Does Emirates live up to the hype? Inside the carrier’s economy, premium and business class cabins for a 3-way video review battle between London and Nairobi in A380s and Boeing 777s
Emirates, for many airline passengers, can do no wrong.
It’s a multiple winner of the Skytrax ‘best airline in the world’ award, is continuously cited by MailOnline readers as the best carrier (in fact, in a recent poll, they voted it No.1) – and it is the darling of YouTubers, who queue up to film themselves in the top-deck A380 first-class shower suite.
But I wanted to find out whether Emirates is plaudit-worthy from back to front and top to bottom. Is it winning trophies because of a halo effect from its much-talked-about first-class cabin? Or does it also deliver in spades in economy, premium economy and business class?
And is it worth splashing the cash for upgrades?
I set about finding out on a family trip to Kenya with luxury safari company Roar Africa with my partner and young daughter, filming fascinating Emirates flights between London Heathrow and Nairobi via Dubai in premium economy, economy and finally business class. Read my verdicts below – and see how the cabins compare in my video (which also includes a sneak peek of that shower suite, which is, admittedly, slightly epic).
CHOOSING THE SEAT – THE 3D TOOL
I pick my seats using Emirates’ snazzy interactive 3D seat-choosing tool, which allows passengers to check out the view from their berth before they check in.
PREMIUM ECONOMY – HEATHROW TO DUBAI ON AN A380. COST – FROM AROUND £911/$1,182
PREMIUM ECONOMY CHECK-IN – HEATHROW TERMINAL 3
MailOnline Travel Editor Ted Thornhill puts Emirates economy, premium economy and business-class seats to the test on an Airbus A380 and Boeing 777. He picks his seats using Emirates’ snazzy interactive 3D seat-choosing tool (above, showing his premium economy selection), which allows passengers to check out the view from their berth before they check in
Ted’s journey from Heathrow Terminal 3 to Dubai gets off to a disappointing start, with a premium economy check-in tainted by a brusque member of staff. Above – an Emirates A380
We’re flying on the 8.40pm from Heathrow’s Terminal 3 to Dubai – and we arrive to a scene of chaos.
Several A380s-worth of passengers are seemingly all checking in at once. Multiple queues are snaking around the bag drop area and we can’t tell what they’re for, nor where they start or end.
It’s a writhing mass of light hysteria.
We have to print tags for our hold luggage from self-service machines, but they’re confusing to use and we send an SOS to a member of staff to help us.
She’s very friendly and helpful – unlike the lady at the premium economy check-in desk who is quite shockingly brusque. At one point she waves our passports at us and asks in a demanding, staccato tone: ‘Visas? Visas?’
I correctly assume she means our visitor visas for Kenya, which I duly handover. This appears to lower her blood from boiling point.
But still, I feel like I’m being processed at a prison, not beginning a journey with a world-renowned airline sitting in a seat that can cost up to £1,500.
THE CABIN
SERVICE
Pictured above is the Emirates premium economy cabin, arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration
Being inside the A380-800 is a world apart from Mrs Visa! Visa!’s domain of demands, with the Emirates cabin crew turning on the service after-burners.
They are a seriously classy outfit – glamorous, well-drilled and effortlessly charming. The mile-high smiles just keep on coming.
I can’t fault them. And we love how they roam the cabins taking Polaroid pictures of passengers for posterity.
THE SEAT – 2-4-2 CONFIGURATION
Ted chooses seat 40K (above) in premium economy. He says that it’s ‘gorgeous’ – a ‘cream and leather affair that wouldn’t be out of place in a Rolls-Royce’
Ted is all smiles in his ‘something special’ seat, where there’s ‘more than enough room to swing a brace of cats’
Oh my. What have we here?
Something special, that’s what.
This isn’t premium economy – more like ‘premium’ premium economy.
The seat, 40K, is gorgeous, a cream and leather affair that wouldn’t be out of place in a Rolls-Royce.
Emirates has been most forthcoming with the padding, with comfort aided by foldable headrest winglets and raised cushioned leg rests.
I’m 5ft 10in and there is enough room to swing a brace of cats, while polished wood veneer panelling adds an extra splash of luxe.
Fancy following in my footsteps and booking 40K but worried the partition wall behind it compromises the depth of recline?
Worry not – there’s a sizeable gap behind the seat, allowing for a full, satisfying recline angle.
