[Mark Caswell]

Aviation blogger Sam Chui reports that Emirates will move from a 2-3-2 layout to a 1-2-1 configuration on its retrofitted Boeing 777 aircraft, meaning the end of the dreaded middle seat.

Emirates CCO Adnan Kazim on Airline Performance, Aircraft Orders and Middle East Conflict

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tomwjsimpson, Andy McF, AndrewinHK, cwoodward

[superchris]

Long overdue. Their recent update in soft furnishings was just that.

Emirates current business hard product is poor when compared to its competition of Etihad, Qatar, BA, Air France, Turkish (new product) etc.

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cosmoB2012

[FDOS]

Having used EK F and J, I thought F was excellent and J meh, in hard product terms.

About time they upped their game.

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AMcWhirter

[esselle]

Long time since I’ve flown EK in J on the 773, but it was not so great, so good they are moving to 1-2-1. Better on the 380, particularly the “inner” window seat if travelling alone.

EK F on the 380 is excellent, and fantastic on the 773

[AMcWhirter]

Personally I am surprised it has taken EK so long before it has started to upgrade J class (A380s excepted).

The upgrade to 1-2-1 seating will not start until the middle of 2024 so it will time to retrofit EK’s existing 777s.

New aircraft arriving in 2025 will already be fitted with the new seating.

However we must remember there may be delivery delays by the manufacturer.

I mean those next generation 777s from Boeing were supposed to have entered service in 2020.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

They plan to start refitting Premium economy to the 777’s that are getting it mid 24 so I imagine the upgrade to J Class will happen at the same time.

[cosmoB2012]

Having had the “luck” to fly on a super old 777 from Stockholm to Dubai in biz and then on an old-style A380 from Dubai to Melbourne, due to being rebooked from ThaiAirways which had cancelled the original flight due to technical problems. The seat in the 777 was appalling, I felt like flying somewhere in the US in the late 1990´s. The monitor was of such bad quality, that it was a pain to watch movies. On top of that there was zero privacy, the first drink came after 90 minutes and the food started after 2,5 hours, there was only one food service and a very cheap ice-cream as a snack. The Dubai to Melbourne flight was on a A380 with a slightly better seat and a good monitor. Once again the service and the food choices were underwhelming. Trying to sleep was impossible (on a 13 hours flight), as the crew constantly bumped carts into my seat. Who flies such an airline and why? Crap seats, bad service and staff that was completely over it. I now know why I have never booked Emirates and I will definitely not do it again.

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MarkivJ

[MarkivJ]

cosmo, they’re an airline that’s been running purely on great deals and former reputation. So many have caught up to them now, even overtaken them.

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cwoodward, cosmoB2012

[esselle]

Out of interest Cosmo how long ago was this?

[Inquisitive]

Having travelled Emirates only in A380, I found that is an excellent product overall with 1-2-1 seating.

Seeing large number of A380 in Dubai every time, I think Emirates business plan was to manage most fleet with A380. And that could be the reason neglecting upgrade of other type of aircraft. Now post Covid and high oil price made A380 operation shaky, other aircraft’s are getting attention.

[cosmoB2012]

November 3rd and 4th of this year.

[cosmoB2012]

I just travelled from Melbourne to Bangkok on an A350-900 operated by Thaiairways. The 1-2-1 seating is superb, the seat was thoroughly clean, the windows spotless. The super, super friendly crew of mainly ladies in their 50´s were delightful. They handed out 5 hot towels on a 9 hours flight. The food was fresh, from the amuse bouche, to the starter and the main dish, followed by a cheese plate and a dessert, same for the second service. I never had to ask for a refill and as the purser realised that I liked their signature tamarind ice tea, she gave me a 1 l bottle as a farewell gift. Compared to the passive aggressive staff at Emirates (they highlighted that the 20 flight attendants speak 21 languages – for what if you hate your job?) it was as good as pre-covid. I would give the flight a 10/10 , for the two Emirates flights perhaps a 2/10. Oh and the first drink after take-off was served within 18 minutes, the lunch service started after 28 minutes, the ladies definitely knew what they were doing, other than the deers in the headlight at Emirates.

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Jacob, cwoodward

[Author]

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