EMIRATES HAS FINALLY GIVEN UP THEIR RESISTANCE TO LAUNCH A PREMIUM ECONOMY CABIN
(Posted 09th December 2020)
The launch of Emirates’ Premium Economy Cabin can be compared with the act of pulling a tooth, long overdue, long in coming but finally inevitable.
Leading airlines around the world have offered this added cabin for a long time but it took Emirates years to follow suit.
The first of three new Airbus A380 aircraft due for delivery this month was last weekend serving as the launch platform for the new cabin product.
The new cabin should also feature in the next two Airbus A380 deliveries later this month and will gradually be introduced across the fleet as retrofits when aircraft undergo heavy maintenance.
The official launch date of the new travel class, which will be in a 2 x 3 x 2 layout, should take place by mid 2021 when more planes are available to begin hardsell the new product.
The airline’s A380 fleet now stands at 116 such giant passenger aircraft and while several have reportedly undergone some form of conversion to carry cargo on the main passenger decks will Emirates continue to use the plane as the backbone of its fleet.
The airline is banking on the revival of air travel at a not too distant time in the future across its global network but has meanwhile brought back the A380 to such routes as London – 4 times a day, Moscow, Paris, Guangzhou but also Cairo and Amman. This move is a sign of market confidence at a time when other airlines like Air France and British Airways have retired the aircraft from their fleet – for now – while Lufthansa has already given indication of doing the same.
This will eventually leave Emirates with the largest operating fleet of A380’s in the world and allow Dubai to remain the world’s busiest international airport and transit platform for years to come.
In East Africa has Emirates returned to Entebbe, though with reduced frequencies compared to pre-pandemic times and is also once again serving Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
