Emirates review by Ian 2014-09-17

Having recently flown east-coast Australia to north Africa, then Australia to Abu Dhabi, and then Brisbane to Barcelona all within the last 11 months, I can authoritatively report that First Class A380 Emirates is no better than Etihad Business (at half the cost). Apart from the 4 minute phone box size on board shower on the Emirates A380 (more of a time-filling novelty than a necessity anyway), there is nothing to commend Emirates over Etihad. The crew out of Brisbane is on their last of a six-leg Auckland run, and ours was obviously and overtly tired and de-motivated. We were expecting a nice experience, and after the limo and efficient Emirates First check-in, there is no glamour whatsoever as all their lounges are crowded, noisy and tired. And getting off via stairs onto a bus is not a First class experience, nor is zero priority boarding on the return leg. Our experience suggests Emirates has grown too big too fast, their A380's 84+ business & 14 First class seats are sterile, and the interior offers nil glamour. The on-gound and airport experiences are dumbed down for the volume, and don't provide the back-up for cabin crews that otherwise tried quite hard. The A380 is too big, too slow, noisy and despite repeated requests/complaints from everyone in the First cabin that it was stuffy, the aircon is just too hot. No flights suits/jamas in business, No socks and or earplugs in First is not a premium experience and we're still awaiting one piece of luggage that went astray.