Qantas A380 Business Class DXB-LHR, Shorthaul in Europe, Dubai and Riyadh (Part I)

[yflyer]

For my after-take off drink, I tried a wine made from the Cortese grape, a less common Italian varietal which I had not encountered, but which the cabin crew described as being similar to Sauvignon Blanc...





Today's lunch menu...



Lunch service began with a green side salad and a choice of bread...





I opted for the Paringa Estate Chardonnay to accompany my choice of starter...







I chose the roasted pumpkin soup as my starter...this was very tasty though not served as hot as a soup would be in a restaurant on the ground (Safety concerns in case of turbulence, maybe?)

[yflyer]

For my main, I chose the slow roasted spring lamb with braised radicchio, fried polenta and salsa verde...



...accompanied by a glass of Blue Pyrenees Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 "Richardson"



The lamb was marvellous...cooked to a medium inside, but very tender and flavourful, with excellent taste and texture. One of the nicest mains I have had inflight.





The other choice of red wine on board was the Wolf Blass St John's Barossa Shiraz.

[yflyer]

Next up was cheese...



...paired with Seppeltsfield Grand Tokay, a sweet wine made from Muscadelle grapes.





I also had a cup of Minghella chocolate ice cream...



And chocolate...

[yflyer]

Most pax then settled down to rest for the flight with some passengers occasionally coming to the lounge area to relax for a few minutes.



At some point during the flight, the cabin services manager came round to each frequent flyer onboard (I believe this included all Gold/Plat and possibly OW Sapphire/Emeralds as well), introduced himself, greeted us by name and asked if there was anything he could do for us.

He had an iPad which had details and profile/preferences of each frequent flyer onboard.

I thought this was a nice touch, which I believe SQ only does for PPS or PPS/Solitaires, and not KF Gold members.

[yflyer]

An hour or so before landing, a hot snack was served, which was a choice of either duck noodles, wok-fried rice, or onion pakoras with yogurt.

I chose the duck noodles, which was warm and tasty.





Dubai Airport fast track cards were also handed out to Gold or Platinum FF's (Oneworld Sapphire / Emerald), which allowed us to use the fast-track lane upon arrival.

[yflyer]

It was an on-time arrival into Dubai at 11.25pm.

We emerged into the massive T3, and took huge double door elevators and an internal people mover to the arrival area.







Overall, this was another wonderful flight on QF's A380, well up to the standards of my DXB-LHR leg on QF9 a few days prior.

I would spend the next few days in Dubai and also make a side trip to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia before heading back home. Coming up in Part 2 of this TR.



Thanks for reading!

More in Part II, here.

[dfs24]

My goodness. Kudos for taking the effort to document all that. Especially after I read that you just came from PVG. Every time I read your reports, I think I should write mine also, but somehow don't end up doing it.

SIN-DXB-LHR-BRU? Thats quite a detour considering that there should be some DXB-BRU option? As for the Eurostar, I agree! They are definitely less stable than the Shinkansen. Bouncy is how I would describe it. The TGV is better, but not as good as the Shinkansen. The BRU-FCO pitch looks really brutal. Love Rome and have been lucky to get good weather every time I go. Good to see the weather was good for you too!

I love Belgian Beers. Leffe is my new favourite, and thankfully available at DFS SG though a little expensive.

The QF lounge actually looks really smart. Too bad it's 2-2-2 configured.

[mr_botak]

Thanks for the detailed report. QF looks reasonable in J, although the lounge looks fairly uncomfortable given the curvature of the fuselage for anyone tall. I think on that route I'd stick to EK. The free limo pickup is a marvellous convenience.

I'm on the Eurostar again next week after a fair break. I always put the poor ride down the trains being adapted to run on the British Rail network in the early days into Waterloo. Bouncing along to the tunnel was always fun on the old track.

[yflyer]

My goodness. Kudos for taking the effort to document all that. Especially after I read that you just came from PVG. Every time I read your reports, I think I should write mine also, but somehow don't end up doing it.

