Customers looking to experience the new Emirates premium economy seat can now book tickets on selected routes.
When the carrier unveiled the new cabin in late 2020, it said that it would initially offer the seat as a complimentary upgrade to selected customers, “until we have a viable number of seats in our inventory to bring to market”.
With six A380 aircraft now featuring premium economy Emirates feels it can now open sales for the product on a limited number of routes, with customers now able to book premium economy seats on selected flights to and from London Heathrow, Paris CDG and Sydney, for departures from August 1.
Christchurch will follow from December, once a retrofit programme has begun to install premium economy seating onto a total of 126 A380 and B777 aircraft.
Features of the new seat include up to 40 inches of seat pitch, 19.5 inches of seat width, eight inches of recline, and a 13.3-inch IFE screen.
There is in-seat charging, a wide fold out dining table, and a side cocktail table. The seat is upholstered in “cream-coloured anti-stain leather with stitching details and a wood panel finishing similar to business class”, and also features six-way adjustable headrests, calf rests and footrests.
On the four-class A380s premium economy is located at the front of the main deck, while on the B777s it will be fitted in a dedicated cabin between business and economy.
Commenting on the news Emirates’ president Sir Tim Clark, said:
“As with everything we do, Emirates Premium Economy will be exceptional in its class, with minute attention given to every aspect of the customer experience. Customers trading up from Economy will be getting excellent value.
“Since we first introduced our Premium Economy seats in January 2021, the positive response and demand has been tremendous. We currently have six A380s equipped with this cabin class, which limits our initial deployment, but our intention is to offer this experience to many more markets across our network.
“This November, we will begin our retrofit programme to install Premium Economy on 67 A380s and 53 Boeing 777s. At the end of the programme, Emirates will have 126 aircraft fitted out with Premium Economy cabins, as well as our latest interiors across other cabins. It is a major investment to ensure our customers continue to have the best experience in the sky.”
