After promising last week to “deploy our newest A380 aircraft on various routes so that our customers can experience our latest offering in all classes” it appears Emirates will be a little less varied in where the new A380 – including the carrier’s first premium economy cabin – will fly. The aircraft is slated to operate on a daily Heathrow turn for now. That’s great news for travelers looking to try out the updated cabins, though getting a premium economy seat will still require a bit of luck.
Of the five daily flights between Dubai and London’s Heathrow airport four are operated by an A380. And from Monday the EK 3 and EK 4 service will fly exclusively on the newest aircraft from Monday, according to the airline.
Emirates will continue its planned policy of only selling three cabins on board for now: economy, business, and first. The premium economy cabin will be reserved for discretionary upgrades by the carrier, focused on upgrades for “valuable customers” booked in the economy cabin.
The Emirates A380 is already one of the most sought-after travel experiences in the skies, and now we’ve made it even better.
– Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline
Read More: Emirates unveils Premium Economy offering
Getting enough aircraft fitted so that the carrier can justify selling the product likely depends on retrofits more than new deliveries. Only five more A380s will have the premium economy cabin installed by Airbus prior to delivery. The remaining A380s will only see the seats installed as a retrofit of existing frames.
Recaro expects to deliver 250 ship sets of the PL3530 in the years to come but which specific aircraft get the new seats and when remains unclear. Given that the carrier announced the new product 2.5 years ago the wait to have it readily available – and to start selling the seats and recouping the investment – is not necessarily an easy one.
Read More: Emirates (finally) commits to Premium Economy
The new aircraft also includes updates to the other three cabins on board, though none of those bring as significant a change to the carrier’s offerings as the new premium economy cabin.
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In the past, when economy is full, Emirates would do an op-up to elite skywards members to Business Class. I guess now with premium economy available Emirates will just upgrade those folks to premium economy rather than business. :/
Indeed. Still better than a poke in the eye, though.