[Anonymous]

[cityprofessional]

Good, factual article from Runway Girl Network…

Emirates is lots of things… but many of its longhaul business class seats are NOT FLAT!

http://www.runwaygirlnetwork.com/2015/05/09/emirates-should-come-clean-about-its-non-a380-business-class-seats/

[Drsimon]

They are lie flat just not 180degree

[LuganoPirate]

Aren’t those called “Wedgie” seats? 😉

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Lie Flat and “Lie Flat”. 2 different things. It isn’t just Emirates who use the term Lie Flat for seats that are not 180′

[travelworld2]

At least some of the A330 long haul fleet are not even lie flat- as the link above says, they are instead similar to the Club World sleeper seat – just a big armchair which reclines. Fly Emirates overnight from Durban to Dubai and that’s what I got- quite a contrast to the onward day flight from DXB- LHR in an A380.

[AllOverTheGaff]

cityprofessional – 11/05/2015 09:49 BST
but many of its longhaul business class seats are NOT FLAT!

Still beating that drum eh?

How many do you class as “many”?

They have many more LIE FLAT seats in the sky than any other airline. A fact you overlook.

[TMConsulting]

I wonder how much the editor of this article got paid… looks so much like “propaganda” against the ME3.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Well the majority of Emirates 777 have the “angled” lie flat seat. 104 777-300ER’s & 16 777-200ER or ULR. 60 A380 have’s have the Horizontal Lie Flat Seats.

12 777-300’s have the old style cradle seat along with 1 777-200, along with 26 A330’s or A340’s which will eventually leave the fleet.

So to me that is 83% of the fleet with Lie Flat Beds (many airlines use the term Lie Flat and the reality is angled Lie-Flat). Considering the A380’s & 777’s have larger business cabins that would probably push the number of actual seats to closer to 90% of the available Business Class seats.

Now I understand why people might not like the 777-300ER seat – but I actually have many clients who prefer this to the A380 seat (not sure why – but hey ho – it’s called personal preference).

We also have to consider that many of the “non-flat” fleet are rostered on flights under 5 hours – so more realistically mid / short haul. BA don’t offer flat bed on Istanbul in Business Class and I’d rather an Emirates A330 over a BA 767 with Club Europe. OK if you get the old 777 on a DXB to KUL on an overnight leg admitted you might feel a bit p****d off. One has to remember that the A330’s often start on new routes where there has been no decent offering before – or routes which were awkward to do. Such as Tunis to DXB which is now a 777 (old version). Before TUN to DXB was a pain in the backside with long connections and dog legs all over the place. I’m sure people on that route love the fact they can get a direct flight even is seat isn’t lie flat (and it is a day flight anyway)

Qatar – well they have so many variations in product you don’t know what you’ll get as they are constantly changing what plane is on what flight number.

So yep – this article is misleading. Do I think they should upgrade the 777-300ER / 200ER/ULR to the same as the A380. Yep – I think it would give a better customer experience. But Emirates seem to be doing something right!

[nibbler]

Would be good if Emirates could upgrade to a decent business class seat across the board; and not the one they have on the 380. 18.5″ wide should be an economy plus not a business class seat; even BA often used as a solid benchmark of the middle achieves 20″.

[cityprofessional]

Flat and angled are completely different, and it is disingenuous to claim flat for anything other than 180 degrees… (especially for a travel agency to do so)

But, hey, if you prefer sleeping on a bed that slopes onto the floor, then don’t let me stop you!

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Well then you would have to take the issue with many airlines including KLM, Air France, Lufthansa for starters who have all used the term Lie-Flat for seats which are on an angle. Yes – maybe a marketing technicality – but the seats do “Lie-Flat”. Just not 180′ Lie flat. Many airlines used the term before they have gone to 180′ Lie flat including the likes of CX / SQ / MH. To have a go just at Emirates is not justified. It is the airlines who come up with the marketing terms for their products – not a travel agency!

The issue then is using the term “Lie – Flat” generally in the industry and perhaps IATA should actually come up with a term that allowed in describing a type of Business Class seat?

I’m sure the lawyers on the forum may have a view on how the term Lie-Flat can be used – especially with a seat that you can Lie Flat on – but is on an incline?

[PeterCoultas]

‘Lie flat’ is sold ambiguously: you can lie flat if curled up on your side as I recently did quite comfortably on an SQ eco triple seat.
But, unless you are horizontal, you do not lie flat!
Sliding downhill in business on Thai and LH is not particularly comfortable nor is it really lie flat!

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

PeterCoultas

I agree – the term is ambiguous. But you can say one is flat up against a surface and be in a vertical position (hiding behind a wall / door for example). So being flat doesn’t mean you have to be horizontal. I’d argue that is an assumption one jumps to (sorry – just playing devils advocate and I would rather there was an Industry consensus / guidance on what terms can be allowed to describe different Business Class types of seat).

[PeterCoultas]

TimF: You scare me….the thought of Easy/Ryan selling vertical fly-flat business class seats…but you are right and there should be a proper definition

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