Emirates, the world’s biggest international airline, is thought to be the launch customer for a new premium economy seat as it orders more efficient aircraft to restructure its fleet.

This week at the Dubai Air Show, Emirates chief Sir Tim Clark told AirlineRatings.com the airline would introduce a new premium economy product in 2020.

The move is a major shift as the airline has resisted a premium economy product for more than 10 years.

Sir Tim said the premium economy would be “pretty special” and similar to business class before it went to lie-flat beds.

While the airline is tight-lipped on more detail, Airline Ratings understands Emirates is the launch customer for the new Eclipse seat from US-based HAECO Cabin Solutions. At the launch in April, HAECO said its first customer was a Middle East airline.

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Doug Rasmussen, president of HAECO, said the company “saw an opportunity to develop a premium product for an emerging new class between premium economy and business class seating that would be appreciated both by passengers and airlines”.

“We harnessed our decades of experience in providing premium seating products and services to take a holistic approach to creating a new standard,” he said. “The unique advantages of the Eclipse seat, together with the integrated cabin, can create up to a 14 per cent increase in space within the same cabin area.”

Mr Clark has been waiting for something special and the Eclipse seat certainly delivers, and will set the airline apart from the competition.

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The new premium economy will be rolled out on new A380s to be delivered from Airbus in mid-2020 and Mr Clark has indicated there could be as many as 56 seats.

While finally getting its product up to date with the competition, the airline has also completed a total revamp of its fleet plan.

This week it ordered both the Boeing 787-9 and the Airbus A350.

However, both orders were part of a fleet restructure. The 30 787-9s, valued at $US8.8 billion at list prices, are offset by the cancellation of 30 of the much bigger Boeing 777X.

Emirates will still retain orders for 126 of the 777X, which is due to fly for the first time in January.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates chairman and chief executive said: “This is an important investment and addition to our future fleet and it reflects Emirates’ continued efforts to provide the best quality air transport services to our customers.”

“The 787s will complement our fleet mix by expanding our operational flexibility in terms of capacity, range and deployment. We are also pleased to reaffirm our commitment to the Boeing 777X programme and look forward to its entry into service.”

Emirates remains the world’s biggest 777X customer and the biggest 777 operator, with 155 aircraft in service.

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With Airbus, Emirates had earlier cancelled 36 A380 superjumbos and has replaced those with an order for 50 A350-900s powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.

And in another twist, this order replaces a proposed deal revealed at the start of the year for 40 A330neo aircraft and 30 A350 jets. Emirates is understood to be no longer pursuing the 300-seat A330neos.

Sheikh Ahmed said the orders reflect the carrier’s confidence in the future of the United Arab Emirates’ aviation sector “and a strong affirmation of Dubai’s strategy to be global nexus”.

So instead of two types, the A380 and Boeing 777, the airline will move to four sizes ranging from the 500-seat superjumbo to the 440-seat 777X, 350-seat A350 and the 265-seat 787-9.

“In effect, we are strengthening our business model to provide efficient and comfortable air transport services to, and through, our Dubai hub,” said Sheikh Ahmed.

Emirates has ordered 30 787-9s, valued at $8.8 billion at list prices firming up an early commitment.

The deal signed at the Dubai Airshow, culminates discussions between the two companies on the best 787 model to meet the requirements of one of the world’s leading airlines.

It had previously signed an initial agreement for the larger 787-10 variant.

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HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Chairman and Chief Executive said: “I am pleased to announce a firm order for 30 Boeing Dreamliners. This is an important investment and addition to our future fleet and it reflects Emirates’ continued efforts to provide the best quality air transport services to our customers. The 787s will complement our fleet mix by expanding our operational flexibility in terms of capacity, range and deployment. We are also pleased to reaffirm our commitment to the Boeing 777X programme and look forward to its entry into service.”

Sheikh Ahmed added: “Our Boeing fleet is key to our business model to serve international demand for travel to and through our Dubai hub, as we continue to contribute to the UAE’s strategy to become a global destination for business and tourism by providing high quality air connectivity.”

