Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

Hey everyone. Looking at booking a flight to Europe and its looks like Emirates is going to be our flight of choice. But I am dreading the 20hr leg to Dubai.

Anyone been through this, would you do it again? And what is the plane like? Not been on the A380 yet.

Many thanks!

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

Im planning another trip home next year and am not even considering those flightas

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

I've done it. It was 17h when I did it in March and was not too bad. Emirates isn't a bad airline so the food was fairly good. Wine and whisky was flowing. Good choice of movies too. I had a window seat though and wished I had an aisle seat to give me more freedom of movement.

To be honest I couldn't really tell the difference between 17h AKL to DUB and the 14h ABU Dhabi to SYD - theyre both bloody long and I just go into travel mode until its over. Maybe take a cushion to sit on would be my only advice :eek:

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

Oh and it wasn't a A380, I went in a 777 200 - with the long distance mod.

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

I've used the Emirates A380 route from Australia to Britain via Dubai a few times since it started up.

Great seats, lots of leg room, ok-ish food, good film and TV catalogue, pleasant travel packs etc. Get seats forward of the wings but they can get a bit noisy in you're in an area with bassinets. I'd recommend having some good ear plugs and a decent eye mask.

It is a long flight though and I'd advise to have a break en-route somewhere in Asia and chill out. It's not too bad going over but it's a hard slog coming back.

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

Did this in July on a 777 200 ...17hr flight didn't really notice it being any longer than a 12/13 hr one.
I would much sooner do this flight than the one that has a stop in Sydney ... much less hassle.

Have flown on the A380 .. nothing special.

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

Yes done that leg in an A380 but it wasn't 20hrs. Seem to remember it being around 15hrs but I could be wrong ?
Do remember not liking the A380 for comfort. Had a window seat and there's way too far a gap between the end of the seat and the window/wall of the plane so you couldn't lean against it easily unless you stuffed loads of pillows/blankets down there. Wasn't as comfy as a 777.

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

We did the Dubai to Auckland route last year, with a stop in Brisbane. It's the 14 hours from DXB to Brisbane thats the worst, after 9 hours you just want off the plane but know you've still got 5 hours. I couldn't sleep - even on diazepam. I've got to do it again in just under 6 weeks.

Emirates are great, the A380 is a fantastic plane, but then i've only got a 737 to compare it to lol.

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

We are going to do this route with our two kids when we visit NZ in 2018 for our rekke / family visits. We have done the 14 hour leg Bris to Dubai a few times, and found it to be excellent. The little bit of extra space (in terms of wandering about) on the A380 does make a difference.

We are well practised at sleeping on Aeroplanes though, If you aren't great at nodding off I'd say you'll go a bit insane on there!

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

Have to agree, I find the 747s and A330s are more comfy than the A380. Flown it a few times now and its just a big plane, Takes hours to get off the thing too.

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

I guess that depends on where you sit ;)

We always choose seats in the front section, you get fed first, and you get off the plane amongst the first too.

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

I won't do the long legs anymore so go via HK or Singapore, whereas my wife (in the middle of a uk trip with Emirates at the moment) copes Ok :-). If you can cope with the boredom and physical stress of being cooped up for 17 hours go for it.

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

Thanks for this and to everyone for your replies. Flight is booked and we are off soon. Will post a trip report!

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

Personally love the A380 but never book seats near bassinets. I prefer the Auckland, LAX LHR route having done all of them over the years flying with Air NZ, cannot fault them at all and LAX - never had any issues. But then cost is always a factor to account for. Happy flying

Re: Flying Auckland to Dubai, 20hrs on a A380
 

We flew over last week, Emirates all way, 7hrs Manchester to Dubai then straight onto the 16.5hrs Auckland flight, luckily the plane had empty seats and we had 3 seats for 2 of us. Food and entertainment was good. We also landed 40 mins early � ����