Review: Emirates First Class 777-300ER Mahe-Antananarivo
- Konrad Tillman
- Apr 17
- 7 min read
Intro
Following a lovely time at L’Escale in Mahe and 3 nights at the Four Seasons in Desroches Island, it was finally time to head off on the next adventure.
Having flown Emirates First Class on the way over to Mahe, I was readily excited to fly this product over to Madagascar, and it didn't disappoint. With a private cabin, free-flowing Dom Perignon, and unlimited caviar, what more could you want???
Route-Mahe-Antanarivo
Flight Number- EK707
Seat- 2E
Aircraft- Boeing 777-300ER
Date- March 25th, 2025
Flight Time- 2 Hours 55 Minutes
Price Paid- 22.5K Miles+104$
How I Booked
I bet you didn’t know that one of the best Emirates First Class redemptions is from The Seychelles to Madagascar… Well, Emirates releases a good amount of award space on this route, and I managed to snatch up two seats for 22.5K Emirates Miles (transferred from AMEX)+104$ to fly First Class between the two locations.
Considering Business Class is 20K miles, an extra 2.5K miles for everything you get isn’t a bad deal at all. Let’s be realistic…
Check-In/Lounge
Upon landing from Desroches avec ma mere (hey, let my horrific (nor do I know how to even add accents) French come to display), we headed off to the Emirates check-in, which was just opening as we arrived.
Within minutes, we were given our boarding passes for First Class and made our way through immigration to the Air Seychelles Lounge…
Boarding
With boarding set to commence at 2:45 local time, we headed out from the lounge and made our way to one of the four gates at the international terminal (the domestic terminal is even smaller). Once arriving, as First Class passengers, we were invited to board by this gate agent who loves Pandas (he even had a Panda tattoo). I felt kind and in a good mood, so I gave him my Panda teddy from The Great Wall of China, and he appreciated it so much.
Anyways, it was a lovely walk out to the 777-300ER, and we were greeted by the lovely purser, as well as Vera, a sensational woman from the Donbas region in Ukraine…
The Seat/Cabin
Stepping onboard, I was interested to see that this 777 was one of the more dated in the fleet. Having reviewed this product in depth on the last flight, I won’t go into it too much, but each seat features a mini-bar, unlimited legroom, and pretty much all you could ask for in First Class.
However, the notable difference was the IFE screen, as it was extremely dated. You could visibly tell the difference between the previous flight and this flight, that is for sure….
Unlike the previous flight, I decided to get the bed made up for this flight just to test it out, and I’ve gotta say: this is a very comfortable seat overall with plenty of width and room.
Departure
With the lovely FA of Vera greeting us at our seat, I asked for a delicious glass of Dom P prior to takeoff, which was presented to me in orderly fashion. Kudos to Emirates, as all of the Flight Attendants are top drawer, I digress… For my mum, she decided on some of the complementary Arabic coffee and dates.
Soon enough, 3:15 pm came around, and the captain came on to announce our flight time of 2 hours and 30 minutes to the capital of Madagascar. Seeing as the First Class Cabin was empty, my mum and I headed off to 1A and 1F for takeoff to take in these sensational views as back-taxied to the end of the runway.
Soon enough, we were wheels up at 3:40 pm local time…
Amenities/Bedding
Similar to the previous flight, I was happy to find that Emirates offered the same amenities on this flight, albeit being a fifth freedom route. Pajamas, full bedding, and a beautiful amenity featuring a Bulgari cologne.
Talk about top-notch amenities.
IFE/WIFI
Once again, I won’t touch on too much of the IFE or Wifi as not much had changed selection-wise within 5 days 😅. There was a little tablet located right next to me, which helped me pick and choose options on the screen, in addition to the large, but dated screen.
Looking for wifi? No need to worry, as EK provides free wifi for First Class passengers.
Meal Service
Now for what I was really looking forward to: dining onboard Emirates. After missing out on the last flight due to not eating breakfast on planes, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lovely menu for today's flight featuring options for sides, even? Wow!
Service started about 15 minutes after takeoff when Vera came around to present me with a lovely glass of Dom Perignon to kick things off.
Approximately 15 minutes later, the beautiful first course of caviar was presented to my mother and I. An aspect that I was thoroughly impressed by was that my mother was always presented first, as it should be, while I was presented with food second.
Caviar all said and done, our main courses came out about 20 minutes later. My mum opted for a soup to start, as well as the cannelloni for the main, while I decided on the beef (suprise suprise). All the food was relatively good, but the cannelloni lacked the perfect execution (hard to get right on a plane), while the steak was slightly more overcooked than the medium requested.
As my mum and I continued chatting away, I proceeded with a final course of caviar, since when in Madagascar am I right? Once again, beautifully presented and very flavorful.
A Tour Of The 777-300ER
Feeling the need for a light walk around the Emirates 777, I checked out the empty-looking business class and economy cabin. Interestingly, this route doesn’t seem to have a lot of demand, and the only people who seem to fly First on this route is the president of Madagascar and his entourage. Other than that, it apparently goes out empty 90% of the time.
Let me know, would you pay an extra 2.5k miles for First Class over the dated business?
Service
Heading back to my seat and getting ready for landing, I figured I might as well talk about the service on today's flight. While the flight itself wasn’t quite as good as the previous sector to Mahe, the service did feel more polished as a whole on the flight,t as the crew seemed more senior.
While the cabin crew was nice, they also maintained a higher degree of professionalism
The way the meals were presented, with my mum getting hers first (by moments), shows a very good degree of manners
Just overall very pleasant people to talk with
We never went more than a few minutes with empty glasses
It’s always a pleasure to fly with Emirates, and more so in First Class. While I have found the service in business to be good in the past, First Class is on a whole other level.
Arrival In Antananarivo
By 4:30 pm local time, the captain came on to announce our initial descent into Antananarivo, and he expected that we would be on the ground in about 30 minutes.
Heading back off to the window seats, my mum and I admired the beautiful views of Madagascar, in what would soon be rated as one of the most naturally beautiful countries I have visited.
I mean, just wow.
Sure enough, we landed a couple of minutes ahead of the planned 5:00 pm touchdown, and had a short taxi off to the gate where it was time to bid the crew farewell, and pay the 10$ entry into Madagascar.
Final Thoughts
There are truly few products that are better than the onboard experience that Emirates offers in First Class. While not the most decadent product in the world anymore, Emirates really ticks all of the boxes here with fantastic service, unlimited amenities, good food, and an incredible wine selection. Would I pay two thousand dollars to fly this route in First Class? Probably not. However, 22.5K Miles for almost 3 hours onboard is an exceptional value, and I believe the best redemption for Emirates First Class around.
Next up: time to see the Lemurs and go explore the largest slum in the country.
Keep in mind, this route does not operate daily...
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