In fact – insider top tip… one of the flight attendants tells me that 40K is her favourite berth in the premium economy cabin.
FOOD AND DRINK
LEFT: The premium economy dinner menu. RIGHT: Ted’s beetroot and quinoa salad; chicken and apple sausages, and chocolate and blackcurrant delice
In a blind taste test, Emirates’ premium economy meals could give some airlines’ business offerings a run for their dirham.
For dinner, I devour fresh beetroot and quinoa salad; rustic chicken and apple sausages served with onion gravy, mashed potato and blanched broccolini; and a yumsome, indulgent chocolate and blackcurrant delice dished up with a blackcurrant coulis.
To accompany this mini feast, I opt for a glass of Chablis by top French producer Albert Bichot.
This is no cameo in the main culinary act, but a star turn – a delicious buttery number that I request twice to make sure it really is a delicious buttery number.
When it comes to wine appraisals, this is one member of the press corps who believes in a thorough approach.
Before I move onto the entertainment, there’s a bonus to note – everything is presented using proper crockery and glassware. There are even dinky salt and pepper pots.
The ‘visas, visas!’ check-in clerk has faded to a bad dream now…
ENTERTAINMENT
The Emirates Ice entertainment system is ‘highly intuitive and offers a mesmerising array of TV shows and movies – plus views from the plane’s exterior’
Within mere moments I discover why Emirates’ ‘Ice’ (‘information’, ‘connectivity’, ‘entertainment’) entertainment system wins awards, year after year.
It’s highly intuitive and offers a mesmerising array of TV shows and movies, plus views from the plane’s exterior thanks to cameras positioned on the fuselage and tailfin.
The over-ear headphones, meanwhile, deliver high-quality audio and the screen is sizeable (13.3 inches).
VERDICT
To borrow from UK schools inspectorate Ofsted – outstanding.
ECONOMY CLASS – DUBAI TO JOMO KENYATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, NAIROBI, ON A BOEING 777-300. COST – FROM AROUND £295/$383
THE SEAT – 3-4-3 CONFIGURATION
Ted flies from Dubai to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi in economy class. His seat is pictured above
The Nairobi leg is operated by a Boeing 777-300, pictured above. ‘It’s a mammoth aircraft,’ remarks Ted
Ted takes a selfie before taking stock of his economy berth
I’m not won over by the decor in economy, which has a dated 70s vibe about it.
But the seat itself is clean and proves perfectly comfortable for the five-hour jaunt from Dubai to Nairobi, which is operated by a Boeing 777-300.
This is a mammoth aircraft, but is noticeably smaller inside than the vast A380, with a slightly less spacious economy cabin (two feet less wide, in fact).
There is abundant legroom, though, and the seat is nicely padded and supportive, with those headrest winglets making a welcome return appearance.
Plus, I’m greeted with a bottle of water, a soft blanket and a not-bad-for-economy pillow.
I’m issuing extra brownie points for the handy cupholder in the tray table and the easy-to-reach charging ports on the seatback, ‘easy to reach’ being a concept lost on many aircraft seat designers.
FOOD AND DRINK
Above is Ted’s lunch – coriander chicken curry with rice, plus an assortment of other dining goodies
My lunch is quite a spread and includes a tasty coriander chicken curry with rice main course and a bean and sweetcorn salad.
Satisfying.
Ted is impressed with the handiness of the economy charging points and cupholder
ENTERTAINMENT
The ‘Ice’ screen here is the same size as the premium economy screen on the A380, allowing for immersive movie watching.
However, the headphones aren’t much to write home about, but that’s the story in economy the world over and probably will be till the end of time.
SERVICE
They’re at it again, treating passengers like VIPs. An economy team – but they could staff any business class cabin and impress.
VERDICT
The verdict for Ted is that Emirates offers an ‘elevated economy experience’ – though his night-flight return is ‘jarring’
An elevated economy experience, but a point vanquished for a rather jarring journey in the same cabin on the return night flight, when an advert for Dubai blares through all the screens at 3.30am and the crew disturb passengers pre-descent by collecting headphones and blankets while they’re trying to sleep.
Emirates – perhaps introduce a ‘night mode’ version of the cabin service for brutal red-eye flights.
