Emirates can be seen as an airline of superlatives. In 2001, the company has announced the largest order in aviation history, valued at US$15 billion. Four years later, Emirates signed a US$9.7 billion cheque for the largest-ever order of Boeing 777s (42 units). A staggering evolution from the leased Boeing 737 and the Airbus A300 used by Emirates to take-off, for the first time, on October 25th 1985.
We’ve flown from Vienna to Dubai onboard Emirates’ Boeing 777-300ER, the biggest aircraft departing and landing in the capital of Austria. With a length of 73.9 meters, a height of 18.7 metres and a 64.8 meters wingspan, the “triple seven” instantly commands respect. It also has to do with those GE90-115B engines – the worlds’s most powerful commercial jet engines – the only product of General Electric that holds a record in the Guiness Book of World Records. To have an idea about the sheer size of those engines, just imagine there’s a double-decker bus hanging on each wing of the B777. Onboard the aircraft, the 8 First Class Private Suites are unique and recall a luxury hotel. While the sliding door guarantees total privacy, the big vanity desk, a personal minibar, the wide-screen of ICE and a seat that turns into a fully-flat bed provide the much needed long-haul comfort.
If the First Class embraces the “Single room” philosophy, in Business Class it becomes “Open-plan office”.
Each seat in the new Business Class comes with laptop charging, double-USB port, 17 inch wide-screen, privacy divider and the possibility to send an email from your seat. Moreover, the seat features various type of massages and reclines fullyflat, with a 1.98 m length. For top-class entertainment, Emirates introduced ICE Digital Widescreen, the latest evolution of the award-winning in-flight system. With more than 1000 channels, latest movies, music, podcasts, audio books, games, documentaries, shopping guides and news from BBC, the passengers will never get bored. You can SMS your loved ones as the aircraft is cruising at more than 33000 feet. Or you can call the business partners thanks to AeroMobile technology, many Emirates widebodies (Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Boeing 777 and Airbus A380) being equipped with this system. Introduced as an industry-first in March 2008, AeroMobile already convinced over 100000 passengers who made and received phone calls or sent SMS messages.
Upon arrival, the experience continues with the impressive background and services in Terminal 3, dedicated solely to Emirates flights.
Opened in October 2008, T3 is the result of a US$4.5 billion investment and can handle 43 million passengers. The “Departures” area covers 515000 sq m (the equivalent of 94 football fields) and spans 6 levels. Getting from here to there inside the huge terminal is facilitated by 157 elevators, 97 escalators, 82 moving walkways and 8 Skytrains. Besides the bars, restaurants and shopping areas in T3, it also includes two Zen gardens, three fully-equipped Spas and a 4-star hotel. The First Class lounge covers 6344 sq m and can host 800 passengers, while the Business Class lounge covers 6953 sq m and has a capacity of 1200 passengers. The local and international cuisine, “a la carte” menu and the dedicated wine area complete the background. A 3D one if we have a look at “E-Zone”, the high-tech area of the Business Class lounge. Developed in partnership with Microsoft, the area offers numerous applications based on “touch” technology: visualizing Emirates’ route network on a 3D globe, general destination information, interactive photo album, Xbox 360 Car Racing simulator and five gaming consoles.
