This is to share with friends my experience of flying Emirates Business Class from Mumbai to Birmingham(UK) and back twice in quick succession. In between I flew business class on Jet from Mumbai to Newark and back via Brussels and the difference in expereince has triggerred this review.
I had last travelled Emirates Business class a few years back and carried a very positive impression. However my recent flights have to an extent made me realise that Emirates needs to watch carefully, competition is getting hotter and smarter.
Let me start with the expereince of my recent flight - check-in experience at Mumbai International airport was good despite the renovation in progress and despite the fact that Emirates depends on Ground service support from Air India. The only small hiccup was audacity of the screening staff to make me wait as they felt I had reported too early - some show of authority but quickly corrected by the Emirates staff in the best possible way. Immigration check is simply too good at Mumbai now, but again for lounge, most airlines have to depend on Celebrations Lounge, the seating is comfortable and generally staff is courteous, do not grudge service. But level of hygiene puts you off as they handle eats with bare hands, coughing is common and often they are indulging in a snack as they serve you - I was shcocked when one of the guys handed me over a plate of crisps that till then he was eating, he just topped up the plate with a few more crisps!
Boarding was ok, needed a lot of inquiry as there is no display board and the emirates staff did make me feel they were doing me a favour as they shared information.
Once on the flight, service from cabin crew and in flight announcments as also inflight entertainment was good, but no match for Jet expereince. Jet offers a lot more luxury in all areas, comfort(sleeping suits are welcome!), seating(unique Jet experience), inflight entertainment(larger LCD screens), wider variety of drinks and snacks, better quality of dining experience and so on. The cabin crew is however equally helpful both on Emirates as also Jet. Flight punctuality is certainly better with Jet, though the fog at Dubai may have been one of the main reasons for this.
Transit at Dubai was a pain - the Business class lounge of Emirates at Dubai airport is simply not geared to handle the large number of passengers. Especially the rest rooms - inadequate to handle and hence you acually have to wait in a queue at times for 10-15 minutes - Only two shower rooms. Fortunately I had access to Mahraba lounge as well so I was ok. Moreover, the reception at Business Class Lounge is not really warm, you feel you are being obliged. This is quite in contrast to my experience at Jet lounge at Brusselss or Singapore Airlines lounge at Changi. Even the quality os snacks at Dubai Emirates Lounge was average, one had to ait for refills as the lounge staff took their own time to refill the buffet. Expereince on Dubai - Birmingham was better, though the flight was again late by an hour and half. At Birmingham, the complimentary limo was very good and prompt(both ways). On my return flight, the experience in the lounge at Birmingham was good, flight was again delayed by about 40 minutes, on flight not much to write about since I slept. However, for vegetarians, food does become a bit difficult. Expereince at Dubai was similar to what I described above, and departure to Mumbai was again delayed by about 2o minytes. I had a brief moment of joy when I got complimentary upgrade to First class, that was short lived as the first class was just about average of a business class, except that te cabin crew was more attentive to small requirements. The inflight entertainment did not work! Finally as I landed in Mumbai and saw a Jet aircraft at one of the bays, I realised that Emirates better watch out, they seem to be losing the premium perception rapidly, for my next trip to UK I may choose Jet despite the fact that I may need to travel by rail to Birmingham from Heathrow!