Emirates has provided an update on the rollout of its premium economy seating, with over 160,000 customers having flown in the new cabin since August last year.
The Gulf carrier is currently offering premium economy on flights to and from 11 cities – London (Heathrow), Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Christchurch, Singapore, Los Angeles, New York (JFK), Houston, San Francisco and of course its Dubai hub.
This figure will rise to 13 before the end of the year, with services to Bengaluru and Mumbai set to gain premium economy seating from 29 October.
Emirates also said that additional cities “will be announced soon”. Interestingly Paris CDG had previously been announced as a premium economy route, but the city does not appear in the latest list provided by the carrier.
The airline launched its premium economy cabin in late 2020, and began rostering aircraft with the seating onto its flagship London Heathrow route from early 2021.
Initially they were used to offer valued customers spot upgrades until Emirates had sufficient A380 aircraft fitted with the cabin – the carrier considers August 2022 as the start of full-service operations for its premium economy offering.
Since then the airline has flown around 4,500 flights with premium economy, and currently has 20 A380s fitted with the cabin.
Features of the new seat include up to 40 inches of seat pitch, 19.5 inches of seat width, eight inches of recline, a 13.3-inch IFE screen, in-seat charging, a wide fold out dining table, and a side cocktail table.
Premium economy will eventually feature on 120 of the carrier’s Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft, as part of what Emirates says is the “largest known fleet retrofit” project.
Emirates to carry out “largest known fleet retrofit” project