This summer, I had my first opportunity to experience Emirates A350 in Business Class on a daytime flight from Lyon to Dubai. It made a surprisingly good first impression.
This is not a full review of the flight. I was travelling on an Eid holiday with the whole family in tow, including a small person, making a comprehensive review difficult to do well. However, a thorough review of Emirates A350 Business Class and Premium Economy is in the pipeline.
A350 – the new kid in the Emirates fleet
The A350 is the first new aircraft type to join the Emirates fleet since 2008. There are now 10 aircraft in service with an additional 55 on order.
The initial batch of A350 aircraft were delivered in a three-class ‘regional’ configuration, featuring 32 seats in Business Class, 21 seats in Premium Economy, and 259 seats in Economy.
The tenth aircraft and future deliveries are in an ‘ultra long-haul’ configuration featuring a larger Premium Economy cabin. These planes have 32 seats in Business Class, 28 seats in Premium Economy and 238 seats in Economy.
Now flying to Oslo and 15 other cities
Oslo is the latest destination to be added to the list of airports receiving A350 service. As of October 2025, Emirates is using the A350 on some or all flights to the following 16 destinations:
- Ahmedabad (AMD)
- Amman (AMM)
- Baghdad (BGW)
- Bahrain (BAH)
- Bologna (BLQ)
- Colombo (CMB)
- Dammam (DMM)
- Edinburgh (EDI)
- Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
- Istanbul (IST)
- Kuwait (KWI)
- Lyon (LYS)
- Mumbai (BOM)
- Muscat (MCT)
- Oslo (OSL)
- Tunis (TUN)
First impressions of Emirates A350 Business Class
Full disclosure – the A350 is my favourite aircraft type, but I boarded this flight with relatively low expectations.
The Emirates Business Class seat is a dated product. I have flown on the refurbished A380, and while it looks a little more attractive, it cannot compete with the best Business Class seats on the market.
Despite all of that, the Emirates A350 made a good first impression and exceeded my expectations. Why? There were six reasons.
1. Spacious cabin
The absence of overhead storage bins above the centre seats and the larger A350 windows give the cabin a bright, airy and spacious feel. There are only eight rows of seats in the cabin, so it still feels cosy and exclusive.
2. Thoughtful seat upgrades
The seat is where I had my lowest expectations and was most surprised. The A350 has fundamentally the same seat you’ll find on the A380 and refurbished 777s, However, Emirates has made some very thoughtful design tweaks to enhance the passenger experience and privacy – more on that below.
The choice of materials and tones also feels more premium and elegant, even when compared to the refurbished seat on the A380.
3. Manual IFE control buttons
My favourite innovation is the manual buttons for controlling volume, brightness, and playback. These are located on the side of the seat. So there is no need for you to reach out for the screen or the hand controller awkwardly. They are easily accessible, whether in seat, lounge, or lie-flat modes, making interactions with the crew or travel companions much smoother.
4. More Privacy
The side wings on the seats have been filled in and extended slightly, providing a much greater sense of privacy compared to Business Class on the A380.
5. Luxury lavs
You can judge any hospitality business’s attention to detail by the state of their toilets. The lavatories on the A350 toilets have been given a boutique hotel makeover, incorporating the ghaf tree design, faux tiling and marble for a very premium look and feel.
6. Happy crew
Service on this flight was excellent. Talking to the crew, it was clear that they thoroughly enjoyed working on the A350 and reported receiving a lot of positive feedback from passengers.
Using Skywards Miles and Skywards+
This trip was initially booked as a one-way cash ticket in Economy. I was keen to try out the Premium Economy cabin on this trip as it was a relatively short day flight from Europe. However, the Premium Economy prices were eye-watering, so I settled for extra legroom seats in Economy.
As we were flying back to Dubai on the final day of a UAE public holiday, I was not optimistic about any Skywards upgrade availability. However, a few days before departure, we got lucky and upgrade availability opened up in Business Class for the whole family.
Using my Skyward+ premium subscription also delivered a 20% discount on the number of miles required to upgrade.
At the time, there was no option to upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy. However, the rules changed shortly after. Emirates Skywards now allows Skywards Premium Economy rewards as well as upgrades from Economy to Premium Economy. Read the full details here.
My take
Emirates has done an excellent job with the A350 Business Class. I’m looking forward to trying it out in Premium Economy and sharing a full Business Class review. Given a choice, this would be the first choice of Emirates aircraft to fly over the A380 or 777.