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EK/EY, J/Y, SIN-CMB-AUH-CMN

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  • EK/EY, J/Y, SIN-CMB-AUH-CMN

    Initially, I wasn’t going to bother with a trip report. But then halfway through, I thought there were some things worth sharing, and hence this report.

    I had previously taken advantage of one of those ex-CMB CX J fares. However, sometime last year, CX decided to drop CMB via SIN. The flights to CMB now run via BKK or direct. I was initially going just drop the last CX segment given the horribly uncomfortable their regional J seat was. However, when CX dropped CMB, I was given the choice to go via UL or EK but not SQ. EK runs the 77W on this route compared to UL’s A320 so EK it was.

    My chauffeur drive ride is an E200 2014-facelift model. The driver is a middle-aged lady. She didn’t seem to be familiar driving around Bukit Timah, and was a little over reliant on her GPS. On top of that she didn’t seem to be a confident driver. She did however improve after she made it onto the PIE.



    We drove past the T1 construction mess and I was into the hall where the check-in desks were relatively empty. The sole J desk occupied but with no queue, I used the OLCI desk. Y had maybe 10 people in the line. Quite a queue formed at the J side after I was complete, yet no one wanted to walk to the 2 empty OLCI desks.

    Into the EK lounge, it was very empty and looked a little dated. I did actually like the gold glitter. Catering looked like a decent spread, and I just had desserts, pre-plated light bites and champagne. (Veuve C. if you were wondering)





    I left for the gate 40mins before departure, and the gate hold room was already empty. Welcomed onboard through L1 by my last name by the purser. The load today was 50% in J. 2-3-2 J on the 77W is quite sub-par, but I found the bed wide enough for me and comfortable enough. The privacy screen actually makes you feel pretty secluded. PDB and menus were offered. Socks, earplugs and eye mask are already in the seat pocket. The ICE screen is HD and the quality difference compared to other carriers J, like CX/QR can be felt. Maybe it’s because this aircraft is just 6months old. The iPad like detachable controller was actually useful when lying flat in the seat for changing like the soundtrack you are listening to. The PSP like controller was also nice for tracking flight progress when in bed mode. The automatic window blinds (too bad I forgot to get a shot) was nice to have and made the cabin look quite nice. There was a touch-activated lamp at the top of the seat shell and the usual worm like adjustable reading light. Other than direct aisle access, I thought it was a good seat.







    We pushed on time and took off 15mins later. Service commenced with warm nuts and drinks.



    Following that, starter and main were served by hand on single tray. The starter was some chicken tandoori that consisted 3 thick slices but very dry. I left it after the first piece. Bread was already placed on a small plate on the side, and other bread like garlic breads were offered separately. On this note, I think EK has the best Garlic Bread, even better than SQ. Very fragrant and full of Garlic.



    The main course was a choice of some Sri Lanken Curry, Roasted Lamb or Scallop and Fish. I had the last choice. The scallops were huge and fresh, the fish, also a generous portion but not as fresh, and the best on the plate was actually the mushroom risotto rice.

    Dessert was Pistachio Chocolate Cake or Lemon Meringue. I took the latter and liked the presentation on a plate as compared to how SQ tries to stuff dessert into a bowl. Also offered was a nice big cup of coffee and Godiva chocolates.





    Cheese was not offered, but I didn’t care because I was stuffed and not a fan of cheese as a course. Catering in general is on par with the other Middle Eastern players, and for dessert a clear winner over SQ/JL. The Asian Carriers do better with starters. For main course, I think SQ/JL/EK/QR are in the same league. Considering the complete experience, I think the Middle Eastern players offer better quality, quantity and presentation.

    Service onboard was friendly but the crew in general seemed a little slack/do a decent job but not fantastic. I join them for a short chat in the galley before returning to my seat. Seeing that my leftover champagne was already flat, the steward offered to replace it, only to totally forget about it until top of descent. Not a big deal but it gave the slack feeling I described above.

    The stars are actually quite a nice feature.



    The landing was very smooth and we dock at the last gate of the concourse on time. Disembarking, the purser actually thanked me by name. Quite impressive given that she only interacted with me during boarding.

    So now what? I initially thought of staying a weekend in Colombo and head back to Singapore. One-way tickets back costs 200+ SGD. I decided to play around with Google flights and found an interesting itinerary with EY. For 480SGD, I could fly CMB-AUH-CMN, MAD-AUH-SIN. J was a little above 2K. For 480SGD, it was irresistible, so Y it was, with EY.

    The transit counter was overwhelmed with foreign workers presumably travelling to the Gulf for work. So I entered Sri Lanka, walked out of the Arrival Hall and into the departure hall to check myself in. I managed to get an Exit row to myself on the A320. (Yes 3 seats)

    Departure was at 0440, and it was now 0230. Into the departure hall, I leech some wifi outside the Araliya lounge that has not had its password changed for 2 years. By 0300, I was already feeling dead tired. I found a bench near the gate and slept till 0400. Into the gate half asleep before finally boarding at 0500.The plane only took off at 0520. Apparently, the recent EY flights from CMB to AUH have been taking a very long routing along the coast via India, Pakistan before going to AUH. So the flight time was 05:00 instead of the 04:40 block. Headphones were distributed and Menus. Breakfast was Scrambled Eggs, some Curry dish or Baked Eggs, and these were served right after take off. I was too tired so I went straight to bed by setting up my “Skycouch”. I woke up at the top of descent and was highly satisfied. Pretty sure I slept more comfortably than those on a J class recliner. For those who are wondering, yes the plane was equipped with AVOD and is of the same type on QR’s A320.

