Has Emirates missed the mark?

Emirates has missed the mark with its cabin upgrades announced this week. A warmed-over business class in the unpopular 2-3-2 configuration (for the 777) and no premium economy goes against what the market is now demanding and will put the airline at a competitive disadvantage. Read: Emirates catches up in First Class race. Certainly, the first class is superb but doesn’t quite match the Singapore Airlines product announced last week or Etihad’s product which has been out for almost two years. Emirates has built its reputation on being first with innovations and has delivered a great value proposition over the past two decades. However, it is no longer the pacesetter. Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways have leapfrogged the airline at the front end while Singapore Airlines a major innovated through the 80s and 90s has got its mojo back. First class for many airlines is a dying breed as business class gets better and better. Less than 1 percent of passengers fly true first class on international routes and premium traffic (business and first) accounts for about 6 percent according to the most recent IATA figures. Emirates business class on the A380, which unlike the 777 configuration offers individual pod, is now almost ten years old and while it has had a refresh the differences are minor. A big plus however continues to be the Emirates A380 premium classes bar which is extremely popular.

But for passengers booking an Emirates business class experience, the variation in the product between the 777 and A380 is an issue. Aside from the business class product, the big miss for Emirates is that it continues to turn it back on premium economy. Read: The World's Best Airlines for 2018 The airline is now connecting the far reaches of the world with some of the longest ranged flights which are ripe for a premium economy product. For instance, British Airways, which was among the first to introduce premium economy in the early 1990s, has 44 premium economy seats on its 777-300ERs and 55 on its A380s. And more and more airlines are adopting the class as the height of the population increases and airlines squeeze economy to offer lower fares. Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines are recent converts, Air New Zealand and Qantas have offered the product for many years.

Certainly, changing the configurations of large aircraft and in large numbers is costly and not doing so may prove to be more costly in the long run. With a new breed of long-haul low-cost airlines on the radar now is the time for innovation with offerings that attract economy passengers with a great value case. Premium economy does that is spades. Enough space to be comfortable and enough exclusive features, like dedicated check-in and priority boarding as well as better meal service, to add that touch of class. Emirates won its mantle of the world’s largest international airline by being first not last.