Review: Emirates Business Class Airbus A380 (JFK-MXP)

For the first segment of my quick trip to Paris and Cairo, I flew Emirates’ Airbus A380 business class on the 7hr10min overnight flight from New York (JFK) to Milan (MXP). This is one of the carrier’s more useful fifth freedom flights, and a fantastic way to travel between the United States and Europe.

While I’ve flown Emirates first class a countless number of times over the years, this was my first time in roughly a decade flying the carrier’s A380 business class. So, how was my experience?

On balance, Emirates’ A380 business class is pretty great. The crews are friendly, the amenities are impressive, the food and drinks are tasty, you’ve gotta love the onboard bar, and there’s a halo effect to the A380. That being said, Emirates’ A380 business class seat isn’t exactly cutting edge, and given the size of the business class cabin, it doesn’t exactly feel intimate.

How I booked my Emirates business class ticket

I booked my Emirates business class ticket using Emirates Skywards miles, which are easy to earn via a variety of transferable points currencies. I booked the following in business class for 87,000 Emirates Skywards miles plus $105.30 in taxes & fees:

11/05 EK205 New York to Milan departing 10:20PM arriving 11:55AM (+1 day)

One of the awesome things about redeeming on Emirates’ fifth freedom flights to and from the United States is that the carrier imposed surcharges are much lower than on the longer itineraries through Dubai. So this is a great way to try Emirates’ premium products, while not being on the hook for the very high fees.

One thing to keep in mind is that Emirates lets you upgrade with miles from business class to first class on the day of departure, even if you book an award ticket. Given the reasonable cost, it’s kind of painful not to upgrade, since first class is way better than business class on Emirates’ A380s.

Emirates business class lounge & boarding

I flew from Miami to New York on the day of my Emirates flight to Milan. Emirates operates its own lounge at New York JFK, which I’ve reviewed before, so I won’t be doing so again this time around, since nothing has changed.

Emirates has a door to the jet bridge in its lounge, so in theory, boarding sometimes happens through the lounge, if your A380 is parked at the right gate. However, when I was flying, they were doing some work on the upper deck jet bridge, so boarding from the lounge wasn’t possible.

My flight was departing from gate A6, with my boarding pass indicating that boarding would start at 9:20PM, a full hour before the scheduled departure time. Sure enough, that’s exactly when boarding started. That being said, the boarding process was ridiculously disorganized, especially for premium passengers.

All premium passengers were supposed to line up at a sign just sort of placed in the middle of the terminal, with no queuing system of any sort. So it was a free for all when all premium passengers (first class, business class, and elite members) were invited to board at once.

Emirates A380 business class cabin & seats

Due to the inoperable upper deck jet bridge, I boarded the Emirates A380 through the forward, left, lower deck door, and then proceeded up the staircase. I walked past the first class showers, through the first class cabin, and then found myself in the massive business class cabin.

Emirates’ A380 business class cabin consists of a total of 76 seats, and that’s broken up into two cabins — there’s the forward cabin with 58 seats, and the rear cabin with 18 seats. Emirates’ A380 business class offers staggered seats produced by Safran, in a 1-2-1 configuration.

While I’ve written a guide to the best Emirates A380 business class seats, let’s talk a bit about the layout, and the pros and cons of each type of seat.

Along the windows, seats alternate between being closer to the aisle and being closer to the windows. If possible, you definitely want one of the “true” window seats, which offer a much higher level of privacy, and also give you distance from the aisle, so you won’t easily be bumped into.

As you can see below, the aisle seats really are very close to the aisle, and don’t offer much separation.

In the center section, seats alternate between being closer to the center and being closer to the aisle. In every other row, you’ll find “honeymoon seats,” which many people like. That’s because you’ll be seated right next to your seat mate, so you can enjoy the flight together. Fortunately if you’re traveling alone, there’s a large partition that can be raised, so you still have privacy.

In alternating rows, the center seats will be right by the aisle, and these would be my last choice seats. That’s because you’re so close to the aisle, while if you’re traveling with someone, you basically can’t even communicate with them.

I booked fairly last minute, and of course my priority was to snag one of the “true” window seats. As luck would have it, seat 23K was still available, and this is a favorite among many Emirates frequent flyers. This is the first seat on the right in the rear business class cabin, so it offers a bit of extra privacy, plus a slightly larger footwell.

