Review: Emirates First Class

By Richard Baker

Heavy bookings in business class meant that the only way to carry out the journey was to take the return flight in one of Emirates new Airbus A-340s with a private cabin in First Class.

Considering the seemingly high demand, prices for the journey were reasonable.

Business Class both ways retailed at around Dhs12,000 (if booked two weeks ahead of travel) and with one leg in the luxury of first class the price only rose to Dhs19,000.

But, is it worth it?

Service in First Class was up to Emirates' usual excellent standards. The ratio of crew to passengers in First is higher than in business, but, importantly, AME Info always felt that help was on hand without being constantly fussed around.

Added benefits

There are a number of added benefits to the new First Class on the A-340. Clever design means no overhead lockers, creating a greater sensation of space and less distraction as fellow passengers fumble around for their luggage.

A storage area that is comfortably big enough for a laptop is within your private cabin and each seat has its own private wardrobe to hang your suit.

The only flaw with this clever new arrangement is that no-one tells you about it and so the inexperienced first class passenger can spend a few minutes searching for how to open the overhead locker and face considerable embarrassment.

The flight to Osaka had the full ICE system common to all new Emirates planes, which is a boon on such a long flight.

Key selling points

The key selling points of the new first class are the privacy and an extra large flat bed. The cabin is well designed and feels spacious and comfortable.

A simple flick of the switch enables you to close the partition doors and activate a 'Do Not Disturb' sign. At the beginning of the flight AME had felt that this was most likely a sales gimmick that would deliver no real benefit.

However, having experienced the way in which the doors block out light from the cabin and the noise that is created either by people eating the excellent in-flight food, or sleeping off the effects of it, it is fair to say that there is a significant benefit to the new cabins.

The seat reclines into a full 6ft 5inch flat bed. It is without doubt the most comfortable seat that we have experienced and can be manipulated into a myriad of different positions to suit every user.

Combined with Emirates' high quality bedding and very stylish pyjamas it would be fair to say that the sleeping experience is not far off that of a four star hotel, albeit with a very small room.

However, the single best feature of the seat was also probably the cheapest and simplest. Two manual buttons enable the passenger to lower the armrests. This simple touch delivers a much greater sense of width and much more ability to find a comfortable resting position.

Value for money?

Overall, the service was excellent. What should have been an arduous journey was enjoyable and some of the customer facing touches put a smile on AME Info's face.

But is it worth roughly Dhs15,000 more than business class for the return flight? If the flight is going to be paid for by your company and protecting the bottom line isn't an issue, then of course it is.

However, it is questionable how much extra value the First Class passenger really gets over and above a passenger in Emirates' excellent business class cabin.

Personally, AME Info would rather fly in business and use the saving versus First Class to pay for something else. It may well be that all this really signifies is that Emirates private cabins are targeted at an audience who usually move in more rarified circles than the majority of us.

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