There are of course lots of amazing airlines out there, ranging from Qatar Airways to Singapore Airlines. However, I’d argue that no airline has built a brand quite in the way that Emirates Airline has. Emirates is one of the most talked about airline in the world, and I think the carrier has tapped into something that no other airline has, at least to the same level. In this post, I want to talk about that a bit.
In this post:
Emirates’ passenger experience is inconsistent
Look, I’m a huge fan of the Emirates brand, and consistently enjoy flying with the airline. So don’t take this section as me trying to tear the airline apart. However, it’s simply indisputable that Emirates hasn’t been quite as focused on consistently offering an amazing passenger experience as some other airlines, especially in premium cabins:
- Emirates’ A380 first class is great, but the footprint dedicated to each seat is actually quite limited; the airline crams 14 seats in the same space where Etihad puts 10 seats, and Singapore Airlines puts six seats
- In 2017, a new Emirates 777 first class was introduced, and over seven years later, it has been installed on a grand total of nine jets; even as the airline otherwise reconfigures 777s, it’s not introducing the new first class
- While planes are starting to be reconfigured, a majority of Emirates’ 777s still have angled business class seats in a 2-3-2 configuration
- Even Emirates’ brand new 777 and A350 business class is hardly cutting edge; for 2025, it’s no doubt a tier below the other new business class products out there
As much as some people (justifiably) rag on Emirates for some of the above, a vast majority of customers are quite forgiving of the airline. The reality is that Emirates takes this approach because it can. Emirates is a brand that can afford to not have a cutting edge product, because it has a reputation that I’d truly consider to be in a league of its own, despite its lack of investments in some areas.
Let me of course acknowledge that for economy flyers, the carrier’s A380 experience is quite pleasant as well. Economy doesn’t get much better than on the Emirates A380.
Emirates’ key to success, which other airlines miss
Emirates President Tim Clark is one of the brightest people in the airline industry. He has built Emirates into what it is today, and I’d argue he’s also one of the biggest contributors to Dubai’s success. I could listen to Clark talk about the industry all day long, because he has a level of perspective and understanding that few people have.
While Clark did all the basic things right that you need to run an airline successfully, I’d argue that the most impressive thing he did is something that very few airlines do. He understands the value of halo effects, hype, bling, and marketing, and I think that’s a large part of the carrier’s success.
The Emirates A380 halo effect is real
When people think of Emirates, they probably think of the Airbus A380. And when people think of the Airbus A380, they probably think of Emirates. Emirates is the only airline that was ever crazy about the A380, and at its peak, the airline operated roughly as many A380s as all other airlines combined.
Of course the A380 is an incredible plane in terms of economics, when you have the passenger volume that Emirates does, thanks to Dubai’s ideal geography (connecting east and west). But Emirates has quite literally built its brand around the A380.
A vast majority of Emirates’ marketing involves the two standout features on the plane — the business class bar, and the first class shower suites. It doesn’t matter if anyone has ever flown Emirates or not, or whether they’ve ever even flown in a premium cabin. People know about these things, and it immediately creates positive associations for the airline.
These were both significant investments. While the A380 shower is in a space that couldn’t otherwise be efficiently utilized, the cost of installing the shower suites and flying water around the world isn’t cheap. For that matter, it’s my understanding that the plumbing was also quite complex, and caused some major issues, at first.
I’d say the backstory on the bar is even more interesting, as the bar is in a space where the airline could otherwise have seats. When Emirates first introduced the bar on the A380, Clark wasn’t sure if this would prove to be a hit. So at first, Emirates installed overhead bins in the area of the bar, in case the airline decided to change its mind, and rip out the bar. As Clark explained at the time:
“I designed the bar at the back of the aircraft on the upper deck, on the understanding that if it didn’t work, we could remove it in 96 hours and put eight more business class seats in.”
Keep in mind that even among premium cabin passengers, a large percentage of people will never see this product, as the 777 doesn’t have this feature. But that doesn’t stop people from having these positive associations.
Emirates’ soft product & bling investment pays off
Many airlines invest in offering a cutting edge hard product, but then try to save money on the soft product. Emirates kind of takes the opposite approach, especially in premium cabins.
