BUGS/BEARINGS/BOXES

Hello all.

I am travelling to South Africa in the near future with EK from MAN via DXB (obviously) and on to CPT. I am returning via JNB DXB MAN. i arrive in DXB ex MAN late evening and ex JNB early morning. Travelling in J. I am wondering what the lounge facilities are like at MAN and JNB from those who have used them. I understand that the lounge in DXB can get rather crowded in the evening? Is there only one T3 lounge in DXB or perhaps a quieter lounge elsewhere? I have used QR and EY and enjoyed, but i'm yet to use EK.

Thanks in advance for replies. I have deliberatly targeted the 380 due to the better J cabin. How are the J cabins on the EK A345 and 777-300 compared to say AF or BA?

Mr Mac

EK lounge Manchester is very good in my humble opinion and is only about 18 onths old and not very busy, even with full A380. Lounges in DXB are quite crowded but no more so than most HUB airports eg T5 BA LHR, and do have smoking areas if required. Have not been through Joburg for some years so could not comment on EK there, but most African lounges in my experiance are nothing to write home about eg Kenyan Nairobi. As for A340 V B777 V A380, I prefer seats on 777 or A380 to A340 or indeed A330 in EK configuration. I do like A340 as a plane but prefer SQ configuration on seating which seem more comfortable to me. You should be aware given large B777 fleet at EK that some of them are more comfortable than others in that they have POD seating on newer aircraft and older "Lazy boy" seats on older ones. ICE is VERY GOOD through out the fleet but is better on A380 due to better screens. Hope the above helps.

ExXB

Be careful, some EK flights still depart from T1 at DXB. There is no Business Class lounge in T1 any longer and it is a long (long, long) walk from the lounge in T2.

The B777-200/200er business class is crap. Old seats, IFE mostly broken, etc.

All this based on GVA-DXB-GVA last November.

Dubaian

ExXB - it is Terminals 1 & 3 in DXB which are interconnected at departures level. Yes it is a bit of a trek but worth it if your destination in T1 is the Irish Village - which might be as acceptable as a lounge for some Pax.
(T2 is on the other side of the airport - almost in Sharjah)

There might still be a Civil Aviation Lounge functioning somewhere in DXB as an alternative to airline lounges? Anybody know?
It wasn't free but was often very quiet and if you ate and drank enough you could easily make it worth the nominal entry charge.