Would you have any concerns flying United Arab Emirates Airlines to Africa?
 

This may be a very silly question, I am just wondering if this is a safe airline given the current state of the world these days...I am looking at a flight out of NY that stops through Dubai on the way to Nairobi. Then flies out of Dar Es Salaam on the backend through Dubai and back to NY. The flight is about $1750/pp ($3500 for the 2 of us traveling) and is the most reasonable flight I've seen that flies into Nairobi & out of Dar...

Alternatively, I could get a round trip to Nairobi on British Airways for around $1500/pp and then I would have to pay another $155/pp to fly from Dar to Nairobi to catch my flight there...This works out to be a bit cheaper, but is probably not as convenient??

Any suggestions?

I flew Emirates to India last year and many people on this board fly them to Africa. It's a great airline and perfectly safe - no need to worry at all. Very nice planes and good service - my recent flight to Africa on KLM wasn't near as nice.

This airline is completely safe. No need to worry at all.

The airlines service and on-time record amongst the best!!!

I didn't think twice about booking them from DXB to NBO. Ethiopian is the one I had some worries about but they may be great, for all I know.

I'm flying Emirates from Hong Kong-Johannesburg in September. Heard good things about the airline.

I actually should be getting some sort've kickback from Emirates since I say it on the board so often (but I'm not)

but my Emirates flight from JFK to Dubai was simply my greatest flying experience ever. The planes were wonderfully clean, the staff was polite and professional, the food was good, seats comfortable, virtually every movie I could was available at my seat.

The Dubai airport is also amazing. On the way to Nairobi see if you can stay in Dubai for a day and at least do a city tour.

Don't you think it's time we stopped assuming that Arab or non-Western = bad?

If you want to feel safe and at home fly with an American carrier all the way. End of story.

Chimani,

I have no knowledge of Arab Emirates Airline. But asking about the safety/service of any airline you are unfamiliar with does not mean you assume the country where the airline is based or the people there are bad.

Although, they are an Arab airline....there is nothing Arab about them. Fantastic wines, fab food, cabin crew from literally all over the world.

Actually, Chimani i would never book myself on an international flight on a US carrier. Most of them are bankrupt and their in flight service HORRIBLE!!! Just my 2C

Superb airline, they are 3 times a day from New York to Dubai ( 2 are non stop ), they are 'mega big' in this part of the world, every aircraft is a wide body and 'every seat' regardless of class had seatback tv and phone, the food is great too.
From Europe heading East they are also very big, they have got that way by being good and having highly competative fares. Even on routes you would not expect like between Australia and NZ they are big.
I would not hesitate.
Certainly down to NBO and DAR etc they are just as good as elsewhere.

As stated already, Emirates is one of the most comfortable and best-serviced airlines. Dubai is also extremely safe and a nice place to visit. I'd take Emirates over a BA flight with a Heathrow or Gatwick connection any day.

That is a major international airline, with US business people using it all the time to travel to UAE. I was going to use it for my upcoming Kenyan/Tanzanian safari where I, too, will be flying JFK-Nairobi/DarEsSalaam-JFK, but scheduling put me on KLM/NWA instead, which also flies the route you are interested in at the same rates pretty much.