Emirates is aggressively retrofitting its fleet, including Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s. This is being done primarily to add premium economy, but on the 777, we’re also seeing the introduction of a new business class product. There’s an exciting update, as Emirates has just revealed plans to start flying these retrofitted jets to the United States on a pretty widespread basis.
In this post:
Emirates reveals US routes for refurbished 777s
Emirates is updating the interiors of 81 Boeing 777-300ERs. The airline recently started this project, and roughly one jet is being reconfigured every two weeks. The airline has just announced plans to specifically fly these planes to the United States over the coming months.
Specifically, you can expect that the reconfigured Boeing 777s will fly to the following six gateways in the United States:
- Chicago (ORD) on EK235/236 — retrofitted 777s will be gradually introduced as of November 1, 2024, and will be daily as of November 22, 2024
- Boston (BOS) on EK237/239 — retrofitted 777s will be gradually introduced as of December 10, 2024, and will be daily as of December 18, 2024
- Dallas (DFW) on EK221/222 — retrofitted 777s will be gradually introduced as of January 9, 2025, and will be daily as of January 15, 2025
- Seattle (SEA) on EK229/230 — retrofitted 777s will be introduced daily as of January 24, 2025
- Newark (EWR) and Athens (ATH) on EK209/210 — retrofitted 777s will be introduced daily as of February 10, 2025
- Miami (MIA) and Bogota (BOG) on EK213/213 — retrofitted 777s will be gradually introduced as of February 19, 2025, and will be daily as of March 1, 2025
This is a very impressive rollout, as this covers virtually all of Emirates’ flights to the United States that are operated by 777s, as opposed to A380s. This is a game changer for Emirates, since historically the carrier’s 777 business class has been quite uncompetitive with what’s offered by other airlines in the region, like Etihad and Qatar Airways.
What these 777 upgrades mean for Emirates passengers
What are the practical implications of these cabin upgrades for Emirates passengers? There are two most significant implications.
First of all, this will represent a huge upgrade for business class passengers. As much as Emirates has the reputation of being a world-class airline, a lot of that is marketing, at least in terms of hard product. The carrier’s Airbus A380s are quite nice, but the Boeing 777s have been a different story, at least up until now. In particular, Emirates’ old Boeing 777-300ER business class consists of slightly angled seats, in a 2-3-2 configuration.
So once these flights are upgraded, passengers can look forward to a fully flat business class with direct aisle access. While it’s still hardly the best business class seat in the world, it does represent a huge upgrade over the old experience.
On top of that, these planes will feature premium economy, a cabin that Emirates didn’t previously have on 777s. Emirates is still working on installing this throughout its fleet, so you can’t get a premium economy experience between all city pairs. However, the airline is making great progress.
In first class, unfortunately don’t expect many changes. Emirates has only nine 777s featuring its “Game Changer” first class, and there are no plans to retrofit existing planes with the new first class. So on most US routes, you won’t find the new first class product.
Bottom line
Emirates has revealed plans to fly its retrofitted Boeing 777s to the United States. The airline has a pretty aggressive rollout schedule, and you can expect six US routes to feature the new cabins by the spring of 2025. That’s just about all of Emirates’ routes to the United States operated by 777s, so this is fantastic news.
This will be a huge improvement for business class passengers, and it’ll also open up the choice of premium economy.
What do you make of Emirates flying retrofitted 777s to the United States?
I'm trying to figure out if JFK-MIL is the only flight to EU from US. That's the A380 but not the new biz or 1st class is that right?
sorry, I meant MXP not MIL.
Why Not to Africa and Asia.
Truly wild how PE here is practically becoming the old barcalounger J almost. Wonder when we get the first lie-flat PE ;)
They’re slowly starting to be priced like J, too. Maybe eventually, they’ll also get doors in addition to lie-flats
Emirates really should redeploy the game changer first class seats on it's IAD route. Like, soon and permanently.
Game Changer 777 F to IAD would be great; so much better than the standard 777…
Is DXB-IAD operated by the A380 or 777 atm though? I remember coverage that the A380 would be permanently cut from November 2023 (https://simpleflying.com/emirates-removes-airbus-a380-washington-dulles/) yet looked at EK231 on FlightAware and saw it being operated by an A380. no idea if that is seasonal or something though
@lucky, what routes is emirates new first class flying right now and into the winter schedule.. Any US ones?
"featuring its “Game Changer”"
Can it really still be called a "Game Changer"? The only other airline that has done something somewhat similar for it's first class is JAL. And maybe LH, once they (finally) debut their new seats.
Now, Qatar's suites, *that* was a real game changer.
Lucky - I think you've got wrong daily dates for Dallas, Seattle and Newark - should be 2025, not 2024.
@ JS -- Whoops, thanks. Fixed!
Wow pleasantly surprised by how fast the new 777s will be rolled out across the US network. Business class is still not great but having that premium economy option will be nice