Summary

  • Emirates provides excellent world-class service, including metal cutlery for every passenger.
  • Despite initial delays, the Paris to Dubai leg of my journey to Bali was comfortable and enjoyable, with a delicious French meal served.

I went to Bali, Indonesia, from Paris, France, a few days ago. This mammoth journey took me across the hemisphere to the paradise island. The one major inconvenience is that, despite the popularity of the destination, there currently need to be direct flights between Europe and the Indonesian island. The most popular way to get to Denpasar is to make a transit in Singapore with options like Singapore Airlines or KLM. However, I did not do that and decided to route via Dubai to none other than the Emirates. This review will look at the leg of DXB.

Airport and check-in

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Photo: Benjamin Cooper | Simple Flying

My journey began in Paris CDG Terminal 2C, which recently reopened for refurbishments—although I saw little change since I last traveled through ten years ago. Check-in was relatively inefficient, taking close to an hour as groups were given priority, and there was some confusion about where the line began.

With my bags checked through to DPS, I went up the escalators to the security check and e-gates, and I cleared in less than five minutes.

Note: Passengers from France and EU member states have dedicated speedy gates. Depending on the time of day, passengers from other e-gates in eligible countries may experience lengthy queues, so please make sure to come to the airport 2-3 hours before boarding time.

CDG Lounge

I then made my way to the lounge – as an economy class passenger, I was entitled to paid access for 140 euros. Unfortunately, the card reader took some time to register. Hence, the lounge host let me in to eat and relax in the time needed to get the payment through – it ultimately failed due to a bad network connection – so the attendant said, “Don’t worry, sir – it’s on Emirates as you were honest” – now, this is what I call world-class service.

For starters, I had a selection of mezze. I forgot the name of one of them, but it had fish and was tasty – I then had some Sri Lankan chicken with a naan bread of sorts and rice together with a Moët Champagne Spritz (essentially Aperol but with Champagne instead of Prosecco as there wasn’t any)

Note: Please be aware that when visiting lounges in France, you may only be 18 or over to drink the free-flowing alcohol. If attendants believe you are not of age to drink, they will ID you. These rules may differ from country to country—always check before going to avoid disappointment.

Boarding the A380

After spending nearly two hours in the lounge, it was time to board. Emirates has a unique boarding system, starting with zones F and D, which are at the very back, and then boarding all other zones. This makes it more comfortable, as you are not blocked by people putting their bags in overhead bins at the very front of the plane. Our plane was A6-EUF an 8 year old superjumbo.

We experienced a 50-minute delay due to broken air conditioning, followed by a slot restriction imposed on our aircraft due to noise concerns after 10 PM.

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We took off on the southern runway at CDG and performed a maneuver to avoid a storm cell during the initial climb—the total flight time was just shy of 6 hours.

The legroom and the high-quality display for the ICE entertainment system were superb, so I knew this flight would be very comfortable.

À table! It’s time to have some dinner.

When we reached cruising altitude, the crew initiated the meal service, which was delivered quickly. I did not order special meals on this leg – but I did for my later flight, which I might cover in a later review. This is to get a complete understanding of what Emirates has to offer in terms of catering.

Enough explaining; let’s dig (or fork) in. Indeed, Emirates is one of the few airlines that provide metal cutlery to every passenger regardless of cabin class, which makes for a more refined experience.

The carrier of the Emirate of Dubai caters to flights based either on the point of departure or arrival – in the case of French Airports – expect a French bistronomy meal. Tonight it was beef bourguignon (beef stewed in Burgundy red wine) with a generous portion of gratin dauphinoise (basically a hot pot of potatoes, bechamel sauce, and Emmental cheese) as well as a generous portion of beans – the amuse bouche was tabouleh, and the desert a cheesecake. A tray of crackers and cheese was served on the side – the crew offered drinks – but I declined as the bottle of water sufficed.

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I noticed something during the meal service – the sound level on the A380 was very low – despite having two gigantic engines right to the side of me – I could hear people talking, but the sound level was only 68dB

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 Photo: Benjamin Cooper | Simple Flying

Being so quiet, I naturally fell asleep and woke up as the sun rose over Iran – it was one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever witnessed.

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 Photo: Benjamin Cooper | Simple Flying

Arrival into DXB

Shortly after, the crew came with the breakfast service—it consisted of two muffins, one ham, and cheese panini, and a very weird peach and vanilla panini, which I did not finish.

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 Photo: Benjamin Cooper | Simple Flying

Shortly after this, we descended and entered a holding pattern over the Arabian Gulf before landing at DXB, ending six very peaceful hours of flight.

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 Photo: Benjamin Cooper | Simple Flying

After landing, I bought the 150$ pass to the main lounge in the B gates, took a shower, had breakfast, and then tried a delicious glass of 2013 Moët Vintage Extra Brut – which was incredible and headed to my flight to Bali which I will hopefully cover very soon.

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My take on this flight

This journey from Paris to Dubai on Emirates demonstrated not only the sophistication and comfort of the airline but also the exceptional service that makes long-haul travel enjoyable. Despite the initial delay and the minor hiccup at the lounge, the experience was largely positive, highlighted by world-class service, excellent in-flight amenities, and a delicious meal that reflected the departure point’s culture. The quietness of the flight allowed for rest, while the sunrise over Iran offered a memorable view. This leg of the journey wrapped up pleasantly as I moved closer to my ultimate destination in Bali.

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