the hot towel service. Once again this was a full flight and it surprised me that the crew had to ask a lot of the passengers to move as they weren't sitting in their assigned seats. Geez, not that hard!


Legroom.

Front console.


Cabin


Pushback finally occurred at 3:36pm with not all of the pax seated (some were still putting stuff/getting stuff from the overhead lockers)…interesting. During the taxi out, the crew handed out headphones and my seat-mate tried to plug his into his power adaptor…I quickly helped him out and put it into his headphone jack before he got a nasty shock!

Purser then welcomed us onboard but there was no word from the Captain or FO. Safety video was then played on all the PTVs firstly in Arabic and then in English. At 3:45pm we were finally taxing to the runway, but the crew had to go around and tell passengers to move their seats upright. Some people…

As I said before, and I'll say it again, the downward and forward facing cameras mounted on EK's 777s are a great feature and it showed an AC 763 departing for Montreal right ahead of us. At 3:52 we were holding at the threshold for 25 for an AirOne 737. At 3:55, the wheels were up. The T/O roll was pretty powerful but the climb out was not as aggressive as on the 77L. The runway itself was actually VERY bumpy. We took an immediate left 180 degree turn and began flying back on the mainland. We then turned right and headed towards Greece, eventually flying in a SE direction towards Dubai over the Mediterranean. On the climb out, there was a long spiel in the form of a promotional video about Emirates' services.

The menus were given out at FL300 (4:15pm local time). I switched on airshow and kept track of where we were but news headlines quickly replaced airshow and there were also annoying ads laced at the top and bottom of the screen. We settled down at FL350 and eventually the F/O came over the PA and apologised for the delay due to the undercarriage below J being too heavy and consequently the weight had to be shifted. He introduced himself (lost his name but he sounded middle eastern) and Captain McDonald as the flight crew for this afternoon.


Flying over Croatia.








Menus.




Not sure what airfield this was.




Nuts + Juice.


Nearing Bulgaria.


Relaxed cabin.


Flying at FL350


EXAM – awesome movie.


Inflight power.


Controller with the cooling vents on the PTV.


Getting darker.

Meal itself was good, servings were a bit on the small side but taste was good and nothing really to complain about. I then went out the back and met up with my new friend from Melbourne, and we began chatting to the FAs who were working in the rear part of the a/c. They were the most amazing FAs I have ever met. We just stood in the galley for about an hour and just talked to them about everything and anything. One of the FAs, Shaun, was from my hometown of Perth and his sister was doing the same course as me. We chatted about working for EK, what routes he did, where he went, what he had planned, the future of the company etc. It was amazing, the best experience I have ever had with any set of crew on any airline. Katherine and Mirjana were also really friendly and willing to chat. They gave us food and drunks and made us cocktails while we were back there and eventually I said I should probably go back to my seat and let them do their jobs..but in all seriousness they were just the most awesome crew ever, even my friend from Melbourne agreed.


Meal.


Salad was good.


Bread.


Main was average.


Small serving size.


Darkness outside with the sun just setting.


Clean toilets.


Amenities.


I think the other passengers were also enjoying it as well. I noticed a lot of happy faces and smiling passengers who were not tired at all. Great great great.


Cabin with lights dimmed.


Starting the descent.


Amazing crew.

Reading for the month.


Safety card on this 773.


And again.


In no time at all, we began our descent, I knew I was having too much fun. We flew under 30,000ft at around 22:30. I was glad for the FAs as we had the older ICE IFE system onboard, which was still useable and up there with those of other carriers. It's definitely nothing to be sneezed at. It was clear, the touch screen was responsive and most of all it didn't heat up like crazy when you were using it (unlike some other systems). All the connecting flights and other relevant gate info were displayed on the descent and the headsets and rubbish picked up. We approached from the NW towards the UAE coastline. I wondered why we took such a strange departure (NE out of Rome and over Dubrovnik) instead of flying directly SE.


Carousel information.


Connecting flights.


Close to DXB.


Close to touchdown.


Over the road adjacent to the airport.


Another small touch that is often sorely missed on other airlines was seen just prior to landing. Throughout the flight I noted that the FAs were taking pictures of all the kids and younger passengers on board with a polaroid camera. A really nice touch I thought. It's just the little things that really set the difference between a good and a great crew.

It was a cloudy night in Dubai, with lots of mist about. The cabin lights were extinguished 5 mins prior to the landing. We flew over Dubai and then did a 180 degree turn to line up for 30L. Seemed like we were put into a holding pattern on finals due to traffic. There were lots of little moorings and ships in the Dubai bay, that were even visible at night, similar to the sight when approaching Changi. We were finally back on the terra firma at 23:18 (local time), with a smooth but firm landing. There was a 5min taxi to gate B15.

