20 or so years ago, when I was an Emirates Gold card holder, I vowed never to fly with them again after some particularly poor onboard service in First class.  But in autumn 2021, when I was planning a Christmas holiday in Sri Lanka, I found Emirates’ First class fares to be only slightly more expensive than other airlines’ business class.  Added to that was the prospect of flying in an A380 once again, after they were all grounded, and several retired, during covid.  And so I decided to give Emirates another chance, buying 2 return tickets to Colombo, via Dubai, for £11,600.  I booked through their website, which was very easy. I was able to reserve my seats and also book my free chauffeur rides to and from Heathrow  (“LHR”).

On the day we were picked up from home in a clean and shiny Mercedes E class (the website promised an S class for First passengers) for the journey to LHR Terminal 3.  This is a great service for which Emirates should be applauded.

After an uncomplicated check in we made our way to the Emirates Lounge, which welcomes both First and Business class pax.  It’s a very long, somewhat narrow lounge with refreshments at each end.  The entire length of the lounge has apron and runway views, which I like, but the food offering is buffet style, which I don’t like.

We boarded our 3-year old A380 aircraft, registered A6-EVG at 13:20, through the upper deck door 1L and turned left into the First class cabin of 14 enclosed suites in a staggered 1-2-1 layout.  My first impressions were quite positive: the soft grey leather seats looked comfortable; the suite was less “blingy” than I had feared; there was less fake walnut veneer about the cabin.  But it all felt rather narrow – the armrest was right up against the screen doors – indeed at 23 inches width, this seat was a good deal narrower than other airlines’ first class.  There was more space on the window side, but a lot of wasted space too, not even a space to place a drink upon, so our welcome drinks (Dom Perignon 2008) were placed in front of the TV, which was out of my reach!

Also below the TV was a ‘vanity unit’ which popped up with an illuminated mirror and some skin creams, but the mirror is too far from the seat to be of any use.  A personal snack bowl sits by the TV too; it’s removed for take-off before being returned.  Below this under-TV shelf is a retractable drawer containing a nice notebook and pen, and below that is a large space for hand baggage (there are no overhead lockers).

On the window side a press of a button raises a personal mini bar, which unfortunately is not refrigerated. They say you can ask the crew for ice. But what’s the point of that; you can just ask the crew for a chilled drink, and so much space can be created.  Another faux gold button releases the dinner table. It’s a large, very solid feeling table, but I was unable to get out of my seat when the table was deployed.  Face to face dining with a partner is not possible in these seats.

Also on my window side was a tablet through which I could access controls for the IFE, dim my lights and (supposedly) manoeuvre my seat however I chose.  I just couldn’t get the hang of this, and I couldn’t get my seat how I wanted it across all four flights!  Just to the right in the photo above, under my writing pad is a stowage space, but I found it very difficult to access, being behind me.  And then there was a space where plastic-wrapped bedding was stowed.

My three window blinds operated electronically, either individually or all at the same time.  At a time when many airlines are doing away with overhead personal air ventilation, I was pleased to see 2 adjustable vents in my suite.

At the far end of the suite, accessible from the aisle, is a personal wardrobe.

All of these ‘hard product’ features of the Emirates First class suite are identical across the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777-300 fleets, though an updated version is now being installed on some 777s.  Consistency of product is what a pax, especially one at the front of the plane, should take for granted. Emirates are there for now, but if they decide to change something, it will take several years before all 123 A380s and 140 777s in their fleet once again have the same product.

The most obvious difference between First Class in the A380s and 777s is that the A380s have two shower suites at the front of the cabin!  Emirates is the only airline in the world offering this service.  At the start of the flight a FA asks pax if they’d like to book a slot in the shower suites. I could have the suite for up to 30 minutes, but water will only run in the shower for 15 minutes.  I didn’t bother with a shower before Dubai, but I did have one on the return to LHR.  Conscious of the time limits I rushed through my routine and finished within half of the 15 minute allowance (as did Mr A). This shower experience is an incredible USP for Emirates, but it only works because they have a FA permanently stationed outside the suites who cleans and refreshes the suites in between use, laying out fresh shower gels, shampoo and conditioners, along with fluffy white bath towels.

Just outside the lav/shower suite is something else you don’t normally see on an aeroplane; a water feature! During the cruise part of flight this is transformed into a drinks display case – I can’t think why.

Another difference between the two aircraft types in Emirates’ fleet is the bar/lounge area at the rear of the upper deck on the A380.  Mr A and I used this facility in both directions, and on each occasion we were the only people there.  There’s a large galley area behind the lounge, which means there’s a lot of crew comings and goings.  The bar has a good list of cocktails, which the FAs make from recipes, but in terms of seating, layout and ambience, the similarly positioned lounge/bar on Qatar Airways’s A380s is much more inviting.

When we landed in Dubai we were escorted to the first and business class lounge, which is very very large. We only had one drink before heading off to board our flight EK650 to Colombo – a Boeing 777-300ER, registered A6-EGR.  We boarded at 02:10, the plane pushed back 3 minutes early at 02:37, but then we waited an unusually long time.  We were told one of our pax had a medical emergency and we returned to stand at 03:05.  We sat there for nearly another hour, during which time there was no cabin service, which I thought was poor.  We finally took off at 04:15 and naturally all I wanted to do was sleep, but no PJs, slippers etc had been handed out.  When I asked for them I was told they didn’t have them on this flight because it was “too short”!  That’s a feeble excuse for shoddy service! If you’re providing a bed on a night flight you should offer your first class pax what they need to make themselves comfortable.

Before Colombo breakfast was served, but it wasn’t the most appetising.

On the return journey we boarded B777-300ER A6-EPM, which was just 5 years old.  Lunch orders were taken while we were still on the ground, but I didn’t want mine until a couple of hours before Dubai because I first wanted to catch up on some sleep.  But once again no PJs or slippers (or bedding) were available.  1.5 hours before Dubai I had a cooked breakfast, which wasn’t that good.

Overall IMHO the standard of catering on Emirates First class was pretty good, with the A380 flights between LHR and Dubai being particularly good. This included a caviar service, though nothing indicated what type of caviar it was. My guess was sevruga because the eggs were so small, but whatever it was it wasn’t as good as other airlines offer in First. I can report that they’re now finally providing a mother of pearl spoon for the caviar service!  Here are some of the dishes I enjoyed:

On both flights from/to LHR the menu said meal service would begin with canapés, but I wasn’t offered them on either flight.

On the Colombo-Dubai flight, when wanting to protect my sun tan from drying out, I became aware that no body lotion was on offer in the lavs, which was very odd.  No such issues on the Dubai-LHR sector, and, for the first and only time on this 4 flight holiday, we were given an amenity bag containing Bvlgari products, which included moisturiser.

Overall I enjoyed my flights in Emirates First class, with the A380 flights from/to London were superior to the 777 flights.  The niggley differences in soft product were irritating; I later learnt that PJs, amenity kits etc were only available “on request”, which is fine, as long as you tell me that!   Crew service standards were significantly better than on my last flights with the airline.  Any fans of the A380 don’t have many airline options these days, so Emirates is probably your best chance of flying on one. They are great aircraft; smooth flying and a 6,000 feet cabin altitude, versus 8,000 feet on the 777, which means more oxygen and better humidity.  The Emirates hard product is pretty impressive visually, but I feel it’s let down by the narrow, hard to position seat.  Overall 8/10

PS. the Dubai-LHR sector was flight EK003 and the A380, registered A6-EVQ, had only been delivered to Emirates a month previously. Despite the newness, my suite screens didn’t close electronically and the door in the shower suite had a problem closing.