First time flying emirates and first part of the journey, Glasgow to Dubai in a 380 aircraft was ok. However our next part, Dubai to Hong Kong was in Boeing 777 which looked very tired and shabby. Seats were hard to sit on and felt cramped in general. We were economy but had been told from numerous people that emirates is the ultimate in air travel. Sat on the runway for one and half hours before finally taking off for another 7 and half hour flight..not great. Staff were elusive and disinterested. Only came round twice with a drink each meal time, no other drinks offered. I understand there may have been an opportunity to get a drink from the galley but we did not want to disturb passenger sitting on aisle seat for this. Also we picked seats in the second row from the front of the cabin section not realising that the seats in front can recline significantly, so we also had that extra irritation to contend with. Made more irritating as the man in front could not work the recline effectively and spent most of the journey trying to push his seat back and generally fidgiting around.
For the amount of staff we saw coming on to the plane, I have no idea what they did once they’d served the 2 meals to be honest. I found them to be very aloof and officious. We took another 2 flights with emirates following this one and they were the same in all honesty . The last flight home Dubai to Edinburgh was on their new a350 which is similar (to a layperson like me) as the Boeing 777., however this is hailed as their new fleet for the future and again seats not that comfortable but wider…seat pitch I felt was a bit off making you want to recline it, which the people infront of us did, but I wouldn’t as there was a woman with a small baby behind me. My choice I know but still uncomfortable for a 7 and half hour flight. Again only saw attendants a couple of times at meal handout and once to bring round water. We flew economy over all flights. I’ve had a better and more comfortable experience with Tui and Jet2 to be honest. Will maybe need to consider business class next time if going to Dubai or Qatar airways if going to Doha. Shame really….