As part of the agreement, the airline will exercise substitution rights and converting 30 777X aircraft into 30 787-9s.

With this conversion, Emirates remains the world’s biggest 777X customer with 126 aircraft on order and the largest 777 operator with 155 aircraft today.

“We are excited to finalize this important order from one of the world’s leading airlines. Our agreement solidifies Emirates’ plan to operate the 787 Dreamliner and the 777X, which make up the most efficient and most capable widebody combination in the industry,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President & CEO Stan Deal.

“It is an honor to build on our successful partnership with Emirates and continue to sustain many jobs at Boeing and our supplier partners.”

Passengers should encounter a more relaxed Virgin Australia as it rebalances its focus on leisure and corporate markets and revisits its effervescent youth.

Virgin chief executive Paul Scurrah told the Australian Airports Association annual conference Tuesday the airline was famous for its customer service “and we want to be even more famous for it”.

The move is the gentler side of a hard-edged focus on costs that has seen Scurrah commission a sweeping review of the business, announce the axing of 750 jobs as well as a 2 percent reduction in capacity and the removal from the group’s fleet of five aircraft.

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He also announced a delay in the delivery of new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and a decision to buy back a 35 percent stake in the Velocity frequent flyer program.

Passengers would already have seen the lighter touch in quirky new “feel good” television ads featuring a flying wig and a traveling family.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az92cXDZ6uo

“Throughout our review, one thing we heard loud and clear from our customers is that they want us to be more relaxed,’’ Scurrah told the conference.

“We took that on board. So, this month, we changed our inflight announcements.

“Now, instead of saying ‘good morning ladies and gentlemen’, we now say ‘hi everyone’. We now encourage our crew to call customers by their first name.”

Scurrah said these were “subtle, but important changes symbolizing who we now want to be”.

Other changes included a new Brisbane international lounge called “My Lounge” with a more casual style to cater to leisure travelers who are the majority of passengers heading overseas from the Queensland capital.

“We …  announced new features for our mobile app, including a new booking platform, flight notifications, and access to hotel partner Expedia for accommodation,’’ Scurrah added.

“We’ve also enhanced our self-service kiosks to improve the check-in experience for guests.”

However, the Virgin chief emphasized that this did not mean Virgin would be taking its eye off the ball in the corporate market.

“We will continue to focus on it and compete in it,’’ he said.

“However, we will continue to have a very strong focus on the important leisure market in this country as well.

“We’ll do this through a balance of premium and low-cost products – making sure we put them on the right routes to attract the right market segments.”

“We are focusing Virgin Australia towards routes that have both a strong business and leisure orientation and Tigerair on leisure destinations.’’

speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Scurrah said the airline’s more relaxed stance was cashing in on data saying it was playing well in all parts of the market.

But he said the data had indicated the carrier had become too “one dimensional”.

“Because we have a great airline that operates across all sectors of the market, I think we needed to tell the story and remind people that we are across all sectors of the market,’’ he said.

He noted that the feedback to staff was that people felt good about flying with Virgin “and  that our people are consistently better and consistently happier”.

Scurrah said he had been careful to make sure that he talked about segmentation in a way that he did not denigrate one of the offerings at the expense of the others.

He said the airline had a significant and popular focus on corporate travellers and was holding its own from a market share point of view.

He outlined a number of changes at the airline that included a facility over the last six months to upgrade to Economy X or business from check-in kiosks as part of a move to give people a sense of personalization and control as well as make it a more seamless experience.

“That’s been working really well and it’s a nice revenue earner for us as well,’’ he said.

The flying wig ad has drawn some criticism but Scurrah said he had trusted the experts on the content and the concept was strongly backed by research.

He said the ad was designed to generate emotion in a crowded market and had succeeded.

While acknowledging the ad has had its detractor, he had been told that wasn’t a bad thing because it got people talking.

“It’s got the barbecue discussion going and our brand has been discussed,’’ he said.

“And the message about a renewed focus on families and having an easy feel-good experience is certainly coming out, even though the discussions of people who don’t like the ad.”