An OMAAT reader sent me an interesting post he saw on Threads, and asked for my take. I think this is worth discussing, because the person’s claim might be sort of true, but not for the reason he thinks.
In this post:
Traveler accuses Emirates of flying old planes to Africa
A Nigerian fashion designer named Ugo Mozie took to Threads, posting a video from his business class seat on an Emirates 777. The video is captioned as follows:
Again, for the connecting flight to Africa we get the oldest planes possible. Just listen to the captain. They don’t send these quality planes anywhere else.
In the video, you can hear the captain apologizing for the brief lack of ground power, and also for the temperature in the cabin, due to an inoperable APU. I had initially embedded the post into this story, but it seems that it was just deleted, after I published, so you’ll have to take my word for it.
Of course I’m not a fan of generalizing entire continents (Egypt and South Africa are kind of different in every way), but I see where he’s coming from.
For that matter, he’s hardly the first person to accuse airlines of discriminating against African countries in terms of the planes they fly there. In the past, we’ve even seen Ghana and Nigeria threaten airlines over the types of aircraft they fly to those countries.
Is Emirates really flying older planes to Africa, or…?
So the guy sort of has a point, but not necessarily for the reason he thinks.
First of all, the plane’s broken APU and ground power issues were just a really unlucky coincidence. Broken APUs happen, but it’s deferrable maintenance, and I guarantee you that no one at Emirates is saying “yeah, send the plane with the broken APU to Lagos.” So the core of his complaint has nothing to do with the age of the aircraft, but rather, just with bad luck.
Now, do a lot of destinations in West Africa and Central Africa get Emirates’ 777s with old interiors? Yes, that is true. Emirates has a pretty straightforward fleet, consisting almost exclusively of 777s and A380s (the airline is also now getting A350s, but there aren’t many flying yet).
Many African airports are limited to the 777, due to airport infrastructure, and also due to lack of demand. Emirates does fly A380s to some destinations in Africa, ranging from Cairo, to Casablanca, to Johannesburg.
Now, Emirates is in the process of updating its 777s with new interiors, including adding a new business class and premium economy. We’re seeing all kinds of planes be reconfigured, including some of Emirates’ older 777s. That’s an important distinction, as there’s a difference between which plane is actually old, and which plane looks old from the inside. Just ask Delta, which is famous for making old AF planes look new (and I’m not talking about Air France).
So, why are destinations in West Africa and Central Africa not among the first to get the reconfigured 777s? It comes down to the competitive landscape.
As any for-profit airline would want to do, you need to offer your best product in the most competitive markets first, where there’s more potential market share to gain. It’s not surprising that flights to and from the United States, Europe, and the South Pacific, have been among the first to get these new products, including premium economy, which has become such a popular cabin in recent years.
For example, Europe to Australia is a huge market for Emirates, and there’s a ton of competition. Emirates has to compete with other Gulf carriers, and also with top notch Asian carriers, like Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, etc. That’s on top of British Airways and Qantas, which have a loyal following on each end of the journey.
The same is true for flights to and from the United States. The Gulf carriers have really competitive products, there are all kinds of connecting options through Europe, and US airlines have a loyal customer base due to their frequent flyer programs.
The reality is that the passenger flow for flights to and from parts of Africa work very differently. The competitive landscape just isn’t as strong. Many markets have very little competition, many countries in the region don’t have national airlines, geography makes competition a little more fragmented (you’re not going to fly a Gulf carrier from Lagos to London), etc.
All of these routes will eventually get updated products, but it’ll take some patience. By the way, it’s important to mention that it’s not just some Africa routes that generally get Emirates’ older jets. Emirates’ fifth freedom US flights from New York to Milan and Newark to Athens have historically received the oldest variants of the respective jets (A380s and 777s). That’s slowly starting to change, but up until recently, was consistently the case.
Bottom line
I’ve heard people accuse Emirates of flying its older and more run down planes to Africa more than once, so I figured it was worth a post. Yes, it’s not untrue that Emirates operates a lot of routes to Africa with its older aircraft.
However, that’s just a function of the competitive landscape, and of needing to prioritize newly reconfigured aircraft in markets with stronger competition. If an Emirates plane has some sort of mechanical issue in Dubai, that’s not because of what the interior of the plane looks like, but instead, it’s just bad luck.
KLM certainly has a history of sending its oldest planes to Africa. The flight I took back from Namibia a few years ago was a disgrace, the service was as horrible on Brussels Airlines to Rwanda was. In addition, my seatback screen was broken and flickering brightly and couldn't shut off. The flight attendant handed me a barf bag and two pieces of tape and brusquely told me "You can tape that over the screen."...