After everyone had left, I asked if I could speak to the pilots and Shaun said he'd go ask if they had finished their post-flight checks. After about 1min he came back and said "yes, come with me please". I talked to the Brazilian F/O about flying the 777s. Both he and the captain said that they enjoyed flying the 777s, saying that they were alot more hands on compared to the Airbus machines, but that since they were both Fly-By-Wire, the differences were not huge. They also noted that there was a last minute equipment change from a 77W to a 773, with A6-EMM being one of the older 773's in EK's fleet, having done over 45,000hrs at the time of this flight. I thanked the two gentlemen for their time and exited through door 1L.



Down the jetway again.

[Edited 2011-02-09 05:07:15]

T3 at DXB.






Crowded shopping area.


Transit travel-ators.


Departures.


All the seat/beds on the sides were occupied by the time we got there.


EK420. Close to home.


At the gate.


Exploring DXB for the 2nd time round was similar to my first experience. Great hardware, poor execution. Everything seemed cluttered even though T3 was one of the best terminals I have ever been to. There was a lack of seats and walking through the shopping areas made me feel like I was back in Hong Kong, or similar. Still left a lot to be desired. I just chilled in the 'tropical area' near Gate 224 (my departing gate to PER) with some drinks with my newly found friend from MEL, who was leaving about 45mins prior to me, flying back home to MEL (via either KUL or SIN, can't remember now).

Soon the EK420 was called for boarding and I went inside the holding area. The usual spiel about those seated at the rear of the aircraft and those with young kids was blared over the PA system inside the holding zone. Here we go again, the final leg of an amazing but tiring trip. I was glad I was heading home, back to Perth and Australia.



The 77W taking me home.

25th July 2010
Emirates Flight EK420
Dubai International Airport (DXB) - Perth International Airport (PER), 9052km
Boeing 777-300ER, A6-EBU, MSN34484, delivered to Emirates on 23/10/2006, 43K
Scheduled - 02:55-17:25 (10hrs 30mins)
Actual - 04:03-18:01 (9hrs 58mins)

View Large View Medium Photo © Tis Meyer

View Large View Medium Photo © Roberto Leiro - SVZM Spotters

View Large View Medium Photo © Elia Lechner - AirTeamImages

View Large View Medium Photo © Steven Austen

Was one of the early ones down the airbridge.


The GE90 on this 77W.


3-4-3 on the 77W.


Sister 77W.

Boarding was very organised and a stark contrast to the previous flight. The 3-4-3 layout of the EK 77W quickly filled up and again it seemed it was going to be another full flight. Personally, I would still prefer the 77L or A345, having 100 (or so) less passengers, but I guess the loads dictate that EK needs to send the 77Ws. (As I'm writing this now, I think EK has replaced the EK424/425 service with a 77L and occasionally in summer with the 77Ws.

I wonder when EK will start an A380 service to PER. I guess the answer to this is when PER has the infrastructure and runways to deal with it! Settling into 44K I pondered why this aircraft did not get the new IFE systems as per the 77L and A380, considering it was only 4-ish years old?

The flight crew on this leg of my journey home was Captain Howard from Fiji along with two senior F/Os. One of the passenger's bags had to be offloaded as they were a no show and this took some time. The front office kept us up to date of the queue through Oman and of some weather near the Maldives that we would be detouring around.

The departure time came and went and at 03:20 local time, the Captain came back over the PA and announced that because of some issues with the avionics (managing the IFE), the ground engineers were still onboard trying to fix it. Because of this delay, we were pushed back in the queue to get into Omanian airspace. 3:35 came by and there was another problem discovered and this had to be looked at again by engineers.

About 15mins later, the crew started handing out water to all the weary passengers (most had began to nod off). There was still no word from up front. I was seriously wondering if we were going to be grounded and offloaded till the aircraft was completely sorted.

Finally after a delay of 55mins, we pushed back from Gate 224 at 03:50 local time. The take off roll was smooth and at 04:03 we lifted off 12R (behind a RJ A310 and an An226).


Lifting off.

Breakfast was served shortly after takeoff. I had the bacon with sausages, and potato/baked beans. Apart from the bacon which tasted like plastic, everything else was pretty decent, but at this stage, most people had nothing but sleep on their mind. Almost immediately after the dishes were packed up, the lights were switched off and everyone (including me) went to sleep. I had no idea what happened the next few hours as I was completely knackered from a desire to rest from the past 37 days of excitement and adventure.


