This is my second time flying Emirates across the ditch however it's the first time I've flown with them in Business class and also my first time on their A380. In short, it's a great way to fly across the Tasman and comes in at great value compared to a flight on QF or VA. At around $800 one way it's also half the price of a transcontinental East Coast to Perth run. Don't forget you can earn and burn those Qantas points too by booking the flight through Qantas.
The flight leaves Auckland at the convenient hour of 17:55 and lands in Sydney at 19:05 - perfect timing for having a few afternoon drinks and snacks in the excellent Emirates lounge in Auckland followed by dinner inflight.
The lounge is located to the right hand side just after immigration and fills up quickly given three A380's leave within an hour - all headed to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane before returning back to base in Dubai.
Given first and business class passengers use the same lounge, there is a good selection of food to choose from. Today there were steaks, grilled salmon and some curries in the hot food selection. Along with plenty of little appetiser plates with seafood, salads and cheese - definitely beats the Qantas international business lounge here.
I decide to grab myself a plate and load it up with a few small items including prawns, salmon a potato cake and some dips. All were rather nice and made for some nice grazing before the flight.
There's a lot to choose from and I'm trying to be careful not to fill up too much before the flight but I inevitably help myself to a plate of blue cheese mousse with salad and a small pannacotta. Along with a few glasses of that Veuve Cliquot.
Today's flight is operated by A6-EEG from gate 16 - this aircraft was delivered to Emirates in 2013. The gate is some distance from the lounge, requiring a ten minute walk to a new part of the International terminal that was purposely built to handle the A380's.
There's only a short wait before boarding commences and I pass the masses to go through the well organised and segregated business/first lane. I chose my window seat 20A and was travelling solo today.
I took my seat and there was some champagne along with orange juice on offer before take off. Looking around the cabin, it was clear that this was definitely the business class to beat across the Tasman.
After a smooth takeoff we were on our way above the clouds. I'm never failed to be amazed by how quiet the upper deck is on the A380. I was offered a pre-dinner drink - I ordered a mojito. It arrived shortly after with a plate of warmed mixed nuts. I also promptly connected to the onboard wifi which provided a decent enough connection for most of the flight.
The crew came around to take orders for dinner and all passengers were addressed by name during this process. I chose the Roast Lamb Loin - I was flying from New Zealand after all!
The starter and main came out together which is very understandable on this short trans-Tasman sector. Both the salmon starter and lamb main didn't disappoint. The lamb was surprisingly tender and the sauce was flavourful. The little bounty of bread on the side was also more than sufficient. I chose the cheese board for dessert and it came out on a little wooden board - all the cheeses tasted great. Wine was also frequently topped up and offered and all crew were very friendly. Overall I was very happy with this meal service.
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After the meal service I made a trip to the famed Emirates inflight bar (I took this photo before it was decked out with snacks and drinks on the bar). The bartender was very friendly and approached me to offer a drink when I took a seat along the window. The bar was fairly busy and I could imagine would make a great excuse to stretch those legs on a long haul flight.
Check out the little snacks available behind the bar. I grabbed some baklava and a fruit tart and went back to my seat with a glass of wine from the bar in hand too.
Upon returning to my seat, I found a little box of Godiva chocolates which I decided to take with me as I couldn't eat anything more.
The landing into Sydney was smooth and routine although there was a slight delay on the ground whilst we waited for an available gate.
Overall, I was very happy with this flight and it went by very quickly. I would definitely recommend Emirates across the Tasman if you have the cash or points to spare especially given it is the same price as Qantas and Virgin Australia. There's some cheap business class deals with China Airlines and LAN so it may also be worth giving them a try too.
