Round The World and other travels

Flight Log 12 : EK863

Muscat (MCT) - Dubai (DXB)

In a complete departure from all precedent, at least in my personal experience, Business Class passengers were turned away when boarding commenced and asked to wait until last! We had a separate bus taking us to the front steps of the remotely parked A330-200. It was still a left turn for me into the small front section of Business Class. It quickly became apparent that my choice of seat had not been the wisest one, as the aircraft body narrows very noticeably at this point, restricting space both at the window seat and also in the overhead locker. A cabin crew member took my jacket and another offered me a welcome glass of Champagne, the alternatives being orange juice and apple juice.

Ground staff were asked to leave at 1044 and hot towels of an unusually high quality were distributed immediately prior to departure at 1051. We taxied out to Runway 26, but had a lengthy wait at the holding point for a landing aircraft, which was resplendent in the new Oman Air livery. We finally took off at three minutes past the hour. A nosewheel camera captured the action, but the centre screen was difficult to see from 1K. The seat belt signs were turned off quickly and, surprisingly for such a short flight, I was given both a menu card and a wine list. (Most of these had been handed out before departure.) All the Business Class passengers were given a friendly greeting by the (Russian?) purser.

The light meal was both beautifully presented and tasty, but there was hardly any time to enjoy it. With service starting at the rear of the cabin, the seat belt signs were coming back on as I started to eat   There was certainly no time for a glass of wine, which was a bit of a shame as, having consulted the wine list, I'd been looking forward to sampling the Sancerre. Fast Track invitations were handed out for immigration at DXB. We touched down at 1141 on Runway 30R (I saw it in the nosewheel camera footage!) and made it to our remote parking position just one minute down.  

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