Bacon and sausages.


The main.

The rest of the flight was uneventful as always, and for the 2nd meal, I took the Beef, but it wasn't spectacular and I wasn't overly hungry. Meanwhile in 46F there was the usual heated argument about putting your seat up whilst the meals are being served. A few FAs quickly came round and doused the flames.


Beef as the second meal.


Booze.


Guess the movie.


Way too much booze for me!


Nearing Perth (at last!)


Rottnest Island.


Very overcast day.


1min to touchdown.

We approached Perth from the NE and landed on Runway 21 at 17:58, some 33mins behind schedule, not bad to be honest. We quickly left the active and was followed by an AZ 763 from Auckland. We eventually parked in Gate 52 at 18:01, ending my epic Eurotrip. I was tired but very happy.

There was the usual dash and scramble to get off the plane with quite a few passengers standing and opening the overhead bins to get their gear before the aircraft had docked in the gate. Never too sure about these people…


Walking off.


Back home.


The 77W after the 10hr flight.


Lovely bird.


HOME.

After everyone had gotten off, and as I was walking through about to exit door 2L, I asked the (lead?) steward if I could have a quick chat to the pilots. She quickly went to ask them and then said "Yes, come this way please". I walked through First, dreaming one day that I would be sitting in one of the suites. I talked to the Captain and First Officers, who were all extremely hospitable, the Captain even gave me his business card when I told him I liked writing reports on my flights and was an aviation enthusiast.

Hope you are reading this Captain Howard, it was a great flight. (Both EK98 and EK420). Looking forward to being back on Emirates!

Thanks again for reading.
And once again may I apologise for the epic delay in writing this report. I had totally forgotten about it. Feel free to ask any questions or comment about anything and everything I've written. My next trips won't be for a while, I'm not even sure when yet.

The stats:
Days - 37
Countries - 7
Cities - (12) London, York, Paris, Brussels/Leuven, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Venice, Florence, Rome.
Favourite Cites - Berlin & Rome
Least Favourite City - Amsterdam
Most Memorable Moment(s) - Going to the Rock Werchter festival in Belgium and seeing Muse (the 3rd time I saw them in 2010), seeing London/Paris/Berlin and Rome, seeing Keane in Dalby Forest (2nd time seeing them) and Editors in Livorno!
Least Memorable Moment - Getting a Mastercard Debit card eaten by a Natwest ATM in Bloomsbury in London, screwed me over for the rest of the trip (kinda).


Part 1 of the report is available here:
Eurotrip On EK’s A380 & 77L: PER-DXB-LHR (Part 1)


My other reports are available here:
Experiencing Phuket On SQ’s New A330
PER-MEL-LST On QF, JQ & DJ (pics)


Once again all the best and cheers,
Pete

[Edited 2011-02-09 04:45:24]

[Edited 2011-02-09 04:48:25]

[Edited 2011-02-09 04:49:30]

nice report, very detailed and thanks for sharing!

That airfield you were asking about looked awfully like Split to me.

Quoting a1ring23 (Reply 1): Not sure what airfield this was.

That is the Split Kaštela Airport, in the beautiful city of Split in Croatia.

Thanks for the report, it is very good.

-CXfirst

Nice report a1ring23 ! ... but I have a few corrections
http://i.imgur.com/aKHKn.jpg
This is Pratica di Mare Italian Air Force Base southwest of Rome
http://i.imgur.com/VlNem.jpg
Above the city of Pescara and Adriatic Sea
http://i.imgur.com/KaHbz.jpg
This is my home airport Split (SPU) and the town of Trogir (UNESCO-World Heritage Sites)
http://i.imgur.com/N71lv.jpg
Split (Croatia) eastern part of town
For me a very familiar route because Rome is the closest and cheapest hub only 40 minutes flight from Split...
Greetings from my sunny balcony   ...stipica

very nice report. EK looks like a fine product; however the 3-4-3 seems cramped. Did it feel like that?
Thanks for the report and lovely pictures.  

Wonderful, interesting report.

I was surprised that Amsterdam was your least favourite. Mind you I was there last, 30 years ago and was told it's changed a lot.

Quoting a1ring23 (Thread starter): A Kuwaiti A332

That's actually an A300  

I really enjoyed your report. Going around with a Polaroid to take photos of the kids is such a great idea, I never even imagined it! It would be nice if more crews were that friendly.

-J.

