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.
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.
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