Nice work, Emirates!
However, quite sad that their business class has sweaty plastic seats (OK, plastics-impregnated stain-free leather, which is functionally the same thing) instead of nice breathable cloth. A cut below the best.
While I am not a fan of their interior design choices, I will admit that PE seat looks very comfy and looks like a seat I can doze off with minimal problems. 40" pitch, 19.5" width and 8" recline is above average, IIRC. Of course, this is only half the story - will the soft product be the same as Economy, or would it be like business-class-lite?
I think the cabins would look far nicer if they replaced the burled walnut finishes with the grey laminates they use in the upper deck lounge. Otherwise a subtle but much-needed improvement aesthetically. The new PE seats look generic but okay but I’m not a fan of their business seats at all.
Not as good as Air NZ which is yonkers old now.
It all depends on the pricing, which I think EK will do a good job off. AF, LH and BA all price PE too high and often doesn’t seem like a good middle ground between economy and business.
Who tests these seats ? No one - the leg rest and calf rest look useless unless you’re 4 feet tall - nice finishes but is that enough ? - let’s hope the 3 abreast seat on the 777 will be gone forever - I’m a bit disappointed
in 2019 I flew three times to Dallas from Dubai. One direct and the other two via LHR, half with BA and the other half with AA. With EK in Business Class (plenty of comfort but 16 hours flight is tough though). The other two flight were 8+10 hours approx. Twice I had the chance to get the first raw seat with leg rest which makes a huge difference to me. Then I was also in the back seats without leg rest and it wasn't as comfortable honestly. So to answer your statement I did make 8, 10, 14 and 16 hours flights in all classes, including Economy.
This premium economy has a 40 in pitch . I think Cathay is only 32 in ?
@Experienced Traveller
Cathay's Premium Economy is 40" on their A350s as well as on their 773ERs. Maybe you were thinking of Economy?
@Steve-O:
You mention that Flydubai might get the HAECO seats on the 737MAX’s later in the year?
I am slightly confused as don’t they already have their 737MAX kitted out with the fully flat business class seats, similar to JETBLUE?
Damn this is all so underwhelming. Are we sure first got updated door height/suit width?
@Terence Marcelo
Hear! Hear! Gorgeous was absolutely the word that sprang to mind.
And glam too.
Well done, Emirates. Retrofit the fleet and you'll steal the show, against all those dreary black, blue, and dull grey offerings out there.
Can't wait to buy a ticket
I agree with @Frog, the product looks quite nice, the question will be the pricing. The price needs to be clearly closer to economy than to business. Otherwise I would rather alternate between flying economy and business class, if money is an issue.
@Claus
Tim Clark has been very clear on this. PE price will be closer to economy. These were his exact words. Honestly if I can get a ticket in PE from Dubai to Europe for 1400/1500$ in PE which means 6 to max 8 hours flight I think it's a good value. For sure better than Economy and better than Business. In terms of value for money of course. And for DXB / US I think price should not exceed 1600$ which is the average I have been paying on my last two return trips DXB-DFW via BA and AA.
@Nicola: It depends, for example I just looked up prices for FRA-ICN in October, which is a route I often fly. Prices for non-stop in Euro are:
Economy: 650 (Asiana)
PE: 1300 (LH)
Business: 2100 (Asiana and LH)
Looking at that, I don‘t find PE a good offer. I would either go for the 650 and simply endure the 10 hours, or I would pay the 2100 and get a really nice flight with a bed.
Not to ditch first class in this horrible period for airline-business, is quite remarkable and a clear statement towards the competition. The A380 shows, once more, a perfect diversification of EK's on board product.