Emirates recently invited AirlineReporter for a tour of their new business class cabin in their reconfigured 777-200LR aircraft. The beautiful cabin is laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration. Fort Lauderdale is the first gateway to feature the newly refurbished aircraft. This also provided a nice setting to sit down with some of the airline’s leadership to learn more about this new product and their direction.
Emirates plans to invest over $150 million to refurbish their existing 10 777-200LR aircraft. The two-class configuration features 38 business class seats and 264 seats in economy class. I was excited to get on board and see for myself the changes. Although not revolutionary, they will allow Emirates to better compete.
Emirates buying part of Qatar Airways? Yeah, no. – Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter
I spend a lot of time on this place called the Internet. You’ve probably heard of it. I will admit that I dwell within the fringes and depths of it to find interesting aviation rumors and innuendo. Sometimes, however, they are so comical it just takes a look at Twitter to find some comedy gold. My friend Ben over at One Mile at a Time (you’ve heard of him)… well, he posted a summary of an article that he found on a paragon of virtue called Zerohedge saying that rumors were flying that Emirates sought a majority or, at least, a large stake in their rival down the track in Doha.
Qatar Airways has friends outside the gulf. What would they stand to gain? – Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter
Now that you’ve stopped laughing the first time, let me just say that again. There are rumors that Emirates wants to purchase a large stake in Qatar Airways.
Let me put this in big bold letters so that I can give you a summary: EMIRATES WILL NEVER PURCHASE A LARGE STAKE IN QATAR AIRWAYS!!!!
Well, why not? I’m so glad you asked.
During the recent ITB exhibition in Berlin, Emirates revealed its new Boeing 777 business class product – Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter
During the recent ITB travel exhibition in Berlin, Emirates revealed its new business class seat which will become standard on all Boeing 777-300ER aircraft delivered from November 2016. This includes the future Boeing 777X, when it eventually enters into service. I was fortunate enough to take a look at this new business class seat from Emirates and develop an opinion on it.
As predicted, Emirates has chosen to maintain its 2-3-2 layout with the new business class – Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter
Prior to the official reveal of the new seat, there was much talk in the industry about this new product for the 777. While Emirates remained reasonably tight-lipped, it did reveal that the new product would remain in the existing 2-3-2 layout. My initial impression of the seat was that, despite being on the slightly narrow side, the legroom is vastly increased, as is the size of the IFE screen, which is one of the biggest I have seen in business class.
AvGeeks in Action – Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter
The 1st of July, 2015, marked the fifth anniversary of Emirates services to Prague. To celebrate this achievement, Emirates substituted an Airbus A380 on the Dubai to Prague route, which is normally served by a Boeing 777-300ER. I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to the event. The occasion was celebrated in true Emirates fashion, with a large PR event and cocktail reception, as well as an aircraft tour and an opportunity to photograph the arrival from the tarmac; an opportunity any AvGeek among us will gladly partake in.
This was the fourth visit so far of an Airbus A380 at Prague. The first was a Lufthansa A380, followed by Emirates (for a medical diversion) and Korean Air (check out that story here). Unlike the previous events, there was much marketing and social media hype about the Emirates A380 – I guess this can be attributed to the strength of the Emirates brand image within the Czech Republic. On the day of the event, for those not fortunate enough to have access to the media/VIP event, Emirates handed out free hats and various other promotional items to all who came to view this spectacular aircraft, no matter what side of the fence they were on. Well done, EK!
An Emirates 777-31H/ER sits in a delivery stall at the Boeing Paine Field – Photo – Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter
It’s that time again. Time for me to give you some of my personal thoughts on a topic. Some might call it a rant.
You know the time when an American aviation lobby group decides that there’s just too much competition in the world? Not only is it the “Big Three” themselves, but also an aviation lobbying group backed by them. Combined, these companies and interest groups can bring a lot more lobbying firepower to the table.
Their argument, as is everyone’s against someone who does business differently than them, is the old fallacy of “if their costs are lower than ours, it must be the result of either unfair trade practices or shady accounting.”
This time, the argument is about how Gulf airlines Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways may have received launch subsidies. Indeed, the argument goes further and states that they are continuing to receive subsidies to fuel their current expansion and operation.
