When World War II ended, the Malta Dry Docks in Valletta’s Grand Harbour that had repaired and maintained the Mediterranean fleet throughout the war effort were suddenly no longer needed. Malta’s autonomous government started pushing for full integration into the United Kingdom as the island’s economy gradually fell apart, a move very much opposed by the British. As the economic crisis on the island deepened, the British launched a mass emigration campaign to Australia, which suffered from a shortage of skilled labour at the time. At one point, there was a ship leaving the Grand Harbour for Australia every week. And that is how Australia landed itself a very substantial community of expat Maltese. It also explains what Emirates Airlines’ interest in the Maltese market is.

Getting to the Airport

EK109 routes DXB-LCA-MLA and returns the same way as EK110. The inbound from Dubai arrives at 10h05 in Larnaca, and continues to Malta at 12h10. At 09h30 my taxi picks me up at the Mercure Finikoudes Hotel for the short ride to the airport. I pay the driver and step onto the pavement. The airport is a bit of a construction site right now. I’m a bit concerned when I see plumes of black and grey smoke rising from what I’m guessing is the apron. I look around, but none of the airport workers look alarmed.

Emirates Airlines Business Class Check-In

Emirates checks in on the first set of counters as you enter the terminal. There is one counter for First and Business Class passengers, one drop off counter, and another for Economy Class passengers. I’d be curious to know what the distribution of the load is on this leg to Malta. I can’t imagine there being that many passengers travelling between Cyprus and Malta.

The young lady at the Business Class desk checks me in, inquiring if I’ve been to either Uganda or Congo recently (Ebola) and explains that I first need to scan the bar code on the back of my boarding pass and then the front of my boarding pass to access the fast track for immigration and security.

The Skala Business Class Lounge

Behind security the dutyfree shopping starts. Access to the Skala lounge is via the stairs or lifts to the left of the dutyfree shopping.

I’m happy to report that they seem to have brought the lounge situation under control. There’s more staff tidying and cleaning the lounge area and the funky smell of garbage there used to be is also gone.

I park myself by the window and stare out into the heat haze. According to flightradar24, my aircraft should be here any moment. I look up and see two pin prick lights glimmering in the distance. The mighty B 777 is on short final.

Emirates Airlines Business Class Boarding

At 11h30 I exit the lounge and fight my way through the frenzied mob of shopping females as I make my way to gate 25. Boarding should have started five minutes ago. However, it doesn’t look as though the load is particularly heavy today and the gate crew aren’t in a hurry.

In theory, there is a separate lane for First and Business Class passengers. However, the Emirates ground crew don’t seem particularly concerned about segregating passengers or enforcing boarding by groups. Again, presumably because the flight is not very full.

Alas, taking any decent full body images of the aircraft proves impossible here at Larnaca Airport. At least I get a good closeup of the nose section once I’m through the boarding gate.

The Emirates Airlines Business Class Cabin & Seat

I’m seated on 6A, which is the bulkhead row in the larger of the two Business Class cabins that starts aft of the L2 door to which the airbridge is attached. I make a right turn into the cabin and do a double take: this aircraft has the new cabin interiors installed and it looks rather nice. This is a huge improvement!

With the refurbishment of the cabin, Emirates has removed the dreaded middle seat on the seats between the aisles, so that there are now 1+2+1 seats abreast. The seats are slightly misaligned on each row for privacy.

In the larger Business Class cabin the single seats on the even numbered rows are right up against the window, whereas the single seats on the uneven rows are on the aisle.

The seat has plenty of storage space and a spacious footwell.

The Emirates Airlines Business Class Service & Crew

The crew on this flight are great, absolutely excellent! They’re courteous and friendly and have obviously been trained a lot better than the crews you get with the European airlines. The service starts with fluffy, scented hot towels being handed out. Then the crew pass through the cabin with a choice of orange or apple juice. I tell the cabin crew I’ll have the sparkling Perrier in the in-seat bar instead. But that obviously won’t do. “Let me get you a sparkling water. Would you like ice and lemon?”. A short while later she returns with a glass of sparkling water.

At 12h10 the airbridge moves away from the aircraft. The captain addresses the passengers over the PA. He welcomes us aboard and informs us that our flight time to Malta has been calculated to be two hours and 28 minutes. We wait for a Cyprus Airways A 220-300 to pass behind us and then pull onto the stand on our left, and then it’s our turn to push. I just love the sounds the mighty B 777 makes as the engines start up.

The Emirates Airlines Business Class Amenities

Given the rather short flight time, I’m surprised that Emirates provides amenities on this flight. There’s the in-seat bar with a bottle of Perrier sparkling water and two bottles of Evian still water. The snacks are a mix of sweet and savoury. The sweets are jellybeans and M&Ms. And then there’s also a pair of slippers and an eyemask.

The Emirates Business Class Meal – Late Lunch

The menu for the Larnaca to Malta leg is already at my seat when I board the plane. Later on, the crew also bring me the wine menu. Currently, in Business Class they serve the lovely Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial.

When I checked the food options online a few days before the flight, the menu didn’t really appeal, which is why I decided to order the Asian Vegetarian instead. That is something Emirates do really well. The entire meal is brought out on one tray, which contains the hot meal, a salad, a bowl of fruit and a side plate with several pieces of garlic bread, Indian roti, and a bread roll with butter. There’s also a small jar of mango chutney. The first course is just okay. It’s some kind of cream with pickled root vegetables. It has a strong, overpowering flavour of mustard. But the hot meal is really something else! This is one of the best meals I’ve ever had on a plane. For dessert there’s a bowl of fresh fruit. To drink with the meal, I have the Brut Impérial.

To conclude the meal, I ask for a coffee with milk, which is served with a gorgeous assortment of chocolate pralines. Meanwhile, we’re just passing Crete 38’000 feet below us on a westerly track.

Arrival in Malta

We approach Malta from the Southeast for an approach onto runway 31. Sitting on the left side of the aircraft, the island only comes into view just a few minutes before touchdown. We come in low over the airport road from the old RAF base at Hal-Far and the spot where my grandad used to bring me when we went spotting together (not really bothered by the fact that, technically, you weren’t supposed to stop or park there…) and glide down onto the runway.

We turn off the runway and slowly taxi to our stand. The airport is rather busy. As we taxi in, the passengers queuing to board one of the Ryanair flights and the BA service to Gatwick stop and turn to watch the mighty B 777 slowly make its way to its parking stand like a boss.

We disembark and there’s a dedicated bus just for the First and Business Class passengers waiting to bring us to non-Schengen arrivals. As we enter the building, passengers are handed a carton of still water and reminded to stay hydrated in the heat.

Getting to the Hotel

Blimey! The airport busses have definitely upped their game since my last visit. The TD4 is the express that runs to Valletta every twenty minutes. It makes the journey in about fifteen minutes. The bus is clean, air conditioned, and comfortable. You can tap on as you board.

Conclusion – Emirates Airlines

Just… wow! This was a brilliant flight with Emirates Airlines from Larnaca to Malta. It’s probably not quite a fair comparison, but this flight put all of the European carriers to shame. Of course, having a widebody on a short haul flight is always nice. But apart from that, the food was excellent and there was a lot of it. And the crew were outstanding! I think Emirates Airlines is one of those companies that polarises travellers. Especially in the beginning, when they started to expand, especially the European airlines were relentless in blaming Emirates Airlines for price erosion in all markets and accusing them of an unfair advantage. Perhaps there was actually something to their criticism. Be that as it may, there’s simply no denying that Emirates is, plain and simple, a very good airline.