Aboard the Emirates A380 back to London

After checking out the Emirates Business Lounge, it was time to board the plane. Here was a view of the plane prior to boarding. When you see the A380 in photos, it looks big, but standing next to it, you feel its sheer size and bulk.

It has an interesting layout in business class. (From my vast experience of approximately two biz flights a year!) ;-) The seats are arranged with a table setup next to them, so you don't really have a neighbor. Then, the one behind you and in front of you are reversed in the seat/table format, so you don't have a person directly in front of you.

Here's a closeup of the little table area. It holds a variety of water, fizzy drinks and juice. It also has a glass and the usual pair of sock, eye shades, and ear plugs. Here is a photo of the complimentary champagne upon boarding:

I have to say...I actually wasn't so fond of this setup, because the flight attendants seemed to only be half attentive to your drink needs, maybe due to this item. I compare this to my 'normal' Emirates biz flight over where I was on a non-A380, and the flight attendants were on top of everyone's drink order. If you took your last sip they were on the way over to refill you. In addition, they seemed to be keeping track of everyone's preferences which probably wasn't the easiest when they offer two white wines, two red wines and a full selection of everything else imaginable.

As well on this A380...I don't drink soda, so half of the stuff I didn't touch, but certainly could have done with a refill in the drink cabinet there of water or fizzy water. I drank both and left he empty bottles on the table and then had to ask for refills from someone who was hurrying down the aisle.

Because it was so big, my business seat was 23K. It was the front of the second business section, there were another 6 or 7 rows maybe behind me.

The TV entertainment thing was pretty good, as was the little footrest shelf. I'm not especially tall, but when buckled up I could not reach the remote thingy. Fortunately i could use the touchscreen one that was with the table setup, but it would go out of juice in 45 minutes and was a real beast to put back into its cradle and get out again. (Yes, I'm whining about business class amenities, I realize!) ;-)

23K on Emirates is a great seat however, as it's the bulkhead row of the section, so no one was in front of me. There was some kind of galley for the flight attendants but the toilets are a walk to the last row of this section.

Food and drink details still to come...