September 21st, 2016
Emirates 384 Bangkok (BKK) - Hong Kong (HKG) Departure: 1402 Arrival: 1720 Duration: 2:18 Aircraft: Airbus A380-861
Registration: A6-EDX Seat: 1K (First Class)
Emirates Airbus A380 Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Emirates, the biggest operator of Airbus A380 with over 87 in service and 55 more on order departs to various destinations around the world. This was my first time on-board Emirates A380, I was really excited to see their excellent product. There are three types of A380s with different configurations in service right and now the one I have used is the Three-Class version: First, Business and Economy.
On this aircraft, there were total of 489 seats. 14 closed suites on first class, 76 flat bed seats on business and 399 standard economy class seats. The first and business class, both in 1-2-1 configuration are all installed on the upper-deck of the aircraft while all 3-4-3 configured 399 economy seats were on the main deck.
The first suites has 86 inches of pitch and 23 inches of width, business with 48 inches of pitch and 18.5 inches of width and the impressive economy class with 32-34 inches of pitch depending on the location of seats and 18 inches of width. The design of the whole interior looked flawless and luxurious.
The Cabin:
Unlike other large middle-eastern carriers, Emirates has this gold accented design throughout the cabin. This creates the cabin atmosphere more luxurious. The first class cabin has 14 seats which makes it compact looking compared to Etihad Airways' 9+1 seats and Qatar Airways' 8 seats. Installing 16 seats doesn't mean the width of each seat are reduced in fact it is the same as Qatar Airways' First class. However, having 14 seats for first class cabin in the compact upper-deck makes both aisles narrower.
Emirates A380 Upper-Deck Staircase from First Class Cabin and lavatory/shower spas located on both sides.
Emireates A380 First Class Suite.
The Seats:
I really like the seats even though they are little bit aged. If you just look with your eyes, the old, grayish-looking seats look uncomfortable but once you sit on it, from the seat cushions to the leather finishing, it feels so cozy and relaxing.
There are also number of storage areas, a mini bar personal reading lights, a lamp and a mini vanity mirror below the IFE screen. All seats have automatic sliding doors that can be controlled either by the button on the armrest or a portable tablet device which can control most of the things on the seat. It also features automatic window shades on window seats and a number of air conditioning vents.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Seat number, Cabin Crew Call button light and Do not Disturb sign.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Vanity mirror, skin care products, literature holder and many more.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Underneath storage compartment.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Minibar
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Personal item compartment.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Headphone jack.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Life Vest.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Small compartment.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Handset.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Handset.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Handset.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Handset.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Storage space under the lamp.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Lamp.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Widescreen monitor and personal light.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Seat: Air vents.
Amenities and Literatures:
Emirates provide wonder amenity kits on their first and business class passenger and not to forget: the economy class. In the first class, there is a writing kit with some empty paper, envelopes and a pen on the small font drawer. It also has a skin care products by TEMPLESPA underneath the vanity mirror. Eyeshades and slippers are located on the storage space and literatures/magazines on the inner side of the sliding door.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Amenity: Writing Kit.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Amenity: Writing Kit.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Amenity: Skin care products.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Amenity: Eye shades and Slippers.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite Amenity: Literatures.
In-flight Meals:
Before take-off, an arabic coffee and dates were given to passengers but you can also get a beverages of you choice. Then I was given a menu booklet to choose my meals alongside with light snacks and nuts. It was only a short hop flight but a full-course lunch was served (You can check the menus below). From appetizers to dessert, the lunch menus were really my taste.
Emirates First Class Bangkok - Hong Kong Menu:
Emirates First Class Bangkok - Hong Kong Beverage Lists:
Emirates A380 First Class Welcome drinks and dates.
Emirates A380 First Class Snacks: Roasted nuts, chips and beverage.
Emirates A380 First Class Meals: Lemon king prawns as appetizer.
Emirates A380 First Class Meals: Stir-fried prawns with chili and coriander as main.
Emirates A380 First Class Meals: Cheese board as desserts.
In-flight Entertainments:
Emirates is known for their vast entertainment systems on their ICE in-flight entertainment system which stands for Information, Communication and Entertainment. With their increased digital touch-screen IFE on all their classes and a noise cancelling headset makes it look like a private in-flight cinema. On the first class, you are able to control the screen with different methods: but touch screen, the handset or the remote controller attached on the armrest.
Emirates A380 First Class In-flight Entertainment: 27 inch touch screen display.
Emirates A380 First Class In-flight Entertainment: Noise cancelling headphone pouch.
Emirates A380 First Class In-flight Entertainment: Noise cancelling headphone.
Emirates A380 First Class In-flight Entertainment: IFE controller.
Emirates A380 First Class In-flight Entertainment: IFE controller - Front side.
Emirates A380 First Class In-flight Entertainment: IFE controller - Rear side.
Emirates A380 First Class In-flight Entertainment: 110VAC power outlet.
Emirates A380 First Class In-flight Entertainment: 110VAC power outlet.
Summary:
I have flown with Emirates couple of times in the past (mostly on economy class). And since this was my first time on their A380s, I saw a lot of difference even in economy class since before A380s were introduced, A330s and B777s were mostly used on the fleet. Though it was a short 3 hours flight to Hong Kong, a full course meal were served on first class with exceptional services provided by flight crews. I also realized, similar to Etihad Airways, there were number of multinational crew members on board to help out passengers with language difficulties.
The seats were great and comfortable a bit old looking but I am waiting for it to be revamped in the coming years. I have not written down that much of review on this flight because I had the same flight back to Dubai via Bangkok a few hours later. I will some more such as the iconic Emirates Shower Spa and the on-board bar.
Saw couple of A380s including Air France A380 taxiing behind my Emirates flight and British Airways(not shown) on the left-hand side at Hong Kong International Airport