KLM certainly has a history of sending its oldest planes to Africa. The flight I took back from Namibia a few years ago was a disgrace, the service was as horrible on Brussels Airlines to Rwanda was. In addition, my seatback screen was broken and flickering brightly and couldn't shut off. The flight attendant handed me a barf bag and two pieces of tape and brusquely told me "You can tape that over the screen."
It should also be noted that many Africa-bound flights tend to be the most expensive in the world, so shouldn't airlines use their best planes and finest personnel for their most expensive routes?
Good to see that American-style persecution politics has been successfully exported to the rest of the world. Now Emirates' anodyne commerical and/or operational decisions can be derided as "racist" by everyone!
Not quite everyone Pete, some of us are not so disposed.
More often than not, the persecution is real.
Running an airline is a commercial enterprise, horses for courses does not always please the WOKE brigade.
Not only do they fly their older planes but the service is also below what you would see on "competitive" routes. It seems TK has studied the market and is moving aggressively across Africa which much more superior product overall. However, they are all facing very stiff competition from Ethiopian Airlines and have scaled back their Africa strategy, either with smaller planes and/or fewer frequencies. The problem for EK is it only operates wide body...
Not only do they fly their older planes but the service is also below what you would see on "competitive" routes. It seems TK has studied the market and is moving aggressively across Africa which much more superior product overall. However, they are all facing very stiff competition from Ethiopian Airlines and have scaled back their Africa strategy, either with smaller planes and/or fewer frequencies. The problem for EK is it only operates wide body fleet and that is not going to make it easier.
Virgin also send their oldest interiors to Africa.
Virgin sends their oldest interiors to so many places, not just Africa, there's multiple 787 frequencies on SFO and LAX, two very important destinations. It really brings down their product offering. The herringbone seat is definitively holding them back massively.
It used to be ok back when BA hadn't updated its interiors, but even BA has gotten with the program and Virgin is left looking in the 2000s with its dated product.
The moment Virgin...
Virgin sends their oldest interiors to so many places, not just Africa, there's multiple 787 frequencies on SFO and LAX, two very important destinations. It really brings down their product offering. The herringbone seat is definitively holding them back massively.
It used to be ok back when BA hadn't updated its interiors, but even BA has gotten with the program and Virgin is left looking in the 2000s with its dated product.
The moment Virgin fixes those herringbone seats, they'll see a massive influx of passengers. Right now, between the seats being bad and the risk of getting plane swapped, often times you're better off booking Delta, or looking at AA/BA for better fleet consistency.
Another reason not discussed in the article is that Emirates' oldest planes also have the more-dense configurations with more Economy Class seats. Emirates newest planes have more premium configurations, and they are also sent to more premium competitive destinations as Ben notes in the article.
A few years ago when Emirates had that crash landing in Dubai on the 777 coming from southern India, a lot of people called out accusing Emirates of sending it's...
Another reason not discussed in the article is that Emirates' oldest planes also have the more-dense configurations with more Economy Class seats. Emirates newest planes have more premium configurations, and they are also sent to more premium competitive destinations as Ben notes in the article.
A few years ago when Emirates had that crash landing in Dubai on the 777 coming from southern India, a lot of people called out accusing Emirates of sending it's oldest planes to the Indian Subcontinent for the same reason. They were saying that these old planes are the reason for that crash. Emirates pointed to the same reason about configuration I mentioned above as the reason for EK sending it's oldest planes to South Asia. The same applies to Africa. There is less premium demand to many destinations in Africa, and much more demand in Economy for Emirates.
Just look at Emirates' A350 deliveries, which follow the same pattern as their 777s. The first planes they are taking delivery of have heavy Economy configurations with less premium seats. Their future A350 deliveries will have a more premium layout, and in the future, Emirates' oldest A350s will likely fly these less-premium heavy routes to Africa and South Asia.
I want to add that it is likely that the A350 delivery and configuration pattern is not a coincidence. Unfortunately, EK and many airlines are guilty of sending older more outdated planes to certain destinations. It's just an unfortunate reality. The same was true with the Gulf Carriers to South Asia, and I would routinely experience that (and still do).
Yes but not in this case, there is no lack of premium demand to Lagos. The loads for business and first are high.
I do want to call something out, it is possible EK said "send the plane with the broken APU to LOS" but not because they want to send bad planes to Africa, but because an APU is required Minimum Equipment List (MEL) item for ETOPS operations. DXB-LOS can be flown without ETOPS, so unfortunately it may just be that the plane was sent to LOS because it was one of the places it could go to.
