All Emirates A350s Won’t Have First Class: Big Implications

Emirates has this week taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-900. In a previous post, I covered the details of the interiors of Emirates’ A350s, including how the carrier is basically installing its same old business class. In this post I wanted to focus on another update we’ve just learned about, as it relates to first class on the A350.

Emirates won’t install first class on any A350s

Emirates has a total of 65 Airbus A350-900s on order. Up until now, we’ve known that Emirates wouldn’t install first class on its first batch of A350s. However, the belief was that Emirates may install a first class cabin on some of its later A350 deliveries, as the airline will be taking delivery of these jets over the course of several years.

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Well, unfortunately that’s no longer the case, as Emirates has revealed its exact A350 fleet plans. All Emirates A350s will be in a three-cabin configuration, with business class, premium economy, and economy:

• Emirates’ first 15 A350s will feature 312 seats; these planes won’t have crew rest facilities, so won’t be used for long haul flights
• Emirates’ remaining 50 A350s will feature 298 seats; these planes will have crew rest facilities, so will be used for long haul flights (in addition to being used for some shorter hops)

So there you have it, now we know Emirates’ A350 fleet plans. All 65 jets will have the same interior, with the only difference being a slightly smaller economy cabin on the last 50 jets to be delivered, to allow for crew rest facilities.

This is a noteworthy strategy shift for Emirates

Over the years, we’ve seen airlines go in one of two directions when it comes to international first class. Some airlines have eliminated first class, arguing the cabin simply isn’t profitable or necessary, and instead focusing on offering a great business class product. Other airlines have continued to invest in first class, often making it more exclusive, as they see it having an important place in the market.

Emirates is unique in that it has the world’s largest first class footprint (in terms of the total number of first class seats), by far. The airline offers first class on a vast majority of its aircraft, with just a small subfleet of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s not having first class.

So it’s interesting to now see the airline becoming less focused on offering first class consistently. With Emirates expected to take delivery of 65 A350s, you can expect that the percentage of Emirates flights with first class will be decreasing over time.

Let me be clear — Emirates most certainly isn’t giving up on first class. The airline has over 200 Boeing 777Xs on order, and they’re all expected to feature first class — specifically, the carrier’s new first class product. Now, if/when the airline actually takes delivery of these planes remains to be seen, given that they’ve been delayed from 2020 until 2026 (so far).

I’m not saying that Emirates is making the wrong decision by not installing first class on its A350s. However, there’s no denying that it means the airline is somewhat deemphasizing the cabin. A few thoughts:

• Emirates has started installing premium economy in recent years, so it seems that Emirates increasingly sees there being value in dedicating “real estate” to that cabin
• Emirates presumably wants to keep its overall seat count up as much as possible, especially as the airline starts to retire A380s, which will greatly limit Emirates’ overall capacity
• Admittedly there’s not huge first class demand in all markets, but what has made Emirates unique is that the airline is the only one in the world to offer one-stop first class service between most cities; so whether you’re going from from Munich to Mauritius, or from Chicago to Chennai, or from Dallas to Dhaka, the airline can get you there in first class
• Emirates has made it pretty clear that it intends to use A350s for lower demand long haul markets, so it’s safe to assume that these planes won’t be flying to places like London, New York, Singapore, Sydney, etc.

Bottom line

We’ve now learned that Emirates won’t install first class on any of the 65 Airbus A350-900s the airline has on order. We’ve known for some time that the initial batch of A350s wouldn’t get first class, but now we’ve learned that none of the aircraft will get the cabin.

It’s hardly the most radical decision for the airline to make. However, for a carrier that was previously so dedicated to first class, it does mean the percentage of jets over time without first class will continue to increase. Fortunately once the 777X joins the fleet, we should at least see lots more aircraft with Emirates’ new first class product.

What do you make of Emirates not installing first class on any of its A350s?