A large part of Emirates’ soft product investment comes either in the form of “bling,” things that get people talking, and excess.
For example, in first class, Emirates invests an insane amount in wine and other alcoholic drinks. There’s simply no other airline that has even half as good of a wine selection as Emirates does in first class. Emirates also offers “unlimited” caviar in first class, a level of investment you won’t find on other airlines.
Even in business class, the airline offers everything from proper cocktails, to the most well stocked amenity kits, to minibars. You might dismiss this all as something that doesn’t have much of an ROI, though let me give an example.
Last summer, I had some well traveled friends who are not otherwise airline or miles & points people fly Emirates’ old 777 business class between Newark and Athens. I should mention they’ve flown some top business class products, and also many first class products. What was their takeaway from the experience, flying in an angled business class product with a 2-3-2 configuration? “It was just amazing, almost as good as first class on other airlines. They even had cocktails!”
Emirates’ connection to Dubai is a huge asset
Particularly in recent years, Dubai has really come into its own, and has become quite the global destination. Dubai is without a doubt the most open, liberal, and tolerant place in the immediate region, and it’s a place that most people feel comfortable traveling through, and also a place that many people are intrigued be.
I think this is a major advantage that Emirates has over some other Gulf carriers. While Doha and Abu Dhabi have things going for them, they don’t have the same “sexiness” as Dubai, at least as far as the traveling public at large is concerned. I also think this is a challenge Riyadh Air faces, because Saudi Arabia doesn’t have the same reputation as the UAE.
Typically people view having to connect somewhere as a negative. In the case of Dubai, many people might see an itinerary through there, and want to plan a longer layover, since they’ve always wanted to visit.
Bottom line
I don’t think there’s a single airline in the world that has built a brand quite in the way that Emirates has. The airline is instantly recognizable globally, and people almost always have a positive impression of the airline and brand.
I think the way that Emirates has built that is unlike what you’ll find at any other airline. Emirates can get away with things that other airlines can’t, because it understands the power of marketing, and the strength of investing in aspects of the experience that create a halo effect.
Sure, has Emirates only installed its new first class product on nine planes, over seven years after it was introduced? You bet! But have you heard of Emirates’ A380 shower suites?!?
While I always prefer when airlines invest in substance and style, I think a lot of airlines could learn a lesson or two from Emirates. There’s massive power to investing in peak aspects of the product that will be talked about endlessly. Virtually any spreadsheet jockey airline CEO would scoff at the thought of removing eight business class seats for a bar. But Emirates’ President knew exactly what he was doing, and boy, was it the right decision.
Where do you stand on the power of Emirates’ halo effect?
Even if I'll be torn apart by others here in the comments section: I dare to say that even Lufthansa business class is better than Emirates!
Why? IMHO, any business class with angled seats is inferior to a business class with flat bed seats! (At least on flights of more than 5 hours).
Over the decades, I have flown EK four times:
Once in Y from London to Dubai
Once in J from London to Osaka
Once in J from NYC to Auckland
Once in J from London to Dubai
I have never flown them in F
They were all good flights but none of them were rave worthy. I would only choose EK if their schedule work much better than others and if...
Over the decades, I have flown EK four times:
Once in Y from London to Dubai
Once in J from London to Osaka
Once in J from NYC to Auckland
Once in J from London to Dubai
I have never flown them in F
They were all good flights but none of them were rave worthy. I would only choose EK if their schedule work much better than others and if their price is super competitive coz their 2-2-2 just ain't cutting it.
The halo effect that you mentioned is created by people like you who continue to rave about taking a shower in an unhygienic seemingly cramped shower stall, instead of bathing in the comfort of a large hotel shower stall or at your home. For someone who constantly goes on and about space, I find this so strange.
Years ago, Virgin had bars on board. Qatar had on a flight I took from Madrid to Doha in 2019 in J. Nothing revolutionary there.
Sadly it is just that - a halo effect. The reality doesn't reflect it at all, and is only because of the first class product with its amenities like showers. Emirates is a very mediocre airline for most passengers including in J. Its crew are also not very polished, and frequently inconsistent and not very bothered about their jobs. BA crew rightly get a lot of heat for their inconsistency of service levels, but Emirates crew are the same in my experience.
