The launch destination for Emirates much anticipated Premium Economy product is London Heathrow.
The first A380 aircraft with Premium Economy installed will operate flights EK003 and EK004 daily starting Monday 4 January.
- EK003 departs Dubai at 14:30hrs, arriving at 18:20 in London Heathrow.
- EK004 departs London at 20:20 and arrives in Dubai the next day at 07:20.
For the time being, Emirates plans to offer on the spot upgrades to certain passengers, probably Skywards elite members. The new product was unveiled in Dubai last week.
Emirates is the first airline in the Middle East to introduce a Premium Economy seat and cabin. This comes after Etihad’s launch of Economy Space, an Economy Plus style product in 2018.
What do we know about Emirates the new Premium Economy cabin?
Emirates Premium Economy is located in a separate cabin at the front of the main deck, with 3 lavatories dedicated to passengers. There will be 56 seats in 2-4-2 cabin layout.
The Premium Economy seat features include:
- 40-inches pitch
- 19.5 inches wide seat
- 8 inches recline in a cradle position
- 6-way adjustable headrests, calf rests and footrests
- 13.3” IFE screen
- In-seat charging points
- Wide dining table and side cocktail table.
The cabin design includes a wood panel finishing similar to Business Class. Each seat is covered in cream-coloured anti-stain leather with stitching details. It looks very premium.
Improved onboard experience
Passengers flying Premium Economy can expect better onboard amenities delivered in a quieter, calmer cabin. The food and drink, inflight entertainment, amenity kits and blankets and pillows on offer will all be enhanced.
On the ground, there may be dedicated Premium Economy check-in desks at Dubai. However, passengers will not have complimentary access to Emirates’ premium lounges. That may not matter so much to expats in the UAE. Plaza Premium has opened an excellent new lounge in Terminal 3. The lounge is accessible with Lounge Key and several other programmes.
How much will it cost?
Speaking at the 2019 Arabian Travel Market in Dubai Emirates CEO Sir Tim Clark outlined the airline’s plans and strategy for introducing a Premium Economy product. The aim is to create something that will encourage passengers flying in Economy to trade up, while not tempting Business Class travellers to downgrade.
How close is still to be seen. Given that Business Class ticket prices can run to many multiples of Economy that gives a lot of room to play with.
Where and when?
There is no confirmation of when the Premium Economy cabin will be available to book but it sounds like early 2021 is a reasonable prediction.
We look forward to introducing our Premium Economy experience on which will make its debut on an A380 in the coming months…
Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline
An obvious launch route would be London Heathrow. Emirates has scheduled four daily A380s to operate to London over the winter season. Demand between Dubai and London rocketed after the UAE was added to the UK’s travel corridor.
What don’t we know about Emirates’ plans for Premium Economy
The two things we do not yet know is how Emirates Skywards will price Premium Economy redemptions and whether two class upgrades using Skywards Miles will be allowed.
How much will Skywards awards cost?
At the moment, Business Class reward flights cost between 1.6 to 2 times more Skywards Miles than an Economy Class reward. We do not yet know the pricing for Skywards redemption in Premium Economy.
The simplest approach would be to price Premium Economy halfway between the current Economy and Business Class prices.
However, I can see that there could be compelling arguments in favour of pricing closer to either Economy or Business Class depending on how Emirates expects passengers to respond.
My gut instinct though is that we will see Premium Economy priced somewhere around the halfway mark.
How will upgrades work?
Perhaps, the most interesting unknown and potentially the most upsetting for frequent flyers is how upgrades will work once Premium Economy is introduced.
At the moment Skywards only allows single cabin upgrades with Miles. Skywards Miles can only be used to upgrade from Economy to Business or from Business to First. It is not possible to upgrade from Economy to First.
If that rule remains in place passengers would need to buy a Premium Economy fare in order to have a chance of upgrading to Business Class. This obviously makes sense from a revenue-generating perspective for Emirates.
I would expect to see the number of Skywards Miles required for upgrades reduced. It would be a massive Skywards devaluation if the cost of upgrading from Economy to Premium Economy remains the same as the current cost to upgrade from Economy to Business Class.
How does Etihad Economy Space compare?
Down the road, Etihad has taken a faster and cheaper approach by launching Economy Space, an extra-legroom option. Economy Space uses the same seat as the rest of the Economy cabin but offers about 5 inches of extra legroom.
At the end of the day, this is not a fully-fledged Premium Economy product. Etihad does not offer any of the other perks typical of Premium Economy such as better food, priority boarding or extra luggage. Read my review of Etihad Economy Space.
Is this a game-changer?
Honestly, it appears Emirates is going to be launching a fantastic product.
The short day flights between Europe and the Middle East make up a good proportion of my flying. I’m more than happy with Premium Economy on those flights.
Emirates looks set to offer the best Premium Economy seat available to and from the UAE. I could see myself switching some of my travel to Emirates as a result.
We will certainly use this if they do London to Dubai as BA seem to change planes at the last minute everytime we fly and the seats we pay extra for are not available.
This is definitely an enticing change. I would consider it for day flights definitely. I like the style of the seats. It gives you more privacy than Economy. Now we wait to see what the fares are. I’m not quite ready to give up my flat bed for an overnight flights however!
This would have been an enticing change, but actually Emirates is not using these seats shown above in their Premium Economy Class.
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