Thank goodness that Emirates is in the process of updating its color schemes, because these old faux-wood finishes just aren’t it. Bleh. While this is far from the most cutting edge seat out there, I have to give Emirates credit, as the seats are still very comfortable and cozy, and also feel quite spacious.

Each business class seat has a personal 18″ television. As you can see, the footwell is also quite large in this configuration. While the bulkhead offers a bit more space, all the footwells are a good size.

Located next to the seat is the area with the entertainment controller, outlets (one AC power outlet, plus two USB-A outlets), the headphone jack, a reading light, and the minibar. The “minibar” is most definitely a gimmick, as it just has a few bottles of water, and a couple of packaged snacks.

Also in this area is the personal tablet, which can be used to control the entertainment or seat functions. This is super handy, as you can even stream the map to this screen, while watching something else on the main entertainment screen.

While you can control seat functions from the tablet, there are also some basic pre-sets located next to the seat, for an easy way to recline your seat or bring it upright.

The tray table folds out from underneath the side console, and it’s a single, large tray, which swivels. It’s sturdy, but don’t expect that you’ll be able to get up while you have this extended.

One thing I love about Emirates’ A380 business class is the storage lockers along the side of the fuselage. It’s so nice to have a massive space where you can store things during the flight within easy reach. This is where having a “true” window seat also helps, since you can easily reach for anything without any effort.

A couple more things worth noting. First of all, Emirates has individual air nozzles on its A380s, which is oh-so-nice, as it’s something that many non-US carriers choose to not offer.

I also find it elegant how Emirates has automatic blinds for the windows. You can raise and lower them at the push of a button. You can either choose to just have shares (as soon below), or there’s also a full blackout setting.

While there are flashier and more advanced seats out there with better technology, I think a vast majority of people will find this to be a comfortable and pleasant product.

Emirates business class amenities

There’s no shortage of amenities in Emirates business class. Waiting at each seat upon boarding was a substantial pillow and a cozy blanket. I can’t say they’re particularly stylish, but they make it easy to get comfortable.

Emirates also has mattress pads in business class. These are stored in the overhead bins, and then after takeoff, the crew comes by to place these on seats (as you can use them even when the seat is in the upright position).

Headphones were also waiting at each seat upon boarding. Emirates’ business class headphones are okay — they have some noise canceling functionality, but don’t expect them to be comparable in quality to Bose or Bang & Olufsen.

There was also a little kit at each seat containing slippers and eye masks, separate from the amenity kit, which was handed out later in the boarding process.

As soon as I settled in, a lovely flight attendant came by my seat to welcome me onboard, and ask if I was familiar with the seat. She even addressed me by name, as the crews have little smartphones that contain all passenger information.

I was offered a pre-departure drink, with the choice of champagne, orange juice, or lemon mint juice. I selected a glass of champagne — impressively, Veuve Clicquot 2015 was being poured on my flight.

A short while later, the crew passed through the cabin to distribute the menu and wine list for the flight, and I was told that orders would be taken after takeoff.

The crew also distributed amenity kits. I don’t think there’s an airline with better stocked amenity kits than Emirates. The kit itself was a large zippered pouch, and it contained a huge number of products, ranging from BVLGARI toiletries, to a shaving kit, to a dental kit, to deodorant.

Next up, warm towels were distributed later in the boarding process.

Last but not least, pajamas were offered as well. Ordinarily, the airline only offers these on flights of over nine hours. However, since this is a fifth freedom flight that continues to Dubai, the airline offers them to all passengers on this sector, which is a nice touch.

I found the pajamas to be super comfortable, without being overly warm.

Business class amenities don’t get much better than this!

Emirates A380 business class entertainment & Wi-Fi

While the Emirates A380 I was on didn’t have the latest generation inflight entertainment, it still had the standard Emirates ICE system, which I’d consider to be the best inflight entertainment offered by any airline.

The selection of movies, TV shows, live TV, audio, etc., is simply unrivaled, and is endless. Emirates is one of the few airlines where I’ve never been bored by the entertainment selection.

Now, ummm, I was traveling on election night, so I’ve gotta say, the live TV might have been more of a curse than a blessing this night, in terms of getting any rest.

Emirates also has a great map feature and tail camera. I love how this even lists the registration code of the aircraft. The only negative on this flight is that the tail camera was broken, as you can see in the second picture below. Grrrr! The nose camera was working, but that’s never quite as fun.

Then when it comes to Wi-Fi, Emirates offers OnAir connectivity on its A380s. While this is super slow, the good thing is that Emirates Skywards members get free Wi-Fi, regardless of the cabin they’re traveling in. I wouldn’t expect to be very productive, but rather the service does the trick for texting and messaging.

