Pick a random Jane or Joe of the street and ask them about Emirates and they’ll probably tell you it’s the “nice” or the “luxury” airline. Emirates has done much to conjure an image of prestigious, seamless luxury in the sky.
For the most part, it’s well deserved.
Premium economy is among the best in the business, economy certainly is too, and first class is to die for. Business class, however, it totally depends on the aircraft. If you’re on anything but the A380, you’ll wonder what all the hype is about.
Apparently, thats’s all about to change — at least on a few routes, with more to follow.
Emirates (Finally) Upgrading 777 Business Class
Emirates 777 business class is generations behind. It’s always been the thorn in the side of the carefully curated halo the brand has in marketing. No privacy, no direct aisle access for all and really no area to store anything.
If you need the gory details, here’s a review. It’s not pretty.
According to Executive Traveller, Emirates new 777 business class will begin flying on August 11th, 2024, with an initial launch on the Dubai-Geneva route. Dubai Tokyo will launch on September first, followed by Brussels on the 11th of September.
tl;dr: Emirates is going to have a new business class seat on their boeing 777’s entering the market come the end of summer 2024 and it’ll launch on three routes, with more coming as retrofits happen.
The retrofit will see the business cabin shrink from 42 seats to 32, to make room for Emirates heavily touted new Premium Economy, which has garnered rave reviews and opened up new economics for the airline. 24 premium seats will feature once the cabin retrofits are complete.
What To Expect From Emirates 777 Business Class?
According to Sir Tim Clark, the big boss of Emirates, “basically the A380 seat” is what will be on board. Emirates has promised some newer generation touches such as modern charging and connectivity and in-flight entertainment systems.
The seat itself is believed to be another customized variation of the same “base model” of seat used on the A380, the Safran ‘SkyLounge’. For what it’s worth, virtually all airline seats are customized versions of longstanding product lines from seat manufacturers, much like adding a specific trim or color scheme to your favorite car.
The technology, materials and weight of the seat product lines regularly change to stay market competitive, but really, most seats you find yourself in are lightly or heavily customized versions of the same seat someone else has.
Good News For Emirates A380 Fans
If you love the business class experience on the Emirates A380, this is great news. Emirates is going to be giving you an updated version of that seat with some newer tech and that new seat smell on a variety of routes starting this summer.
Cabin retrofits rarely move quickly, so it’ll take some time before you can guarantee that your Emirates Boeing 777 flight features the new cabins if you’re not flying between Dubai and Geneva, Tokyo or Brussels. But — this is big progress.
It’s great to see Emirates plugging one of the few gaps in their storied brand experience. We’ll update this article once more is known about additional routes and timelines.
I avoid EK for exactly this reason, and marvel that more people don’t. It really shows that all that money they shell out for marketing is money well spent . . . though they could have just spent it on seats that aren’t 20 years old.