Cloud Nine

Business class travellers, relax. The journey into the clouds begins on the ground. A chauffeur-driven car takes you on a smooth ride to the airport. The polite, efficient staff whisks you through check-in, baggage handling, fast track immigration, till you find yourself in the soothing environs of the Emirates lounge, free to sip your cappuccino, break bread or scan the headlines, undisturbed. All Emirates lounges boast well-equipped business centres with individual workstations and complimentary network access. The champagne service and massage chairs in some however, should carry a statutory warning: the danger of missing your flight!

Once settled into your sleeperette or lie-flat seat, indulge in a session of back-to back movies that start, stop and resume at your will, hum along with the songs of the season wearing a noise-reducing headset or doze happily, wrapped in a blanket and gear yourself for the six-course culinary drama about to unfold. Depending on the hour of travel it could be mouthfuls of a creamy sweet corn omelette, achari paneer or fish moilee from regionally-inspired zesty menus. All served on Royal Doulton bone china no less. Top up with a Drambuie or a peppy Tia Maria from an award-winning range of spirits, cocktails and liqueurs. Touch down at Dubai International Airport and if you are one of the many waiting for a connecting flight, drop in the lounge at Terminal 3 that spans the entire concourse floor and is a contemporary, cheerful space, reflecting the personality of an airline which believes – and follows – the concept of total comfort. Giving competition to the super-sized malls in the city, Terminal 3 flaunts everything you wanted and did not know you want, all in one snaking horizontal walkway, under a single roof. Occasionally, rest your feet at the six Emirates lounges en route.

One of the world’s fastest growing airlines, Emirates has in recent times, wowed Sweden and Denmark with its ever-expanding European connections, making Stockholm its 134th destination, the airline’s second in the region after Copenhagen. A daily nonstop flight bridges the distance between the dynamic energy of Dubai to the cool hauteur of Scandinavia in just a few hours.