I took Emirates from Mumbai to San Francisco, via Dubai. This was a new route for me. The past couple times I have taken Air-India to New York, and then a local flight to SF. But given the uncertainty with Air India (one is never sure if they have enough money to pay for the fuel to fly), I gave it a skip and looked for an alternate path. The Emirates route beckoned — in terms of convenience (a single transfer) and duration (just about 21 hours). And so, I took it to SF.
Emirates also had the new 777 aircraft from Boeing which makes the in-flight experience much better. The service was excellent. And the buzzing Dubai airport was a revelation.
On my way back, as I looked at the monitor for my flight gate, I was amazed to see the number of Indian destinations Emirates was serving from Dubai. I think I counted 10+ flights in the next 3 hours to various Indian cities. Little wonder then that Air India is in the state it is.