    Landing into AUH was smooth and in AUH it was no surprise that we parked at a remote stand. The bus to the terminal dropped us at an extremely small arrival area, crowded with dissatisfied foreign workers who refused to move upstairs to the transit area to get their new boarding pass. I really pity them, they all looked super lost. I was quite sure a number of people on our flight missed their connection onto the morning Europe departure bank. Our flight arrived 1h30min late after all.

    Fortunately for me, I had booked a hotel in AUH before my 0240 flight to CMN. Immigration was totally empty. The small arrivals and departure hall was quite a clear indication that this airport was mainly just dealing with transit passengers.

    The bus into town costs just 4AED and runs hourly. There’s not much to do in AUH and I just slept in my room and lazed by the beach for a short while.

  • #2
    AUH-CMN

    I decide to cut it a little close and arrive at AUH at 0210 for the 0245 departure, passed security, immigration and reached the gate at 0220, onto the bus to our plane, an A330. Load tonight: F was 50%, J was 80%, and Y nearly 100% I actually didn’t intend to cover EY in the report, but this flight made me do so.

    I had 15K assigned, a bulkhead seat for this flight. In my seat, to my surprise, I find a pair of noise cancelling headset, a blanket covered in a nice pillow case like cover, a pillow that had a cut out to allow you to use it as a neck pillow, socks, toothbrush, eye mask and ear plugs. The night kit was given in a nice cloth bag, something like what SQ uses to store slippers in J. Given the extra legroom I had and all that amenities, it felt like PEY. I thought the pillow idea was very smart, and to put the blanket into some sort of cover so it could double up as a pillow if you didn’t want to use the blanket. Pre-departure drink of water and wet tissues was offered.

    I think EY is an extremely stylish airline actually. The beret like hat, the leather gloves that are part of the crew uniform, the interior colour scheme, the new livery and the rope class divider are some of the examples I can think of.















    As usual, due to congestion, we pushed 30mins behind STD, and then it was another 20mins before we finally took off. If there is a reason why I would not fly the Middle Eastern Carriers, even in Business, it is because of the bus gate + traffic delays situation, coupled with the fact that you wake up in the middle of the night to connect.

    Tonight’s flight is full. There are 2 babies in the bassinet row, but both are well behaved. The one on my side of the aisle is a pro, sits there quietly until take-off and then doses off in the bassinet until landing. The baby in the other aisle was also well behaved, but the parent not so. When she found out that she only had 1 seat, she flew into a rage. Claiming that her travel agent had reserved 2 seats, she was promised at check-in she would have 2 bulkhead seats to herself. The stewardess was very patient and explained that it was a full flight. She would try to accommodate her, but the child was travelling infant without seat, and hence she only had a seat for herself. The extra seat request was subject to availability. She continued to make a scene demanding to see the purser. The crew she made a fuss to meanwhile tried to find her a pair of seats. Before pushback, they managed to get a pair seating behind the bulkhead row to move and the mother got her wish. The crew was calm throughout and very professional. The others sitting in the rear of our cabin were not so lucky. There were 2 screaming kids and it’s ironic how I actually got a quiet night by choosing the bulkhead row.

    Service tonight was a snack followed by breakfast. The snack was presented in a nice bag consisted of a chicken sandwich, savory biscuits, packaged fruits, some sort of pineapple like tasting dessert. While it’s not hot, I actually preferred this to QR/EK hot pie snack. We were also offered a hot drink. It's not just Coffee or Tea, but we actually had the choice of Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea, Hot chocolate, Cappuccino etc. Felt a little PEY-ish.







    I checked out e-box, their entertainment system. It had quite a decent selection of movies. The only issue I had was the lose fold out PTV, that almost came crashing down on my legs the few times I tapped too hard. I fell asleep until 2 hours before landing, and breakfast was served. I opted for the mushroom omelette, which was too salty, the hash brown was salty, but the chicken sausage was perfect. Fruits, Yoghurt, Muffin and bread were typical of a Y breakfast.





    Being seated in the front, and given that all the toilets were at door 3, I quickly paid a visit before the meals were cleared from the back, avoiding the toilet rush. The toilet had a black seat while a white frame. It did make it look very old. Other than that, it was quite dirty. There was a window inside and to my surprise; amenities like hand sanitizer and face mist were available.

    The descent was very gradual, and the approach very stable. No change in thrust heard, and the descent profile was perfect. No adjustment in pitch, yaw or bank. The landing was the smoothest I’ve experienced on the A330 to date. There was absolutely no bounce or force feedback from the gear felt. The only reason I knew we landed was from the noise from the landing gear. Braking was very consistent and the taxi to gate was very smooth. Given that I’m seating somewhere right above the landing gears, I think it’s very impressive.

    Disembarkation was via air stairs. To conclude, EY has a really solid offering in Y. I was very surprised to find noise-cancelling headset that actually offered quite good sound quality. If it wasn’t for the seat width and to some extent catering, I think it could have passed of as PEY. If EY was in OW, Star or Skyteam, I think I’ll be flying with them a lot more often, in both J & Y.

    Comment


    • #3
      Very informative TR, dfs24! The Emirates J product is really showing its age. I don't know how they can continue to equip even their newest 777's with this ancient product.

      I am amazed that Etihad can provide noise cancelling headsets in Y.

      Their pillows that turn into neck pillows is a brilliant idea!

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks for your comments. Indeed. I thought the neck pillow was something that should be quite affordable by most airlines. The noise cancelling headphones were definitely something I was pleasantly surprised by.

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