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21st April 2011, 11:47 AM
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Trip Report SYD - AKL - SYD EK A380 (Pics and Vids)
Trip Reprot SYD - AKL - SYD 18-20 March 2011 18 March SYD - AKL EK 412 A6-EDC As I had a bucket load of Skywards Miles about to expire, it was my birthday, I decieded to herad across to Auckland for a weekend of spotting, with a target in mind, ZK-OAB, The All Blacks A320. In my planning of this short trip, I asked JL if he would like to come with me for the weekend, to experience EK and to also experience the mammoth, A380; both were firsts for him! Also departing on the same day was NW, although he was travelling on SQ to SIN and onto SGN. Originally, we were to depart first, closely followed by NW, but alals, in typical A3latey style, our inbound flight was delayed so we got to see NW off first! Arrival at the airport saw us go direct to the First Class Check-in counter, a benifit of Gold Status. Check-in was painless here this morning, and on the bottom of the boarding card was our entrance to The Emitrates Lounge located on the arrivals level just near gates 57-59. Clearing immigration was also somewhat painless, thanks to an Express Card, and we headed straight for the lounge! Entering into the lounge we were officially welcomed by the staff on the front counter and we got some seats close to the window to see the passing traffic. There wasn't that many people in this morning, so it was somewhat all to ourselves, and there was a vast array of food items and drinks available. A pre-departure breakfast was pleasant indeed!  Emirates Lounge Sydney Entrance by AussiePomm, on Flickr  Emirates Lounge Sydney by AussiePomm, on Flickr  Breakfast Emirates Lounge by AussiePomm, on Flickr Arrival at Gate 57, we saw a lot of people, including the Flight Crew. I went up and asked if it would be at all possible to visit the Flight Deck upon arrival into AKL, to which they said for sure! Boarding was easy, Gold Status thank you, and we got to our seat, I was in 50K, whilst JL was infront in 49K (a window each). We taxied out to runway 16R and in no time at all, we were rolling. Due to cloud, there was a little bump here and there, but nothing to bad and we were soon above the clouds. At this point, the cabin supervisor came over an introduced himself to me and welcomed me back... I was asked IF I needed anything to let him know and at the same time he handed me an express card to clear immigration upon arrival into AKL. Nice! Flight time today we were told would be just over 2.5 hours, so we settled back and enjoyed the flight. Breakfast wasn't to far away, and I had the Cheese Omlette, Mushrooms and a Pepper (Capsicum) Sauce. Also on the tray was a Crossiant, Juice and a Fruit Salad. After breakfast, we went for a walk, and we stood at the very rear of the cabin for a little bit. There was a lovley Scottish lass as a cabin crew we got chatting to, and when asked if it would be possible to have a look in the crew rest area, she happily obliged (but no photos)! It was a cramped little area, I think there was about 9 bunk beds in there, but who cares as long as you're there to sleep, right? It is also only used on the longer DXB/SYD/DXB leg! EK have now also changed the way crew are managed on these flights. When I first flew with them a couple of years ago, crew would fly into SYD and a 24 hour rest, then do the AKL return Shuttle and a 24 hour rest then return to DXB. However, now they have an additional 24 hour rest in AKL! Our arrival into AKL was through a fair bit of cloud, and was a little rock 'n' roll along the way, and we arrived on 23L with only a small 'thud', however, we also bought the rain with us, and as soon as we arrived at the gate, it POURED down!!! We waitid for almost all passengers to leave, and we got a quick trip upstairs to the First Class area, inluding the s****, and then it was onto the flight deck. Deplaning and clearing immigration was also painless, and before long we were in the arrivals hall looking for Europcar to collect our ride.  AKL Arrival Cloud by AussiePomm, on Flickr  A6-EDC Econ Interior by AussiePomm, on Flickr  A6-EDC Mid Galley by AussiePomm, on Flickr  A6-EDC First Shower by AussiePomm, on Flickr  A380 Left Seat by AussiePomm, (JL took this one) on Flickr 
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