WOW. Great report! Seems you had a great time with EK, they seem to be bashed by a lot of pax in Skytrax but praised her in a.net. Persoanlly, I don't trust Skytrax that much, they rated EK's "Language Skills" for their FA as "3 Stars" and their FAs, IIRC came from 100+ countries, just doesnt make sense.

Quoting a1ring23 (Thread starter): Guess the movie.

The Departed?

Great report once again!

Quoting a1ring23 (Thread starter): Flying over Croatia.

Sorry for being nitpicky here (which is totally unnecessary, but I'm bored right now), but is that the western coast of Italy? Did you take off from FCO, fly out over the water and turn around? I couldn't imagine you'd be that low over the Croatian coast.

Great report! I would love to try EK one day.

Good report! Nice views from your flights ... Looks like it truly was a beautiful day for flying!

EK in Y always looks to be very good. Thanks for sharing!

Matthew (767747)

Hi A1ring23

Lovely report on EK who can be up and down but generally in Y they are very good with ice and menus etc. The meals on your flights looked pretty good.

Quoting a1ring23 (Thread starter): After an amazing trip that started in London, it was time to go home. Fast forward 35 days later, I'm in Rome at Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci) Airport.

Hey, I did pretty much the same thing in Sep/Oct. I flew to London & returned from FCO but spent a little less time in Europe (30 days in Europe).

Here are my TR's if you're interested (I haven't finished my last one yet) .

A Trip Of A Lifetime To Europe, AKL-ICN on KE
A Trip Of A Lifetime To Europe, ICN-LHR on KE

Quoting a1ring23 (Thread starter): The airport itself is decently sized but showing it's age

I agree with you, It definately is showing it's age but I didn't find it too bad. Maybe it was because our flight was at night and it wasn't particularly busy?

Quoting a1ring23 (Reply 2): She quickly went to ask them and then said "Yes, come this way please".

Good to see them allowing cockpit visits on both your flights.

Regards,
aflyingkiwi

Good trip report Peter, especially all the "colours" at FCO. With my sense of irony I was amused by the shot of EK parked next to AC  

Yes, I concur with others that the strip is Split Kaštela Airport, the little town to the north being Trogir, a delightful place to have lunch.

How nice of the flight crew to allow you to come forward and have a chat. Shame you didn't have the camera ready as I know most Anetters love to see the cock pit.

Hope that you get to live your dream and fly in first. It is really something else!

Little tip: as you have not included your name in your profile, when publishing boarding cards you might want to obscure the name and frequent flyer number first. Just use your favourite photo editing software and black out the information on a copy of the file. That way you will still have the original intact.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi Pete!

Very nice report with nice pictures! Emirates looks very good especially the meals!

The777Man

Appreciate all the feedback!

Quoting dimoko (Reply 4): nice report, very detailed and thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

Quoting Delboy (Reply 5): That airfield you were asking about looked awfully like Split to me.

Nice, cheers for that!

Quoting CXfirst (Reply 6): That is the Split Kaštela Airport, in the beautiful city of Split in Croatia. Thanks for the report, it is very good.

Yup, beautiful city, I love cities that have airports on the coast!

Quoting stipica (Reply 7): For me a very familiar route because Rome is the closest and cheapest hub only 40 minutes flight from Split... Greetings from my sunny balcony ...stipica

Tut tut, thanks for that one   Looks like a lovely place, must visit next time I'm in Europe (which won't be for a while).

Quoting buck3y3nut (Reply 8): EK looks like a fine product; however the 3-4-3 seems cramped. Did it feel like that?

Nope seemed alright, the aisles are noticeably narrower but the seats themselves aren't too different to a 3-3-3 setup.

Quoting lychemsa (Reply 9): I was surprised that Amsterdam was your least favourite. Mind you I was there last, 30 years ago and was told it's changed a lot.

I still liked Amsterdam, just that I wasn't there for very long and the weather wasn't too great. Maybe that was why :P

Quoting KingFriday013 (Reply 10): That's actually an A300 I really enjoyed your report. Going around with a Polaroid to take photos of the kids is such a great idea, I never even imagined it! It would be nice if more crews were that friendly.

Ah thanks for the correction! I always get A300s and A332s mixed up! Indeed polaroids are a great idea, suprised other airlines have not picked up on it!

Quoting jetblue777 (Reply 11): The Departed?

Not too sure actually! I need to go have a look at the inflight mag to check what movies they were showing!

Quoting Continental (Reply 12): Sorry for being nitpicky here (which is totally unnecessary, but I'm bored right now), but is that the western coast of Italy? Did you take off from FCO, fly out over the water and turn around? I couldn't imagine you'd be that low over the Croatian coast.

