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Emirates (finally) commits to Premium Economy

4 May 2018 By Seth Miller 6 Comments

Passengers still must wait a couple years, but Emirates is finally set to introduce a premium economy cabin on its A380 fleet. In an internal company podcast (fast forward to 11:55 for the PremY chat) Sir Tim Clark acknowledges that the company is going to have a fourth cabin for sale.

It remains a hot topic in company. We have already spec’d out the airplanes. We know exactly what we’re going to do, where we’re going to place these seats, which zones and how we’re going to design the product. We’re just going to make absolutely sure the maths stack up. But I think the latest 380s, the first six of which come in 2020, we will be installing premium economy into those. And it will be an Emirates premium economy, so it will be special.


Myriad questions remain about the new product, including a retrofit schedule, whether it will also fly on the 777s, whether it will displace business class or economy class seats and just how many premium economy seat the A380s will carry. The Emirates A380 cabin layout – with the business class bar at the rear of the upper deck and only premium seats upstairs on most the fleet suggests that on a 4-class plane fitting premium economy in would be a downstairs job. On the current two-class planes the upper deck economy section – situated at the front where first class sits on the 3-class layout – could be easily converted to premium economy without mucking up the rest of the floor plan. But two different premium economy layouts is not likely to work well for the carrier.

The move may also trigger a shift from Emirates’ neighborly competitors to similarly adopt premium economy offerings. Qatar Airways GCEO Akbar Al Baker has famously claimed that his carrier’s economy class offering is sufficiently premium so as to make a true premium economy cabin unnecessary. Alas, reality does not bear out that claim, particularly on the restyled 777s with 10-abreast seating in the back. The soft product is solid, but the hard product comes up far short of premium.


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Filed Under: Seats & Cabin

About Seth Miller

Seth Miller has over a decade of experience covering the airline industry. With a strong focus on passenger experience, Seth also has deep knowledge of inflight connectivity and loyalty programs. He is widely respected as an unbiased commentator on the aviation industry.

He is frequently consulted on innovations in passenger experience by airlines and technology providers.

You can connect with Seth on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brad MixnerBrad Mixner says

    4 May 2018 at 9:49 am

    Long overdue and I think it will do well for them

    Reply
    • Seth MillerSeth Miller says

      4 May 2018 at 6:24 pm

      I do, too. There is clearly a market for it and with that massive fleet of A380s Emirates can segment WAY more than the do today. I even expect to see them lead rather than begrudgingly follow on some of that stuff in the not-too-distant future.

      Reply
  2. Alan DickeyAlan Dickey says

    4 May 2018 at 9:50 am

    And I’m sure Etihad will be about 5 minutes behind them. #SeatEnvy

    Reply

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