BUSINESS CLASS – DUBAI TO HEATHROW, AIRBUS A380. COST – FROM AROUND £2,294/$2978
THE LOUNGE
The ‘cavernous’ business-class lounge in Dubai (above) is where Ted spends some time waiting for his business-class A380 flight to Heathrow
I spend some of the time waiting for my business-class flight at Dubai International Airport in a cavernous and comfortable – if a little soulless – business-class lounge.
There is barely a soul in sight when I visit, as you can see from the image, so it makes for a tranquil pitstop.
THE SEAT – 1-2-1 CONFIGURATION
Above is seat 23A – Ted’s business-class home for seven hours between Dubai and Heathrow
Ted settles in with a glass of Champagne
Wow. Emirates has done it. I wondered how the airline would make business class stand apart from the tremendous premium economy – and it’s done so by creating an experience that’s like being inside a flying boutique hotel.
I’m in an A380 and, thrillingly, business class is on the top deck, accessed by a grand illuminated staircase by the cockpit.
I saunter past the super-swank first-class suites and on to seat 23A, a lie-flat window berth behind a partition wall in a lavish cabin that, like premium economy, is smothered in cream leather and polished wood-veneer panelling.
The seat is huge, has generous maneuvering room, and is liberally padded. Winglets on the headrest? Present and correct. But this time they’re behind soft cushioning.
Comfort is boosted further by a luxurious pillow and blanket (mine is a daytime flight so I don’t try the bed set-up, but business passengers can snuggle under charcoal grey duvets).
There’s no privacy door, but the wrap-around architecture of the suite means I feel cosy and cocooned nevertheless.
LEFT: The chestnut-brown amenity kit by Italian fashion house Bvlgari. RIGHT: The business-class charging ports
LEFT: The elbow-height seat controls. RIGHT: A section of the seat houses a control tablet and a minibar stocked with soft drinks
Plenty of room to stretch out in business class
Storage-wise – Emirates has you covered. There are two gigantic bins to my left, big enough to house even extreme levels of paraphernalia.
After a glass of Champagne arrives it’s time to explore the plentiful gadgetry, which enables passengers to control the entertainment system, seat and lights in multiple ways.
Simple-to-use elbow-height buttons to my right control the seat position, which can also be altered using a detachable tablet, with this device also offering controls for the screen and lighting.
Plus, there’s the usual remote control for the screen.
Take your pick.
Charging ports? Of course – and these are by my right shoulder, where there’s also a mini selection of drinks, including water and Pepsi.
Before take-off a chestnut brown amenity kit arrives – it’s by Italian fashion house Bvlgari and it’s top quality, reuseable and stuffed with goodies, from a bottle of body lotion to shaving and dental kits.
ENTERTAINMENT
The screen here is cinematic (23 inches) and the over-ear headphones excellent.
FOOD AND DRINK
LEFT: Ted’s tasty Arabic mezze with houmous, tabouleh and lamb kibbeh. RIGHT: A dessert of raspberry tonka mousse cake with berry coulis
The choices for the business-class lunch include pan-fried beef tenderloin and roasted chicken with herbs. Seasonal fruits and a cheese board are also on offer for afters
Buena Vista Winery’s Chardonnay is ‘creamy’
I enjoy a gourmet lunch, which begins with a fresh and tasty Arabic mezze with houmous, tabouleh and lamb kibbeh.
For mains (shown in the video) it’s a lamb bukhari with aromatic rice. And for dessert, a raspberry tonka mousse cake with berry coulis.
To wash it down, I can’t resist a glass of Buena Vista Winery Chardonnay from Northern California, which proves to be a lip-smackingly creamy number.
THE BAR
Arguably the piece de resistance of the top deck for business-class passengers (for first-class passengers it might be the shower suite), is the bar, which is simply stunning.
Here a member of the crew serves wines, spirits and cocktails from behind an illuminated horse-shoe-shaped bar to passengers able to relax at table seating to the sides (complete with seatbelts, so they don’t need to part with their potions during turbulence).
‘Arguably the piece de resistance of the top deck for business-class passengers is the bar,’ remarks Ted, who paused from sipping a kir royale to take this snap there
Camaraderie abounds when I visit for a kir royale, with the crew evidently enjoying working in this space and passengers happily chit-chatting to each other.
I have to remind myself that I’m on a plane.
SERVICE
Emirates offers ‘one of the ultimate business class experiences’, declares Ted
Top-notch, from a crew determined to make every passenger relaxed and happy.
VERDICT
One of the ultimate business-class experiences. Emirates – take a bow.