Wasn't Delta called out for doing the same thing on one of their Africa flights to the point that their government banned certain aircraft because of the functionality issues?
Back when they used to scissor-hub 767s to South Africa, they were eventually prohibited from continuing to use their 767-300 ER fleet, and instead switched to their 767-400 ER fleet, before going nonstop to Jo'Burg.
It's interesting that in Europe, Vienna seems to get the A380 regularly that has no First Class. I found out the hard way with a booking in F that was downgraded to J. They seem to be switching this to VIE on a regular basis while often selling F until a week or two out and then downgrading anyone who booked it.
Ben, I agree with parts of your article, but flights to Lagos are in high demand. Wealthy Nigerians and government officials regularly pay for premium seats, and there’s a lot of connecting travel through hubs like Doha and Dubai, often with planned stopovers. It’s a very profitable route.
Still, there’s a clear pattern of unequal treatment on many African routes. I travel to the continent often for work and have seen it firsthand. Turkish Airlines,...
Ben, I agree with parts of your article, but flights to Lagos are in high demand. Wealthy Nigerians and government officials regularly pay for premium seats, and there’s a lot of connecting travel through hubs like Doha and Dubai, often with planned stopovers. It’s a very profitable route.
Still, there’s a clear pattern of unequal treatment on many African routes. I travel to the continent often for work and have seen it firsthand. Turkish Airlines, for example—usually known for excellent business class catering—often doesn’t stock alcohol and serves a basic sandwich and fruit on an 8-hour, $6K+ flight to West Africa. That’s far below what you’d get on similar-length flights elsewhere. I’ve even had friendly chats with flight attendants who admit they feel embarrassed by how certain routes are handled.
Plenty of customers notice it. My whole team has had similar experiences, even on Delta and United. It’s a global issue.
Hardly something limited to Africa. I lived in MAA for 5 years, when EK still had the A330 and A340, and was on a Emirates itinerary every month, sometimes more. MAA got the oldest planes, something the crew also mentioned while BOM and DEL got the relatively newer ones. Even now, LH flies an old A343 to MAA.
yep, i agree. MAA does have pretty bad aircraft flying to it. etihad used to fly their 787's to chennai but recently swapped back to their a320's.
in terms of the a380 however, i believe MAA isn't built to handle it
Lufthansa also flies old 343s to plenty of destinations in the YS including Washington and New York.
It's not just Emirates and "to/from Africa" or "Europe to USA".
Living in a not one of the largest cities in the US like NYC or LAX means that you have to wait longer for the "newest" products from European airlines if they even come at all. Even getting a direct flight is sort of like "oh we got thrown a bone." You want to fly on the newest, nicest products? Fly to a different gateway city first. IT's all market dependent.
See this complaint a fair bit and I think people just need to face reality. The demand and purchasing power is just a lot higher for other destinations. I don’t expect airlines to fly their best/biggest planes here in Ireland (or even to offer routes) because it’s a small market with much lower demand rhan other places. That’s not discrimination, it’s just reality.
"You’re not going to fly a Gulf carrier from Lagos to London"
Actually, London was one of the largest connecting markets for both QR and EK pre-COVID. The need for Nigerians to obtain special transit visas (at significant expense and hassle) just to board a connecting flight via an EU airport means that connections via the Middle East and East Africa are popular.
Nothing only that.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic charge astronomical fares for the direct flight. Connecting via Dubai or Doha can come at 50-70% off.
Saw a BA economy for £1,400
Got something on QR for £560
Premium economy and business class are even much worse (QR Q-suite for half the price or BA, Virgin old outdated seats)
You can even get first class availability on Emirates for what BA charges for business class.
Really ZEPHYR, do explain?
Actually, the average one-way fare from Lagos to London in 2024 on Virgin was $452 and on Emirates via Dubai was $491. Qatar Airways is at $693 one-way. Sure, BA has an average fare of $993 (heavily skewed by a lot of premium cabin O&D) but that isn't the case with Virgin who have seen their yields eroded badly (-14%) in 2024 after Air Peace's entry into the market as well as a 13% reduction in O&D volume.
All flight prices are meaningless unless you quote the date of your enquiry, the date and time of the flight, total flight time (inc connection) and the seat class.
Comparing apples with pears is hardly cricket old bean.
I’m sure KQ has one of the lowest LOS-LON fares at about $175 or something … it involves having to overnight in NBO on her outbound but does include 2x Bags which is super handy. The fare and routing is popular for those lower down the food chain in NGA like first time students, etc.
KQ's average fare is $320 and it comes in above only Rwandair of the major carriers between Lagos and London.