Kaji Sahab, contrary to sajhaites' opinion (vast majority seem to have negative remarks abt them), I quite enjoyed it. Their food was quite awesome - Pasta, Chicken over rice, desserts...smoked salmon kinda sucked, though. People fail to realize that the delay is caused due to Nepal's ill-equipped airport. Their planes don't land on time and that not only delays departure off Kathmandu airport, but also results in a lot of people missing their connecting flights to N. America.

This in turn results in people having an awful experience at the airport (Istanbul airport certainly doesn't measure up to Doha/Dubai airports). Due to bilateral ties not allowing Nepalese to receive transit visas, those that miss connecting flights are mostly 'stranded' at the airport. To this, I'd blame ties between both nations instead of blaming the airlines (bear in mind, I spent 20 hrs at the airport, too). Its not that the airlines regularly voted as "Europe and Southern Europe's best airlines) is inefficient. They do provide free accommodation for those carrying US passports. Their flights are quite cheap. You could cough up an extra hundred bucks and stay at the airport hotel itself.

And Emirates is arguably the world's finest airlines. As such, saying one would prefer it over Qatar or Air Arabia/Fly Dubai is equivalent to "akbari sun lai kasi lagayeko", IMHO.

I really wish we had a way of avoiding layover in middle east. The experience of flying home/outside amid a bunch of compatriots headed to/from middle east makes it quite an awful experience. But then again, it's my personal opinion.

Btw, I'd always wondered if there was a catch in flying on Chinese airlines.

If I were flying home via Eastern Asia, I'd definitely pick Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific over anything else.