To use the free Emirates Skywards Wi-Fi, you just have to log in with your account information.

All-in-all, it’s hard to beat Emirates’ inflight entertainment, between the endless seat back entertainment, plus the free Wi-Fi.

Emirates A380 departure from New York

My Emirates A380 flight to Milan was quite full, with 450 of the 489 seats occupied, including all the seats on the upper deck. As a matter of fact, there were several optional upgrades from business to first class during boarding, which caused a bit of commotion.

At 10:10PM, the (Italian) captain made his welcome aboard announcement, informing us of our flight time of 7hr10min. It was a nice touch how he made the announcement in both English and Italian. He stated that we were just waiting on a few more passengers, and should be pushing back momentarily.

That ended up being drawn out quite a bit. Finally at 10:50PM the main cabin door closed, at which point the purser made her welcome aboard, on behalf of the 24 cabin crew, coming from 15 countries, and speaking 13 languages.

A couple of moments later we started our pushback, and at that point, the “no-nonsense” safety video was screened.

At 11PM we started our quick taxi, and by 11:15PM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 22R. We had a smooth climb out, and then five minutes later, the seatbelt sign was turned off. Within 10 minutes of takeoff, the crew was distributing mattress pads for all passengers.

Emirates business class dinner service

Emirates takes a somewhat unconventional approach to the meal service on this flight. There’s a “light bites” menu available after takeoff, and then a full breakfast before landing. This is the same concept that Emirates uses for its seven (or so) hour flights from Dubai that depart in the wee hours of the morning (like 2-4AM).

You can find the after takeoff Emirates business class menu below, along with the list of snacks available at the bar.

Then you can find the Emirates business class drink list below.

People will have mixed feelings about this service, as it’s not technically a full meal service. Personally, I think that’s a good thing. There’s not actually a limit to how much you can order, so if you wanted to, you could select a bunch of things from the menu. But the reality is that a full meal service in Emirates business class can take a long time, so the goal here is to prioritize sleep.

Around 15 minutes after takeoff, the flight attendant working my section stopped by my seat to take my meal and drink order. To eat, I ordered the Maine lobster ravioli with roasted tomato cream, sautéed leeks, and gremolata, as well as the malted chocolate brownie with caramel sauce. Then to drink I had some still water and a negroni.

The entire meal was served just 40 minutes after takeoff, and I’ve gotta say, the quality was phenomenal. The ravioli dish was really good and had huge chunks of lobster, and the brownie was decadent (I’d call it a slice of cake, but…). To have a filling meal and have your tray cleared less than an hour after takeoff on an overnight flight is a win, as far as I’m concerned.

Emirates A380 business class bar

Emirates’ A380 business class is known for the onboard bar, located at the very back of the upper deck, in the same area as the lavatories. After my meal, I decided to check this out. While Emirates has a couple different kinds of bar setups, I was flying one of the older A380s, with the “U” shaped bar in the center, plus a bench along each side.

The bar area also has a massive TV, which either has some sort of news programming, or the map feature.

There are also plenty of snacks at the bar, ranging from a huge cake (honestly, these are consistently really good, so proceed with caution), to sandwiches, to packaged sweet and savory snacks.

Of course this is a bar, so the main highlight is the ability to get just about any alcoholic drink you could want. It’s not often you can get a dirty martini on an airplane, though that’s absolutely possible at the Emirates A380 bar.

Emirates A380 business class lavatories

All four of Emirates’ A380 business class lavatories are located in the very back of the cabin, between the bar and the galley. Two of the lavatories are along the fuselage, so they each have a window.

There are also then two lavatories located in the center section. Fun fact — these are the world’s two best lavatories for joining the mile high club. I don’t say that from firsthand experience, but rather just factually. The reason is because if one person occupies each of the lavatories, you can actually open up the door between them, and make them one space. Again, it’s not an endorsement of the practice, but I’m just saying…

The lavatories aren’t anything special, though I do appreciate that they’re consistently pretty clean (the first class shower attendant makes her way through the entire plane periodically to clean all the lavatories), they have proper cloth towels, and they also have a rose and some VOYA products.

Emirates A380 business class bed

After checking out the bar for a bit, it was time to get some rest. I reclined my seat, put out my bedding, and got comfortable. Honestly, I found the seat to be quite pleasant in bed mode.

