Emirates today announced plans to debut its newly retrofitted A380 featuring its latest Premium Economy cabin to Melbourne from 1 February 2023. In Addition, the airline will also add Premium Economy seats to its second Sydney service from 15 December 2022, making it the first city in the Emirates network to offer Premium Economy seats on all flights.
Emirates will also be adding Premium Economy to four other cities including Auckland from 15 January 2023, as well as New York JFK, San Francisco and Singapore from December. Sydney, which first introduced Premium Economy on 1 August to its EK412 and EK413 services, will add more seats alongside London Heathrow.
The airline aims to offer customers more opportunities to experience its highly acclaimed Premium Economy product, and its latest deployment plans will also see 85 A380s back in the sky by December, well-timed to serve the year-end travel demand.
Barry Brown, Divisional Vice President Australasia at Emirates said: “Since the introduction of our Premium Economy cabin to Sydney in August this year, we have seen significant demand from Australians and sold-out seats. Reminiscent of a luxury feel, Premium Economy is equipped with plush leather seats and a superior dining service, as well as many other thoughtful features. The cabin offers Australians a value-for-money upgrade from Economy Class, which has proved hugely popular.
“Emirates is thrilled to be bringing Premium Economy to another Australian capital, as well as adding seats to our second service from Sydney, making it the first city in the world to offer Premium Economy on all Emirates flights. Testament to our commitment to Australia, Sydney and now Melbourne are at the forefront of our wider A380 retrofit programme. We look forward to welcoming more Australians on board to experience the style and service of Emirates’ Premium Economy.”
Emirates’ enhanced A380s with Premium Economy to Melbourne, Auckland, New York JFK, San Francisco and Singapore will operate as follows:
- From 1 February 2023, Melbourne will become the second Australian destination to be served with the signature Emirates A380 featuring Premium Economy. Services will be deployed on EK 406 and EK 407.
- To Auckland, Emirates will debut its Premium Economy cabin on EK 448 and EK 449, starting 15 January 2023.
- To New York JFK, Emirates will operate with its newly retrofitted A380 on EK203 and EK 204, starting from 1 December.
- San Francisco will become the second US destination to be served by the retrofitted A380 with refreshed interiors on EK 225 and EK 226, starting on 15 February 2023.
- Emirates’ enhanced A380 with Premium Economy will land in Singapore for the first time on 1 March 2023, operating as EK 354 and EK 355.
Emirates will also update its schedules to Sydney, London Heathrow and New York JFK with its retrofitted A380 aircraft operating on the following services:
- From 15 December 2022, Sydney will become the first city in the Emirates network to offer Premium Economy seats on all flights, with the introduction of the airline’s retrofitted aircraft on EK 414 and EK 415, an addition to the existing EK412 and EK413 services.
- From 1 January 2023, London Heathrow will receive its second retrofitted aircraft with Premium Economy, with the new product debuting on EK 005 and EK 006.
- From 15 March 2023, Emirates will operate its second A380 with Premium Economy to New York JFK on EK 201 and EK 202.
- Emirates will also start A380 services with a Premium Economy debut to Christchurch from 26 March, as an extension of the Dubai to Sydney service, operating with EK 412 and EK 413.
Scaling up A380 operations
With travel demand the strongest it’s been in more than two years, Emirates will provide customers more choice and a better experience as it ramps up A380 services to 42 destinations by the end of March 2023. In tandem, the airline is optimising its network to meet robust demand and enhancing its existing schedules to over 400 A380 departures from Dubai, offering 460,000 weekly A380 seats by March 2023, including 81,000 seats across its premium cabins, offering the very best in customer comfort.
By year end, the airline will be serving close to a third of its network with its flagship on 85 A380s as it unlocks more destinations like Houston, Bengaluru, Perth, Auckland, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, with additional cities to be announced in the coming weeks. With an expanded list of cities, Emirates will have recovered 75% of its pre-pandemic A380 network. The airline is also adding frequencies to popular cities already served by its flagship, bringing greater resiliency and stability to its operation.
In Australia, Emirates flagship A380 aircraft offers twice-daily services to both Sydney and Melbourne, and a once-daily service to Brisbane. From December 1, Emirates will also operate an A380 on its daily Perth service, replacing the existing daily Boeing 777-300ER operation.
Raising the bar for premium air travel
Since Emirates debuted its Premium Economy Class to Sydney, London and Paris, customer response has been overwhelmingly positive with demand exceeding expectations, demonstrating its appeal and willingness of travellers to trade-up and try the quiet luxury and meticulously customised experience it offers.
On a four-class Emirates A380, the Premium Economy cabin is located at the front of the main deck with 56 seats laid out in a 2-4-2 configuration. In the cabin, every inch of space anticipates customer needs with a generous seat pitch and width for working and relaxing, and customised features that offer function and convenience like in-seat charging points and a side cocktail table. The experience is rounded off with expertly curated in-flight amenities, an inventive menu and extensive beverage options.
The Emirates A380 experience has long been taking passenger comfort to new levels, with an extensive suite of products that turn the journey itself into a destination, including one of the industry’s largest screens for customers to enjoy the airline’s award-winning in-flight entertainment system, ice. Customers travelling in First and Business Class cabins can enjoy the aircraft’s signature features such as the popular Onboard Lounge and fully flat seats in Business Class, as well as private suites and Shower Spas in First Class.
Emirates recently announced plans to kick-off of its fleet retrofit programme, consisting of a multi-billion dollar investment to ensure customers continue to have the best experience in the sky. Starting from November, the airline will begin intensive work to upgrade and retrofit the interior cabins of 67 Airbus A380 and 53 Boeing 777 aircraft, with one aircraft rolling out into service every 16 days. By 2025, nearly 4,000 new Premium Economy seats will be installed, 728 First Class suites refurbished and over 5,000 Business Class seats upgraded to a new style and design.
Emirates is the world’s largest operator of the A380, with 118 double-decker aircraft in its fleet. Since A6-EVF, the first A380 reactivated in 2020 began flying, the operating fleet has clocked in more than 31,000 trips worldwide, carrying over 10 million passengers.
