Emirates’ new premium economy: What’s on offer for double the price of further back in the plane

Emirates was among the last of the big airlines to install premium economy in its planes, but says years spent developing the product are paying off.

The airline’s two services to New Zealand use Airbus A380s, both fitted with premium economy, which is being rolled out across much of its fleet as part of a $3.5 billion retrofitting project.

Chris Lethbridge, Emirates’ regional manager in New Zealand, says the airline is seeing soaring demand for the 56-seat cabin. “Looking ahead, our premium economy cabin already has an 80 per cent load capacity over the next two months, indicating that Kiwis are keen for an extra touch of luxury on their overseas travel.”

New Zealand is one of the first markets to have the new cabins on its flights, now on both the Auckland-Dubai and Christchurch-Dubai (via Sydney) routes. “It’s no coincidence that of the four cities to first see the deployment of the four-class Emirates A380, two of them are here in New Zealand,” said Lethbridge. Kiwis had always put up their hands to try new products, he said, “and for a major airline, it’s the perfect testbed”.

Premium economy is something of a “Goldilocks” product for airlines - the pricing can’t be so hot that it discourages economy passengers from upgrading, nor too cool, which would mean the airline can’t get the return it needs on the new cabins. Lethbridge said that in particular, couples travelling to Europe out of Auckland and Christchurch have been among the most likely to upgrade to the premium economy section.

“It’s also proving popular for South Islanders heading across the Tasman.”

Emirates' New Zealand boss Chris Lethbridge in the premium economy section of an A380. Photo / Jed Bradley

A price snapshot of websites for a return trip between Auckland and London in early June booked this week (a reasonably short booking window) shows Emirates’ premium economy starting at $7564.

Singapore Airlines also offers premium economy for the same city pairs, priced from $8354 (via its Singapore hub), while Air New Zealand with commercial partner United Airlines has premium economy via Los Angeles starting at $10,725.

A scan of airline websites doesn’t take into account booking patterns or whether they are down to just a few seats, but for comparison on the same trip, Singapore Airlines is lowest in business class at $12,134, Emirates is $12,583 while Air NZ, with partner Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong, starts at $17,736.

In economy, Air NZ was lowest via New York with Virgin Atlantic at $3519, Emirates is $3801 and Singapore Airlines is $4403.

Helloworld Travel general manager Chris Hunter said premium economy seats on most airlines were priced up to twice the normal economy level and usually half the cost of flying in business class.

He has looked further ahead in the booking window and finds Emirates’ one-way economy fare in July from Auckland to London is $1588 and premium economy is $3609, meaning that travellers will have to fork out more than double the basic fare to fly in the new class.

Another way of considering the value of Emirates’ new premium economy class is to understand the additional cost over the duration of the journey, which in this example works out at an additional $75 per hour for the 27-hour trip to London, said Hunter.

“It should be noted that in this example, you can travel in Emirates business class on the same one-way Auckland to London flight for $4853 and this obviously includes a significantly superior range of premium services.”

It came down to personal choice about which aspects of the travel journey customers value and what they are prepared to pay more for, said Hunter.

Food in Emirates' new premium economy cabin. Photo / Jed Bradley

While hosting journalists aboard an A380 in Auckland, Lethbridge said the premium economy cabin was the result of years of observing other carriers.

Introduced by Taiwan’s EVA Air and Britain’s Virgin Atlantic in the early 1990s, premium economy has soared in popularity, helped after the 2008 global financial crisis by companies seeking a way to reduce their travel spending.

Notably, Emirates’ arch-rival Qatar Airways has resisted installing premium economy.

Emirates’ premium economy seats in a 2-4-2 configuration are leather and have a seat pitch of up to 40 inches (101cm) and are 19.5 inches wide. This compares to 32 inches to 34 inches with seats 17.5 inches wide in economy.

Premium economy passengers dine off Royal Doulton china tableware using stainless steel cutlery, and its extended beverage list includes Chandon Vintage Brut 2016.

Amenity kits contain socks, eyeshades, a toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as a bookmark, all made using recycled materials. There’s a dedicated check-in area at Dubai International Airport, a checked baggage allowance of up to 35kg and priority boarding ahead of economy passengers.

“When we introduced it, we looked at what could we do differently. We think that with leather seats with space in the cabin and with the food offering we think we’ve got it right,” said Lethbridge.

The new cabin is proving to be a stepping stone for passengers to move further up the plane, which is great news for the airline.

“We’re seeing an awful lot of people upgrade. We’re actually seeing people upgrade through premium economy and up to business, which is also great,’’ he said.

“We’re hearing through our travel agents that people will [come] in with an economy class inquiry and end up buying either premium economy or business class, even sometimes first class, because people are deciding this is a bucket list opportunity.”