From Dubai to Bergamo in Economy with flydubai. Seat, IFE, meals: how to fly for 6 and a half hours on a MAX

Sleep in a hotel near the airport in Dubai It has strengths and weaknesses. Among the latter there is the distance from the Burj Khalifa and the surrounding area where the city lives until late hours and, obviously, the distance from the sea. But if you stop for 24 hours for a work meeting or between flights, a hotel with a bit of greenery and a swimming pool may be enough and among these the Le Meridien Dubai is definitely a great choice.

If, like me, you have a flight shortly after 7 in the morning, stay literally a few meters from the airport it gives you a good half hour of sleep and eliminates the stress of the transfer. Returning to Milanor after following the inaugural day of the Arabian Travel Market in early May, flydubai offered only one option: the flight scheduled for 7.20am arriving in Bergamo Orio al Serio at 12.20.

Check-in at Emirates Terminal 3

Sleeping at Le Meridien, I set the alarm for 4.45am and caught a car half an hour later. Ten minutes later I was at the entrance of the Terminal 3 where, instead of dawn, it felt like mid-morning, so many people were in the check-in lounge. At T3, Emirates and flydubai (and companies that have a codeshare agreement with them such as United Airlines and Air Canada) proceed to check in passengers I don’t fly by flight, as is done almost everywhere, but by class.

After having made me travel in Business from Bergamo to Dubai a couple of days earlier as a guest of the company at the Arabian Travel Market, flydubai had booked me on the return trip in Economy, despite reserving one of the best seats in the rear cabin: 6A. That is, a front row window seat with extra legroom.

So, I queued up at one of the six ‘islands’ available for Economy check-ins in the main lounge (while Business and First passengers carry out check-in operations in a dedicated area of ​​the terminal). Nothing dramatic: in ten minutes I was at the counter and two minutes later I had my suitcase shipped and my boarding pass in hand.

Immigration was even faster, thanks to the E-gates to which Italian passengers are also admitted. And, having passed the security checks, I refreshed myself with cappuccino and croissants at one of the many bars that dot T3 before proceeding towards the gate B3, located at the northern end of the enormous building.

The one to Milan/Bergamo is one of the many flights that flydubai operates from the terminal which until a few years ago was used exclusively by Emirates because its T2 (on the opposite side to the two runways and where the company also has its own business lounge) is now saturated.

As many know, Sheikh Al Maktoum a few weeks ago gave the green light to the development of the Dubai World Central airport (about forty km south of the city) into an airport worth 35 billion dollars and 260 million passengers a year , which will open to traffic in a decade. But until then, all flights will remain at Dubai International.

Boarding by bus

I arrive at gate B3 just when the green ‘boarding’ sign lights up. After passport and boarding pass checks, passengers for Milan/Bergamo are seated in a large lounge with lots of seating and even a toilet.

Ten minutes later, Economy boarding is called (Business passengers will reach the plane later, aboard a VIP van dedicated to them) and through two flights of escalators we reach the interrunway bus.

As had happened a couple of days earlier, the journey lasts about ten minutes wandering among crowds of Emirates A380s and B777s. A show. As long as we reach our Boeing 737 MAX 8 which, like all flydubai planes, does not use jet bridges and is parked in a huge apron on the north side of the airport.

Passing the door of the MAX I come across the same cabin manager who had ‘pampered’ me in Business Class during the flight from Bergamo, who greets me warmly, gives me a bottle of water and accompanies me to my seat.

The Economy of the 737 MAX 8

In Economy the flydubai MAX configuration is the classic 3-3with the first row and the two in correspondence with the wing emergency exits which have more legroom. There are three rates that can be booked: ‘Quarrel’which entitles you to hand baggage only (7kg) and free choice of standard seat, ‘Value’ which adds 30 kg of hold baggage allowance and the meal on board (which with the ‘Lite’ must be booked online and costs 9 euros) and ‘Flex’ which also allows free booking changes.

Choosing one of the seats with extra legroom costs between 40 and 48 eurosdepending on whether you choose the first row or those on the emergency exits, window, aisle or central seat.