Don't worry, I do that all the time (and get told off for it), so thanks for pointing that out  
And yes it was the Western coast of Italy.

Quoting 767747 (Reply 13): EK in Y always looks to be very good. Thanks for sharing!

They are very good, thanks for reading!

Quoting Aflyingkiwi (Reply 14): Here are my TR's if you're interested (I haven't finished my last one yet)

I'll have a read in a sec.

Quoting Aflyingkiwi (Reply 14): I agree with you, It definately is showing it's age but I didn't find it too bad. Maybe it was because our flight was at night and it wasn't particularly busy?

Yeah, not a bad airport by any stretch of the imagination.

Quoting Quokka (Reply 15): How nice of the flight crew to allow you to come forward and have a chat. Shame you didn't have the camera ready as I know most Anetters love to see the cock pit.

Yeah I took a few on the A380 but didn't want to push my luck as they seemed eager to get off. Plus it was dark as hell and the popup flash would have bounced off all the instrumental panels!

Quoting Quokka (Reply 15): Little tip: as you have not included your name in your profile, when publishing boarding cards you might want to obscure the name and frequent flyer number first. Just use your favourite photo editing software and black out the information on a copy of the file. That way you will still have the original intact.

Thanks! I think I'll put my name on my profile now seeing as everyone knows who I am  

Quoting The777Man (Reply 16): Very nice report with nice pictures! Emirates looks very good especially the meals!

Cheers, meals were pretty decent! I especially enjoyed their weird shaped plates and the sides were always quite palatable!

Nice return trip as well! Glad to see your most memorable experience is in Belgium.

Quoting MSS658 (Reply 18): Glad to see your most memorable experience is in Belgium.

Rock Werchter is one of the best festivals in the world! Amazing experience.

A few videos from the festival:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsQdWXd0K-4
Muse - Feeling Good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2NnbXLXhF4
Phoenix - 1901

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1JM8b1B9zY
Stereophonics - Dakota

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui50Yd9nJSI
Faithless - God is a DJ


A few more landing/takeoff videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mt-zF4_TM8
EK98 Takeoff from FCO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t16mTAYjqM
EK420 landing at PER.

Great TR. I am read through part 1 and now part 2, took me a while, but I have to say reading this really makes me wanna fly long-haul again. Those dull domestic and continental flights are nothing compared to your experiences...

Nice report and pictures, looks like a couple more solid EK flights, they seem to have Y sewn up but J can be a bit hit and miss.

Rgds

Mark

Nice TR, just a note, CO doesnt operate the 763 (but UAL does)...sounds like you had a blast!

As I have read both parts of this report I shall comment here! What an excellent set of reports, with some really great pictures. The service on EK seems to be hit and miss among other posters, but looks like you had some good crews and flights! Nice to score the cockpit visits too.

Unfortunately it might be a while before I try EK, as I'm a bit too tall and wide to be putting up with 3-4-3 for any length of time. SQ will be my airline of choice should I visit Australia.

Also nice to see you have an excellent choice in Music, just watching all your Muse videos from Werchter   I saw Muse 3 times in 2009/10.

Thanks for taking the time to post these reports!

Cheers for all the replies!

Quoting CARST (Reply 20): Those dull domestic and continental flights are nothing compared to your experiences...

Indeed, but flying long-haul in Y gets very tiring, especially after a long, exciting holiday!

Quoting ba319-131 (Reply 21): Nice report and pictures, looks like a couple more solid EK flights, they seem to have Y sewn up but J can be a bit hit and miss.

Cheers Mark, EK's Y product is superb.

Quoting 747LUVR (Reply 22): CO doesnt operate the 763 (but UAL does)...sounds like you had a blast!

Oh right you are! Thanks for pointing that out! I should double/triple check in future!  

Quoting DanTaylor2006 (Reply 23): What an excellent set of reports, with some really great pictures. The service on EK seems to be hit and miss among other posters, but looks like you had some good crews and flights! Nice to score the cockpit visits too.

Thanks mate! Had some really decent crew on the flights back, very friendly flight crew too, very welcoming!

Quoting DanTaylor2006 (Reply 23): Also nice to see you have an excellent choice in Music, just watching all your Muse videos from Werchter   I saw Muse 3 times in 2009/10.

Cheers! How good are they? I saw them 3 times in 2010 as well. Amazing band.

Quoting DanTaylor2006 (Reply 23): Thanks for taking the time to post these reports!

And thank you for taking the time to read them!