Thanks, dfs24! I enjoyed reading your recent CX J report from Haneda to Singapore via HKG. Looking forward to more!

SIN-DXB-LHR-BRU? Thats quite a detour considering that there should be some DXB-BRU option?

Yes, before travelling to DXB, I actually landed from PVG on SQ just a few hours prior (That was the A380 service, all engines were working fine that day, thank goodness...).

By coincidence, it parked at the T3 gate nearest to T1 and the Emirates transfer desk, so I was able to take a short walk from T3 to the T1 transit desk, grab my Emirates boarding pass for my SIN-DXB-LHR flight, and then proceed back to T3 to get my Shanghai luggage, head home to chill for a couple of hours (I live in the East...) before heading back to my airport for the EK flight to Dubai.

Looking back, my journey, if you count starting in Shanghai at 4pm, was PVG-SIN-DXB-LHR-BRU, arriving in BRU the next day at 8.40pm local time. A total journey time of 34 hours 40 minutes!

The shortest routing from Shanghai to Brussels looks to be about 14 hrs (one stop somewhere required). But of course that was not possible for me because the Shanghai trip was a personal one, and the next trip was Biz. Also, my meeting schedule in Europe was very fluid, so I had to make the itinerary as modular and flexible as possible, hence LHR as the initial point of arrival.

I would then head from LHR to wherever I needed to by, either by plane or other means e.g. Eurostar. While on the flight to LHR, I was still contemplating whether it made sense to scrap the Eurostar plan and buy a cheap one-way flight from LHR-BRU, but I thought, heck, let's just stick with the Eurostar plan...

As for the Eurostar, I agree! They are definitely less stable than the Shinkansen. Bouncy is how I would describe it. The TGV is better, but not as good as the Shinkansen.

Ah...good to know you also felt the difference. I was wondering if I was imagining it. Riding the Shinkansen felt super stable, like comparing the ride of a Lexus or Mercedes with the ride of a much older and flimsier car....

The BRU-FCO pitch looks really brutal. Love Rome and have been lucky to get good weather every time I go. Good to see the weather was good for you too!

I love Belgian Beers. Leffe is my new favourite, and thankfully available at DFS SG though a little expensive.

Yes, Vueling had the narrowest pitch of any airline I've ever been on. Never tried Ryanair or Easyjet before, though!

Rome was great! On the taxi ride from the airport hotel to the city, I asked the taxi driver what a nearby landmark was, he said "that is a leeeettle church". Little? It was a massive cathedral set on a hill, visible from miles away! The taxi driver laughed and said, "a beeeeg cathedral is like St Peter's"...yes, I guess by Italian standards, a big church would have to be something like St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

The QF lounge actually looks really smart. Too bad it's 2-2-2 configured.

I don't get to fly Biz very often, so the 2-2-2 layout was not a major issue for me. Definitely SQ's 1-2-1 is superior, but I did find that if I picked a QF window seat, then the added side storage and space did provide some additional width (and storage) to the window seats. The lounge is a great idea. SQ should come up with some similar public space on their A380's. Emirates has a very elaborate bar on their A380's too.

[yflyer]

Thanks for the detailed report. QF looks reasonable in J, although the lounge looks fairly uncomfortable given the curvature of the fuselage for anyone tall. I think on that route I'd stick to EK. The free limo pickup is a marvellous convenience.

I'm on the Eurostar again next week after a fair break. I always put the poor ride down the trains being adapted to run on the British Rail network in the early days into Waterloo. Bouncing along to the tunnel was always fun on the old track.

Thanks, mr_botak!

I've never tried the EK J product on the A380. Hopefully it is better than the J product on their 777, which looks a little dated these days. The limo service they offer does seem to be very popular with pax!

[mr_botak]

A380 is much better than 777 (which is poor). Seat is a bit narrow but reasonably private.