I tried to go to sleep with just under 6hr20min remaining to Milan…

…and I ended up giving up on sleeping just under three hours from Milan.

Pro tip: if you’re looking to get sleep on a short overnight flight, I’d recommend not doing so on the evening of a major election, when the plane has live TV. But aside from minor that, I had lovely rest.

Since the crew didn’t “lock” the window shades closed, there was quite a bit of light in the cabin, even hours before landing. For example, below is what the forward and rear business class cabin looked like well before breakfast service even started.

Emirates business class breakfast

Breakfast service in Emirates business class was nicely customized, with the crew offering to serve people breakfast as they woke up. I decided to have breakfast around 90 minutes before landing, and you can find the menu below.

To start, I ordered a cappuccino, which was served with a little biscotti. Yum! I appreciate how Emirates serves coffee drinks in proper mugs, so you actually get a decent quantity of liquid, unlike on some other airlines.

For breakfast, I ordered the cheese omelet, which came with baked beans, sautéed potatoes, and creamed spinach. This was served with a side of fruit, plus a croissant. I’ve gotta say, it was a filling breakfast, and the omelet was quite a bit better than most airplane omelets that I’ve had.

Emirates business class service

The service in Emirates business class was excellent on this flight. Despite the huge business class cabin, Emirates does a good job with having each flight attendant serve a relatively small section, so that it feels quite personalized. The bar also really helps with service, because you can always go there to stretch your legs and order a drink, without feeling like you’re getting in the way of the crew.

I’ve been flying Emirates frequently for many years, and I’ve found that in recent years, service has been more consistently good. I was impressed by the crew’s attention to detail. For example, when I woke up and went to the bathroom, I returned to find that my blanket had been folded. That’s a level of service that you’d be impressed by in first class, let alone in business class.

Emirates A380 arrival in Milan

At around 12PM local time, the captain was on the PA to advise that we’d be landing in around 30 minutes. We were a bit behind schedule, given our late departure from New York (we were supposed to arrive at 11:55AM). Our descent started shortly thereafter, at which point the crew began preparing the cabin for landing.

There’s something fun about sitting in a premium cabin behind the wing, since it makes for some cool views, and really puts into perspective how huge the A380 is.

We touched down on runway 35R at Milan Malpensa Airport at 12:30PM.

I was expecting it would be a quick taxi to the gate from there, but nope, that’s not how things worked out. We taxied for about five minutes, and then just stood there. 20 minute after landing, the captain was on the PA to explain what was going on.

Long story short, Milan Malpensa Airport has two A380 gates, and a Ryanair 737 was parked next to the gate we were supposed to park at. Due to the A380’s wingspan, that gate isn’t supposed to be occupied when the A380 arrives, but for whatever reason, there was a mixup.

Then there was another issue. The other Emirates A380 that arrives around the same time from Dubai landed minutes after us, and got the other gate. So yeah, we were in quite the pickle, because we had nowhere we could park. The captain promised to keep us updated.

After an extended wait, at 1:30PM, the captain advised us that they found a way to tow us into the gate while the Ryanair jet was still parked there. “I’m told this will take five minutes, but dare I say, it might be five Italian minutes.”

Finally at 2PM, we started to be towed to the gate, and at 2:05PM we pulled in, 2hr10min behind schedule. Funny enough, the upper deck jet bridge wasn’t working yet again, so we once again had to schlep down the stairs, and exit through the lower deck.

While this was a frustrating situation, the captain deserves huge credit for how he communicated with passengers throughout the delay. He kept us updated as much as he could, had a sense of humor, and even thanked passengers for showing kindness to the crew during the delay.

Unfortunately I ended up missing my EasyJet flight to Paris (which was booked on a separate ticket). The good news was that I could book a cheap award ticket on an Air France flight just an hour later, so it all worked out.

Bottom line

Emirates’ A380 business class is a pleasant experience, and this is a lovely way to cross the Atlantic. No, it’s not the best business class in the world. The interiors feel a bit outdated, and there are more cutting edge products out there.

However, Emirates gets a lot of things right, and it’s a pleasure to fly the A380. Emirates has comfortable seats, friendly crews, exceptional entertainment, endless amenities, and tasty food and drinks.

I think my main “issue” with flying Emirates business class is that you can pretty inexpensively upgrade to first class with miles on the day of departure, and first class is truly exceptional. So I wouldn’t hesitate to fly Emirates business class again, but I’d also do everything possible to upgrade to first class.

What’s your take on Emirates’ A380 business class?