Emirates inaugural flight to London Stansted from Dubai landed today early at 1330.
The daily route is operated by Emirates’ new three-class B777-300ER with 306 seats in economy (3-4-3), 42 business class and six seats in its new, fully-enclosed first class.
The outbound, flight EK33 departs Dubai at 0930 arriving at London Stansted at 1410. On its return, flight EK34 departs London Stansted at 2110 and arrives in Dubai at 0705 the following day.
The new flights will be welcomed by businesses in the East of England which include Airbus, AstraZeneca, ARM and GSK.
To celebrate the airline’s arrival to the airport, Emirates and Stansted airport held a launch event hosted by Hubert Frach, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations West, and Richard Jewsbury, Divisional Vice President, UK, alongside Ken O’Toole, Stansted Airport’s CEO.
Emirates’ flight attendants flank Hubert Frach, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations West, Ken O’Toole, Stansted Airport’s CEO, and Richard Jewsbury, Divisional Vice President, UK.
Business Traveller was at the event and asked what plans there were for a business lounge for premium passengers waiting to board the new flight.
Ken O’Toole said that the satellite from which the new flights are departing has got room for a new business class lounge, and, jokingly added this would be discussed “just as soon as Emirates started a second daily flight from the airport.”
Until this time (and so for the foreseeable future), Emirates passengers will be using Stansted’s only business class lounge, the Escape Lounge.
Judging from reviews, this is already very busy, but Richard Jewsbury, Emirates’ Divisional Vice President of the UK said that the problem of over crowding might partly be avoided by the late departure time of the Emirates flight (2110), but that the airport and lounge would have to consider the access rules for selling access or the acceptance of lounge passes.
Jewsbury also confirmed that premium passengers would receive complimentary chauffeur drive up to a radius of 50 miles from the airport.
Although much attention has been given to the new first class on board the aircraft serving this route, the business class on the B777-300ER is in a 2-3-2 configuration. The centre seat is unlikely to prove popular with business travellers travelling on their own on busy flights.
As well as its 130-strong B777-300ER aircraft, Emirates also has ten B777-200LR aircraft with a more spacious business class. On this aircraft, there is a two-class configuration (no first class suites).
In economy there are 264 seats in a 10-across, 3-4-3 configuration), but in business class the 38 business class seats look similar to those on the B777-300ER, but instead of being 2-3-2, are 2-2-2. As Emirates points out
“While the Business Class seats are in the same design and shape of Emirates’ latest lie-flat seats, they are now two inches wider for a more comfortable journey.”
Unfortunately, as Hubert Frach, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations West made clear to Business Traveller, these B777-200LR are used on longer routes than Stansted to London, and so will not be seen at the airport.
Still, Stansted will be glad to get the daily service and is already lobbying for that second daily service.
This is the seventh UK airport that Emirates operates out of in the UK. The other locations include London Heathrow (6 times daily), London Gatwick, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester and Glasgow.
