Amidst all the super-hype about the launch of the A380 - and its subsequent grounding by Qantas last week - it's easy to forget what makes these aircraft super-special for long-haul flyers.
Over a glamorous dinner recently, The Luxury Travel Bible's ears were bent by one of our insiders, an experienced business traveller, who was raving about his experience flying with Emirates to Auckland. And apparently he wasn't the only one to lose his sang-froid: the jaws were dropping and camera-phones clicking amongst all the briefcase-class who boarded straight into the upper deck at Dubai. "I was expecting something bigger and better," says our flight-buddy, "but I assumed a modest progression from other aircraft. I was absolutely astounded. Our personal pods, some quite alone, some in pairs, had masses of storage space for books and a change of clothes. And the seat went completely flat, to make a wonderfully comfortable bed. I had the best night's sleep I've ever had on an aircraft. After 13 hours in the air, I was still wondering at it all."
His only regret was that the two legs of his flight back to London weren't booked on the super-jumbos: "a bitter disappointment." His verdict: the level of comfort on the plane more than made up for the longer flight on the Emirates route. "In future I would structure my itinerary entirely on the basis of flying every possible leg with the A380." JS
In a recent luxe poll of TLTB readers you told us that 55% of you have booked an airline specifically to fly the A380. Have your say.
1 comment:
I took a flight on the A380 - wasn't aware I was booked to fly it - but so glad I did. An amazing experience and am eager to fly on it again, especially on a flight like UK to Australia. Sad to hear the negative reports from Qantas and have been telling everyone how great I found them so thank you for praising them and how great flying on them is!
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