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TR BOM-DXB-DOH-DXB-BOM On Emirates

 
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avbuff
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Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 5031

PostPosted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:24 am    Post subject: TR BOM-DXB-DOH-DXB-BOM On Emirates Reply with quote

Well its a lot of flying for me , DEL on IT , SIN on SQ and now EK to DOH. Was planning to visit my parents as i go to Qatar every 6 months. Purchased an EK ticket as QR was a bit expensive and EY donot have convinient schedules since summer 07

My schedule was :

EK 503 BOM - DXB 1900 2030 25 JUL B777-300ER
EK 845 DXB - DOH 2215 2215 25 JUL A330-200
EK 844 DOH - DXB 1745 1935 04 AUG B777-200
EK 500 DXB - BOM 2230 0255 04 AUG B777-300ER


Left pune at noon and reached the airport at 1700 hrs. Loooong check-in queue , and EK is pretty infamous for its delays with the B777's. After crawling down the queue got checked-in with 42 kgs of luggage , thanks my mom
for her enormous shopping lists. Got my boarding passes for both sectors. Incidentally Rakhi Sawant was in the same flight as I saw her checking-in at the next counter. EK had nearly 6 counters to themselves but all were AAI check-in agents. Immigration at BOM is a breeze nowadays. Cannot recall any time in the past 5-6 trips where we had to Q for immigration at BOM. Saw a lot of construction going on , went downstairs to proceed towards the gate.

FIRST LEG

EK 503 : MUMBAI - DUBAI
Gate : 17 ; Seat no. 27K
Aircraft: B777-31H/ER , A6-EBD (3 Class )

STD : 1900 hrs Pushback time : 1945 hrs Airborne : 1953 hrs
STA : 2030 hrs Touchdown : 2048 hrs Docking time: 2100 hrs

Load Factor : 100%

As usual the flight was delayed , why? because of traffic congestion at BOM , which made the aircraft land at 1815 hrs instead of 1745 hrs. the aircraft came to the gate at 1815 hrs . Passengers started deplaning , all of them having at least one duty free bag from dubai. In the mean time took some pictures.


Boarding was announced at 1915 hrs. It took place systematically , Once boarded went to my seat 27K , seats were a bit narrow leg room .. thik thak but i feel SQ's 3-3-3 was more comfortable than these 3-4-3. IFE screens were large and most importantly equipped with ICE AVOD. At 1945 hrs the flight pushed back , and the EK services began witha hot towel. Soon lights were dimmed for takeoff, and by 1953 hrs we were airborne after roaring down the rwy for quite a long time.The IFE was the only thing that stood out rest everythink was ok , a/c was clean , new interiors moodlighting etc etc. meals were served , along with drinks. The portions of the meal was pretty large . They just had an indian veg or nonveg option. EY was better as they had 4 meal options even on a flight to the gulf. It consisted of rice , chicken moghlai , and potatoes , salad , samosa chat for starters , and a cake for dessert, and also one small cube of chocolate. Drinkson offer were limited though i had an apple juice only. The meals were over and after some time we started descending into Dubai international airport. The landing was so smooth , as silk i would say. After touchdown we went to our parking slot and by 2100 hrs we were out of the aircraft.

a/c : 8/10
FA's :7/10
Food : 9/10
overall : 7.5/10

After passing through a strip security check at Dubai ( i say that beacause they even ask to remove shoes , belts and one person had his jeans scanned through security while he was in an enclosure!!!!!!!)

Didnt have much time at DXB airport . as i have been here many many times i wasnt interested much in wandering about. within half an hour at 2130 hrs Final Call was announced for pax going to DOH

SECOND LEG

EK 845 : DUBAI - DOHA
Gate : 01 ; Seat No. 19K
Aircraft : A330-243 , A6-(3 Class)

STD : 2215 hrs Pushback time : 2208 hrs Airborne : 2222 hrs
STA : 2215 hrs Touchdown : 2205 hrs Docking time: 2209 hrs

Load Factor : 90%

Went to Gate 1 Flight was pretty full , lot of people coming in from CCU , JFK , LHR ,BOM , DAC. This flight was the only one of my 4 flights , that was on time . Aircraft was an old A330-200 , though clean. IFE screens small , no ICE ,seat pitch .... pathetic. While sitting at my seat took some pictures of IC 683 coming in from BOM , KL etc.

Soon we pushedback and after some time at 2222 hrs we were airborne . Immediately a quick meal was served. FA's seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed., grumpy , frustrated god knows why. After 45 mins of flying we had already started our descend , one sharp turn to the right and from Mesaieed we started our finals onto RWY . Strangely i noticed there were many a/cs at the right of the runway, DOH has really outgrown iots capacity , imagine planes parked over there the buses have to go to the other end of the rwy cross it and then go to the terminal . Fortunately we were on the regular bay , besides our a/c was a BA744 to BAH-LHR. We were bussed to the terminal , immigration was a breeze and had to wait a bit for my luggage and by 2230 hrs I was out of the airport and in my Mitsubishi Pajero!!!!!


a/c : 5/10
FA's :6/10
Food : 7/10
overall : 5.5/10

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11144143@N08/sets/72157601278577403/

After a nice stay in Qatar was time for my return trip , this time ive taken loads of pics in doha. Flight was scheduled at 1745 hrs reached the office to stamp my exit permit , and was at the airport at 1615 hrs. Security screening first and then went to the check-in counter , and got my boarding passes , passed through the immigration which was a breeze , and waved good bye to my parents. The airport was deserted at that time of the day as there were hardly any departures , except for few intra GCC QR flights and an IC flight to BAH.


