Emirates’ fleet renewal is heavily reliant on the new Boeing 777X, as the airline has 270 of these jets on order, which will largely be used to replace Airbus A380s, as they’re retired. Obviously Emirates has been incredibly frustrated by the certification delays on the 777X, as the plane was supposed to enter service in 2020, but has been delayed by around seven years.
Emirates has been promising an all-new business class product and onboard lounge on its new flagship aircraft. While the airline has largely been tight-lipped about what we can expect, the first renderings have now been subtly leaked… by the airline (thanks to cherryberry for flagging this)?!
Emirates will debut new business class on Boeing 777X
Up until now, we’ve had fairly limited details about what we can expect in terms of passenger experience onboard Emirates’ upcoming Boeing 777Xs:
- We’ve known that the planes will get the carrier’s “game changer” first class, which was introduced in 2017, and so far has only been installed on a total of nine Boeing 777-300ERs; presumably by the time it’s fitted on 777Xs, it’ll feature upgraded tech, and maybe some other improvements
- We’ve known that the planes will feature new business class suites, plus an onboard lounge, though perhaps not to the same level as the A380 onboard lounge
- The planes will of course feature Emirates’ new premium economy cabin, plus an updated economy product
Well, Emirates seems to have just very subtly leaked its new Boeing 777X business class product and onboard lounge. The Dubai-based carrier has published an awesome video about Emirates President Tim Clark, one of the airline industry’s brightest leaders. The video takes a look at how Emirates has evolved over the years.
7min45sec into the video, there’s talk about the Boeing 777X, including a video rendering of the cabin. As you’ll see, this focuses heavily on business class, and shows business class suites with doors, plus an onboard lounge.
Below are some screenshots (sorry that they’re blurry, but it’s the best I could do, given that these are from a video).
My take on Emirates’ new Boeing 777X business class
Assuming this is all accurate, and Emirates isn’t throwing us off, then I think the new Boeing 777X business class suites are exactly what we were expecting. Emirates has long been partnering with Safran for its latest generation business class seats. I figured that Emirates would continue working with Safran on its new seats, given how closely the two firms have partnered, and how Safran has proven reliable.
This looks to me like the Safran Unity product, which debuted on Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-1000s, and is among the best business class seats out there. It’s also possible this is a more customized evolution of the existing staggered business class product, as it’s hard to know for sure, as the renderings are very limited. Given what a big customer Emirates is, I’m sure Safran was willing to do whatever Emirates wanted.
The seats look great, and I’m sure they’ll be competitive with among the best seats out there, without being anything revolutionary. Now, I still wish that these seats had debuted on other aircraft, as Emirates reconfigures Boeing 777s with a new business class, and takes delivery of new Airbus A350s.
I guess the explanation is actually pretty simple, though — the airline hasn’t introduced these seats because it doesn’t have to. Clark knows that better than anyone what drives bookings and brand reputation, and what doesn’t.
Things like Emirates’ A380 shower spa and Emirates’ A380 onboard lounge create an amazing halo effect for the airline, and give Emirates the reputation of being one of the world’s best airline brands. Meanwhile I don’t think the doors are nearly as important for Emirates as some other airlines.
Until recently, the airline has gotten away with having angled seats in business class, with seven seats per row, on a majority of its fleet, all while achieving record profitability.
Bottom line
Emirates is expected to take delivery of Boeing 777Xs as of 2027 (hopefully!), and they represent the next generation for the airline, replacing the iconic Airbus A380s. We’ve known that the airline plans to introduce business class suites with doors, plus an onboard lounge, and we now know what to expect.
In a video dedicated to Emirates President Tim Clark, the airline has given us a glimpse of the new cabins. I think it’s exactly what we were expecting — we’ll continue to be see a staggered business class, presumably in partnership with Safran, but with some upgrades, including doors. I’m guessing these are the Safran Unity seats, which are excellent.
Perhaps what’s most surprising to me is that the airline will continue to have a fairly sizable onboard lounge, which will come at an opportunity cost.
What do you make of Emirates’ Boeing 777X plans?
