To London and Barcelona via DXB on EK/QF A380 Y

[yflyer]

Actual flight path taken was over the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt and Saudi Arabia...

[yflyer]

It was time for lunch.



Two choices of main today, butter chicken or Western style lamb.



I asked the cabin crew for a gin and tonic to start, and this was brought to my seat moments later.



I chose butter chicken for my main.





This was a generous portion of butter chicken and fluffy basmati rice, topped by a single small (and deadly hot) chilli. Delicious...



White wine (French Bordeaux) in a small glass bottle to accompany the meal.



The meal tray also came with a small snack pack, containing dips and crackers -- these were a great mid-flight snack.

[yflyer]

We took off from runway 25L...









Tail camera...



Sharp bank to the left after take-off...



Before leveling off for the 6 hour flight to Dubai...



Flight path showed a dotted line directly to Dubai (passing over Iraq...) but in fact, the actual flight path took a far more southerly route, and did not overfly Iraq.



Slightly gimmicky cockpit / "flightsim" map view. In the background, the cabin crew can be seen handing out hot towels prior to meal service...



As mentioned, a completely full aircraft, but it felt spacious and not too crowded.



If this was one of EK's 10-abreast 777's I am sure claustrophobia would have set in by now. By contrast, a completely full A380 still feels roomy and airy. Something to be said for the sheer size of the A380 cabin.

[yflyer]

No amenity kits were distributed on this flight, but each seat came with a pillow, blanket and headset.



Full AVOD, with Emirates ICE system, broadly comparable with SQ's A380 IFE.



Emirates' ICE does give a lot more information about the aircraft (including rego), and of course Emirates also have video cameras fitted on the aircraft, accessible on the IFE.

[yflyer]

Emirates use quite a number of jetways to board this plane, including a dedicated queue and jetway for F and J pax on the upper deck.



I boarded through one of the lower jetways...





And made my way right to the rear of the Y cabin, laid out 10 abreast in 3-4-3.

The aircraft today was A6-EDX, a three year old aircraft, fitted with the original A380 hard product (Not the 2nd generation A380 Y product I had on my outbound SIN-DXB leg).

Note the spacious emergency rows, and the empty space in front of the window seat just behind the emergency rows...



This was a huge aircraft, and it was 100% full in Y that day.



BCN does not see that much A380 traffic, and for many pax on the flight, this may have been their first A380 experience. One lady gasped when she saw the staircase at the rear of the cabin. She had no idea this aircraft had an upper deck...

[yflyer]

It was soon time to board the Whale Jet.



To be continued!

[yflyer]

Close to boarding time, I reluctantly headed back indoors, through EU immigration, to the single CIP Lounge in BCN.

No difference what carrier you fly out of BCN: Practically all premium pax end up in this lounge. Not that it is a bad lounge, but you can forget about any kind of product differentiation...





Not many dining options, but many beverage options...









Nothing wrong with this lounge, but nothing remarkable either. I would rather have spent more time in the outdoor plaza...

[yflyer]

One of the best features of BCN is an airside outdoor plaza (accessible from the airside shopping and dining areas) which doubles as a smoking zone, but which is really much more than that: a wonderful outdoor setting which is perfect for spending time before your flight, especially if the weather is good.





There is a cafe here as as well as a coffee outlet.





The weather was perfect the day I was there. Spending time there was far preferable to spending time cooped up in a business class lounge...





Remember: this is airside. You get here after the security checkpoint (but before the EU immigration and international gates, though). More airports should have this concept of outdoor airside spaces.

[yflyer]

My flight home to Singapore was BCN-DXB-SIN on Emirates, with both sectors operated by A380's.

Barcelona's stylish International Airport is located about 30 minutes from the city.



As a major trade show and conference in Barcelona had just ended, the airport was really busy.

This was the queue at Emirates check-in that day. The kind of queue you get when you have a Whale Jet operating



Thankfully the F, J and frequent flyer queues were far shorter.



They were asking for volunteers to be bumped that day. I was sorely tempted, but stuck to my schedule as I had commitments back home.



There is a huge airside shopping area at BCN...



However, if you are on an international flight, be sure to go down the escalators to the shopping area to shop first, before heading back up the escalators to clear immigration, because there are very few shops after clearing EU immigration!

Go down here to shop first...





Before heading back up to the D, E international gates, where you pass through EU immigration, and then to the lounge and the boarding gates.

[yflyer]

One memorable dinner I had on this trip was at L'Ostia, located at a picturesque square in Barcelonetta.





This was tapas-style dining, with small shared plates.



A wonderful way to dine if you are with a group of friends.