THIRD LEG

EK 844 : DOHA - DUBAI
Gate : 02 ; Seat no. 19K
Aircraft: B777-21H, A6-EME (2 Class )

STD : 1745 hrs Pushback time : 1802 hrs Airborne : 1807 hrs
STA : 1935 hrs Touchdown : 1956 hrs Docking time: 2003 hrs

Load Factor : 100%

After doing some birdwatching , there was an announcement to go to the gate at 1715 hrs . I proceeded to gate 2 on the ground floor , and found it was packed in the waiting area. We were then bussed to our aircraft , and at 1802 hrs we were pushed back and within 5 minutes we were airborne. This aircraft even though an old 772A model , had refrabicated interiors with large screens and ICE equipped. Seat pitch was OK and somehow i feel the B772's in their fleet are far more comfortable than the others , at least in Y. Similar to DOH - DXB, a small snack was served and after 35 mins of flying we started our descebd into Dubai. We touched down at 1956 hrs . EK FA's were hardly bothered about safety . We had kids walking down the aisle even when we were still on the runway. After disembarking , passed through the security , and was down there at the duty free for some shopping. Lovely airport , always keeps me busy even though after being there innumerable times.

a/c : 8/10
FA's :7/10
Food : 6.5/10
overall : 7.5/10



FOURTH LEG

EK 500 : DUBAI - MUMBAI
Gate : 11 ; Seat No. 20A
Aircraft : B777-36N/ER , A6-EBR(3 Class)

STD : 2230 hrs Pushback time : 2255 hrs Airborne : 2302 hrs
STA : 0255 hrs Touchdown : 0309 hrs Docking time: 0341 hrs

Load Factor : 100%

Boarding started at 2220 hrs , sequential boarding , had a seat right near the exit so , was quick to occupy it. FA's were relatively the best of all the 4 legs. At 2255hrs we pushed back for departure , the ususal EK service bagan with hotel towels. " The aircraft had arrived a bit late from JFK hence there was a slight delay in departure ", said the captain. The aircraft was nice ICE equipped , seems it is used on long haul sectors.
After takeoff a full fledged meal was served and the female sitting next to me had ordered a jain meal which she got right away. IFE was good had 100 movies games yeda yeda yeda ... as it has been discussed a lot. Captain alerted about the bumpy ride would be expected as we approach BOM , though it wasnt that much as I expected. We touched down at 0307 hrs taxiied all the way from the domestic apron , where a batallion of aircrafts were parked. then moving on to cross runway 14-32 and at the right turn we were asked to wait by the ATC , and we stood there for nearly half an hour , idle. The reason .. the SA 342 . engines refused to start and had some problems with it . At 2A only a KQ B772 was parked. After the SA a/c left we docked at our bay and next to us came immediately an Egypt Air A330 coming in from KUL and going onwards to CAI. We disembarked , walked all the way to the immigration and within no time I was at the baggage claim belt .Took nearly 35 mins to get our bags, and at 0440 hrs I was out of the airport.


a/c : 9/10
FA's :8/10
Food : 7.5/10
overall : 8.5/10

EK has lost it charm completely , inconsistent products offered , and FA's are so rude at times. I think so a wave of complacency has flown in their minds. But on a short trip , i dont care as long as the fares are reasonable

I've sworn never to fly GF , AI or IX for that matter , so leaving an option of EK , EY , QR . I select the one giving me the lowest fare last time it was EY , now it was EK.

For all of you looking forward in a trip on EK , kindly avoid the A330-200 if the flight time is more than 3 hrs , you will regret it. Also dont overpay , just to travel on EK , like one would do to travel on SQ. SQ is worth it not EK.

Check out for the Pics at Doha airport , i dnt think there is anyone , who has posted pics of DOH even at airliners.net




http://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/?start_tab=one_set72157601278529823
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BigTom
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Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 271
Location: Dubai, UAE

PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How far along are they with the construction of the new terminal at DOH?

Cheers
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avbuff
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Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 5031

PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They have finished with the runway i guess .. according ti the site the terminal would be open by 2009
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Nimish
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Joined: 16 Dec 2006
Posts: 9757
Location: Bangalore, India

PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey avbuff - great trip report - was nice to read.

From GC2:



Seems like the 3 stop routing pnq-bom-dxb-doh is actually only 8 miles longer than a non-stop PNQ-DOH. Imagine that!!!
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avbuff
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Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 5031

PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gosh didnt know that !!!!! Very Happy

btw a friend of mine told ... The management is looking at PNQ , CCJ , IXE ,
BLR for the next round of bilaterals so by mid next year there is a chance of a PNQ - DOH.

Nothing official as yet , just an internal discussion
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BigTom
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Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 271
Location: Dubai, UAE

PostPosted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 12:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On a related note, how is DXB-PNQ doing. Is IX flying via BOM inbound and non-stop outbound?I know they were stopping at BOM due to range concerns due to the weather.

Cheers
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avbuff
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Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 5031

PostPosted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

well that was till 15th june now its direct either ways...

as far as flights from PNQ are concerned .. all enjoy very good loads all through the year irrespective of airline , destination .

and PNQ- DXB - PNQ is doing exceptionally well .
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iceman
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Joined: 19 Jan 2007
Posts: 55

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice to see pics of Doha.Grew up here for the major part of my life.

and if i recall the runway at DOH was very long.

any body know the exact figure?
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avbuff
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Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 5031

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

well me too born and brought up in doha Very Happy

the current runway is 15000 ft and the runway elevation is 35ft
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