It is money well spent, especially if you select the first row (6 in the case of the two-cabin MAX 8) because the distance between the seat and the wall that separates Economy from Business is almost the same as between the rows of seats in Business (although there, of course, is additional legroom thanks to the ‘niche’ that sinks into the front seat).

Every place has an 11.6 inch IFE screen. But inflight entertainment is not included in the ticket price. Or, at least, it is as long as you bring your own headphones (which must be compatible with the socket) and are satisfied with the audio section of the IFE.

If you want instead To access video content (films, TV series, games), you need to swipe your credit card into the ‘slot’ located immediately under the screen. There are two ‘packages’: one from 10 euros which includes series and TV shows and games, and one from 20 euro which gives access to films.

The cost to have access to the entertainment package is . EUR. As you can see, in Economy flydubai has maintained its low-cost philosophy (the formula with which it began flying in 2009), where you can choose the ‘basic’ fare (which here still gives you the right to free choice of seat) and then build your own travel experience based on your needs and preferences.

Returning to ‘my’ first row, the space available for my legs is such that I have two entire windows all to myself, from which to enjoy the view.

The table extracts from the right armrest, where there is also the button to recline the seat. There isn’t a ‘conventional’ power socket, but Under the IFE screen there is a USB-C port with which you can charge your cell phone and other electronic devices (the position of the attachment, at least in the first row, is not the best because it is necessary to extract the table to ensure that the mobile phone does not remain ‘dangling’).

There is neither a pillow nor a blanket on the seat. The headrest is adjustable in height and has two fins which, if you want to sleep, can be pushed very far inwards, up to a position in which the head is practically immobilised.

For breakfast omelettes and metal cutlery

We take off at almost 8 in the morning and with a flight time indicated as 6 hours and 35 minutes (also in this case as in the outward journey, no message in this regard arrived from the cockpit). An hour later it is served breakfast, with a choice between an omelette and an unspecified ‘vegetarian option’.

I go with the first and I am served two trays: one containing the omelette accompanied by potatoes, spinach and turkey sausages, the other with bread, yogurt, a fresh fruit salad and a hand wipe. In a plastic bag there are salt, pepper, a paper napkin and, notable thing in Economy Class, metal cutlery.

Not bad, for nine euros. The meal is certainly very filling and the omelette can be eaten. The service ends with the offer of tea or coffee and the delivery of a bottle of water.

There is IFE but no wi-fi

The IFE is, of course, the same as the Business (there is no wi-fi). The next four and a half hours pass between one of the Italian films, a bit of music, a few naps following the early morning rise and a few glances at the splendid panoramas of Iran first and Turkey, thanks to the beautiful sunny day who accompanies us to Bergamo, where I land a few minutes later than the scheduled time.

Once down the steps, a bus takes you to the Orio arrivals hall, which has been significantly expanded in recent years.

It’s here, compared to Malpensa, there are two undoubted ‘pluses’: the speed with which the suitcases arrive (five minutes from the time I reach the carousel) and the fact that the distance to travel to leave the airport is very shortso much so that less than ten minutes after collecting my luggage I already reached my car in the parking lot.

In conclusion

The Boeing 737, even in its latest MAX version, is not the most comfortable plane for flying long haul in Economy: there is only one aisle, the cabin is narrower than that of the Airbus family and this affects the width of the seat . In short, there is the risk of feeling a bit of claustrophobia. For this reason, adding to the cost of the ticket those 40-50 euros each way to sit in the front row or at the emergency exits is worth the expense.

The verdict

In the economy of flydubai you travel well, even if having more legroom like I had makes all the difference in the world. The service is friendly, the quality of the food superior to that of many long-haul Economy hotels. The paid IFE, albeit for a modest amount, is annoying (as is the absence of wi-fi), also because in terms of fares, flydubai is no longer the low-cost airline it was fifteen years ago. And, at least on flights lasting over 6 hours, having a pillow and blanket on the seat is now a standard that flydubai should adapt to.

Service

6

IFE

6.5

F&B

7

Cabin and Armchair

6.5