I also made a return trip to El Xampanyet, another tapas bar, but one with a much more intimate setting, very popular with locals. If you go to El Xampanyet, be prepared for a packed, crowded restaurant and a very long wait for tables!

[yflyer]

Best of all, Rambla Del Poblenau ended right at the beachfront, where an endless beach stretched out in both directions.





Waves were fairly strong along the beach the week I was there. There were quite a number of surfers...



Along the jogging route was Port Olimpic...which, apart from boats, included a long row of restaurants.



A run from the Four Points down Rambla Del Poblenau to the beach, and then a right turn along the beach to the iconic sail-shaped W hotel along the waterfront, and back, made a total distance of 10km.





This is the 10km route from the Four Points to the W and back. A great route whether you are walking, running or cycling.

[yflyer]

This is the Rambla Del Poblenau, right next to the Four Points. A very characterful and lively pedestrian mall, lined with eateries and an eclectic mix of stores.



Including ice cream...



And Jamon Iberico...

[yflyer]

In Barcelona, I stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton Barcelona Diagonal.



This is a business hotel along the busy Avenue Diagonal, less than ten minutes away from the Sagrada Familia (Visible from many of the hotel rooms), and fifteen minutes away from La Rambla, the most well known pedestrian mall in the city.

Not the most centrally located hotel, but convenient enough. It is close to the large Glories shopping mall, which has a stupendously well stocked Carrefour outlet, and is right next to another restaurant and shop-lined pedestrian mall, Rambla Del Poblenau, which is about a kilometer and a half in length, and ends by the beach, which gave me very easy access to one of my favourite running routes.



Four Points Lobby...



My room was not particularly large, but it was very new, and had modern styling. I found the room very comfortable.





I could just see the Sagrada Familia from my room window.



A better view of the Sagrada Familia from the window next to the lift lobby.

[yflyer]

Dawn was breaking over Europe as breakfast service began…



This was Qantas’ new “trayless” meal service, which was literally just that. A large dish, upon which the main course casserole was placed. Everything else was handed to you item by item by the cabin crew. (Note: I took the main course casserole off the platter before snapping the next picture. They don't place an empty platter on your tray table first.)



I thought this was a concept that worked reasonaby well, although it probably took a few more seconds than serving everything at once on a tray.



The main course itself was fairly substantial – larger than QF Y main courses I have had on previous flights.





We approached London on schedule. It was a busy morning, and so we had to do a few circuits above London before landing…





It was foggy all the way to the ground…



Touchdown was smooth, and after a long taxi, we arrived at Heathrow T3, where we lucked out and entered the UK Border control area with hardly any queues in sight.



Conclusions from SIN-DXB-LHR on EK and QF?

The Y hard product on both EK and QF were state of the art. The A380 cabin was spacious, and the Y seats were wide and comfortable.

While cabin service on EK was not up to level of pampering that you would get in SQ Y, and varied by individual crew member, on the whole it ranged from above average to very good.

On Qantas, the style of service was more casual than on SQ, but cabin crew were very attentive and professional.

Meals on both EK and QF were good, even if the selection of main courses was more limited.

The transit experience in DXB on this sector was not perfect, as the security checkpoint was fairly crowded, but once through security, there was a lot to do to kill time before the connecting flight. The EK Lounge in the A Concourse added tremendously to the level of comfort while in transit, with good F&B as well as easy boarding through direct access to the boarding gates.

And the most important question (to me at least): Did I manage to sleep on this flight, and was I as well rested as I would be after a direct 13 hour SIN-LHR flight?

I would give that last question a qualified yes…I felt almost as well rested. Not fully, but enough. I think a 13 hour non-stop is still superior in that on a late night departure out of SIN, you get uninterrupted rest until your natural body clock wakes you up several hours before landing, but on this trip I did manage to sleep on both SIN-DXB and DXB-LHR legs, to the point that I felt sufficiently rested to go about the day immediately upon my early morning arrival.

I then spent a couple of days in London before heading to Barcelona on BA in Club Europe (Covered here.)

Next up, a few days in Barcelona, followed by my return trip BCN-DXB-SIN on Emirates.

To be continued...

[yflyer]

The Marc Newson-designed Y seats were exceptionally comfortable, and had good recline. This is one of my favourite Y seats, about on par with the latest SQ 77WN Y, and Emirates 2nd generation A380 Y seats.



USB charging in the armrest…



Full AVOD on a individual widescreen displays in Y.







Six and a half hour flight to London.



As this was a late night flight, there was only a snack served after take-off, with a full breakfast served just prior to landing.





Chicken Sharwarma…



Piping hot and tastier than expected…



Cabin ambience in the Y mini cabin on the upper deck…