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Taken April 2004 from Johannesburg - JNB to Male - MLE

My wife and I try to jet-out of Jo'burg every Easter and we did the same this year. Quite an abundance of holiday packages in the market if you book on time. Though we usually shy away from tourists-drenched "paradise resorts", we made our decision for a holiday quite late this time round and Maldives was one of the few options left.

Flights were on Emirates.

I haven't flown the "airline of the year" for a while; last time in 1999, and my first impression was not very favorable. Unfortunately it did not change much during and after the trip. Our flight was on the "new" A340 deployed on this sector; disappointing EK - look at BA Business Class and learn! Crew were young and seemed relatively inexperienced; lost in space and time, quite clumsy. My wife received the content from a 1 liter bottle of water in her lap, and she was better-off than the poor businessman who got two cherry-mousse cakes on his shoulders. At least that was better than the rather dull in-flight entertainment offered aboard.

Dubai Airport is quite amazing; modern and clean. The Police or security personnel in the transit area were extremely rude - totally unprofessional and pushy. The flight to Male was quite full, similar service to the Jo'burg flight, return was the same.

If you ask me, EK should take note of the following;

- High utilization of aircraft leaves them little time to check and fix cabin seats and amenities. My chair's foot rest was broken and I ended up sitting as I would have in economy, not acceptable when you pay for business class. The cabin director, in all honesty, could not care less. The Yugoslavian cabin crew was the only one that seemed genuinely apologetic and tried to compensate in giving us really complimentary service. Thank you.

- Overall service levels have dropped, they are OK for your normal, standard, plain carrier, but not for one that claims to be among the best.

- The seats are appalling, EK has to do something about them.

- And finally, instead of paying millions for admittedly excellent advertising and promotions as being the best, rather direct the funds towards passenger comfort in the cabins. Emirates is not bad, but definitely not what they are portraying themselves to be. Presently, just plain average.

I hope my comments are viewed in a constructive manner, aimed as suggestions for improvement. Anyone who understands them as anti-Emirates or degrading has missed the point of this review.