Our Emirates aircraft and lounge visit
We sent Emily, our Marketing Executive and Chloe, our Marketing Apprentice, to visit an Emirates lounge and the Emirates A380 aircraft. This is what they had to say about the experience…
We began our visit at Manchester Airport, at around 11:30am in mid-September. We arrived at Terminal 3 where we were greeted by Rob Spencer, the UK Account Manager for Emirates. We happened to be the only two having a visit that day, so Rob guaranteed us we’d have a much more in-depth tour being only three of us in total, which was exciting for us both.
The A380 plane, which holds 615 passengers, had not long landed before we were invited on board by Rob. We began in Economy Class. The first thing we noticed was the mood lighting where the ambience changes throughout the flight and suits passenger’s body clocks, to ease the effect of jetlag! The seats all came with a tv screen built in to all the back of them and they also had a games console and ports for things like USB’s and headphones built in. We were really impressed with the standard of the cabin.
We were about to move on to Business Class, when one of the cabin crew stopped us and asked if we’d like to see the sleeping quarters for the crew just below. Rob had not even seen this part of the plane before, so it was a real treat for us all!
We then made our way up the staircase to Business Class which was set in a 1-2-1 formation, each seat having a divider screen for privacy. The seats also came with a nice soft. The amenities included with these seats were incredible; passengers have their own mini bar which comes with a selection of drinks and they also have an iPad which controls their own TV screen, a larger games console, more electrical ports, lie flat seating and so much more.
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we arrived at First Class! This section instantly makes you forget you’re even on a plane, it feels just like a luxury hotel. The seats were more like booths, numbered per ‘suite’, with glossy wood dividing each suite for passengers’ own privacy. Passengers can choose from over 4,500 channels of award-winning entertainment on their wide screen TV, controlled by a personal iPad. Under the TV they provide an extendable worktop, which has a built in LED mirror hideaway, which when lifted reveals complimentary toiletries and a personalised mini bar on the side. These seats also lie fully flat and come with a luxurious blanket and a pillow for extra comfort, so falling asleep whilst flying would be a breeze!
The onboard lounge is situated at the rear of the aircraft, for Business Class and First Class passengers only. Here, they have a bar area equipped with two seating areas either side, which also have seatbelts so during any turbulence passengers don’t have to go back to their seats which we thought was a fantastic touch.
The Emirates Lounge at Manchester Airport
Once we exited the plane, we went straight to the Emirates lounge which was huge and didn’t even seem like an airport lounge! There were rows of leather seats and coffee tables, matching the colour scheme of gold and brown that Emirates have in their First Class cabins. Passengers can relax in the peace and quiet before their flight, perhaps reading a magazine from one of the built-in bookshelves.
The aroma of exquisite foods flowed from the restaurant area. We walked through to find a sleek seating area with a view of all the aircrafts taking off. Then of course free alcoholic drinks at the bar, hot drinks and glass bottled water. We were kindly given a free lunch on our visit, so once we picked our food from the buffet, we sat at the window and watched the aircraft we were just on, take off to Dubai!
For more information on Emirates, visit: https://www.aviateworld.com/airline-partners/emirates/