"Let me of course acknowledge that for economy flyers, the carrier’s A380 experience is quite pleasant as well. Economy doesn’t get much better than on the Emirates A380."
Lol, this just shows you have never flown in Economy with them ever. Crew are generally terrible and unbothered. The A380 is such a vast cabin they frequently look stressed and miserable working it too. Food is also utter low quality slop these days.
Ah, how great to see an opinion piece from Ben, from the mind of an avgeek! Now for my ten cents on a contrast with QR, since it’s the other airline that has milked and leveraged its own reputation to the massive extent that EK did — all the more so from the Gulf — by focusing on a premium experience instead of a premium aircraft as such.
First, QR is mighty focused about flying...
Ah, how great to see an opinion piece from Ben, from the mind of an avgeek! Now for my ten cents on a contrast with QR, since it’s the other airline that has milked and leveraged its own reputation to the massive extent that EK did — all the more so from the Gulf — by focusing on a premium experience instead of a premium aircraft as such.
First, QR is mighty focused about flying the world’s best premium products. Sure, over half the widebody fleet is 787s and older 777s and A350s (plus A380s and ancient A330s) which don’t have the Qsuite, and there are irritatingly frequent equipment swaps. On a bad day, QR is almost as bad as ET and TG in the swaps department. But what it did all those years ago with the Qsuite remains as cutting-edge today as it was then, and it’s expanded very well indeed… unlike EK’s ’nine planes and no more’ attitude towards its 777 F product. Asian airlines like SQ, BR and NH have been equally hesitant about rolling out premium products on a large scale, but not QR.
Second, QR had a laser-focused CEO, Akbar al-Baker, who believes like nobody’s business in the power of the world’s best business class, to the extent that F becomes redundant. Of course, he was far from the best in terms of employee relations (which Badr Mohammed al-Meer has done stellarly so far in rectifying). EK would have benefited a great deal from having at least a decent 777 J product all these years, something it’s finally realised.
Third, as QR belongs to OW and more or less influences, if not controls, a lot of things about the alliance and its members, it can afford to offload a fair bit of its traffic to a partner. EK can’t, since it has only A380s and 777s so far, plus it’s fairly anti-alliance, so it needs to do all the heavy lifting itself and build its own network with high frequencies and capacities. Qantas has helped it a fair bit, but it can only go so far, and EK has helped QF much more instead of the other way around. That’s a testament to EK’s brand.
So it’s an interesting contrast how EK went all-in on the A380 like no one else did, with a just-okay business-class product, and maintained a bad but nevertheless highly consistent 7-abreast J on the 777. It knew it could get away with it. QR and later EY realised that they couldn’t do that to that scale with the A380 (though of course EY has the Apartments and Residence), so went about focusing on their own premium products instead.
(Also, while a bit unrelated, EK and QR have both built on sports sponsorships like no other, with QR leaning in heavily on FIFA and EK painting its A380s with so many other sports from cricket to rugby… including the latest glaring blue NBA livery. That’s something that the A380 provides the best (and obviously biggest) canvas for!)
As much as I am happy if employees are happier now Al-Baker is gone, I can't help but feel also service standards have gone down at QR since he's gone. They're incredibly inconsistent now, before even economy they were ridiculously consistent and polished. That's gone and it can easily be lacking, both in terms of crew amd things like food. QR loves to remind you 10x a flight that they're a "5 star airline" and...
As much as I am happy if employees are happier now Al-Baker is gone, I can't help but feel also service standards have gone down at QR since he's gone. They're incredibly inconsistent now, before even economy they were ridiculously consistent and polished. That's gone and it can easily be lacking, both in terms of crew amd things like food. QR loves to remind you 10x a flight that they're a "5 star airline" and "the world's best airline" but recently it's all fur coat and no knickers.
hard product on the 380s is truly weak. J is crammed and noisy, and I don't believe the seats are truly flat ... They may technically be, but the way they operate they end up slightly angled, maybe 170 degrees, and not comfortable even with padding. I actually think the same is true in the F seats, but they are wider and longer and more private, and maybe the padding is better, so it is less noticeable
"are intrigued be"....... should read "are intrigued by"