Following its down under debut in Sydney last August, travellers flying out of Melbourne now have direct access to the refreshed Emirates A380 Premium Economy as part of the Gulf carrier’s multi-billion dollar upgrade rollout. Two years ago, the new middle class was introduced in Dubai and has since seen plenty of success with services out of London, Christchurch, Auckland and Sydney.
Emirates will retrofit almost half of the carrier’s fleet of Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft, with Melbourne a big part of the push towards a vastly improved “in between class” experience aligning with the solid reputation held by the Emirates A380 Business Class. By 2025, the airline should have 4,000 new Premium Economy seats in addition to 728 refurbished First Class suites and around 5,000 upgraded Business Class seats across 126 aircraft.
The demand for Premium Economy has been strong for post-pandemic travel. Since its introduction in Sydney, demand for the new cabin has reportedly flown past 90% load and led to a second service being introduced in December. There’s no reason for us to believe the same won’t be said for Melbourne in a few months as the seats, which are available on Emirates daily Airbus A380 services EK406 and EK407 to and from Dubai, start to take wing.
In just a few months, Emirates expects to be offering 63 weekly services to Australia with the new cabin a big part of the play and by the end of 2023, we should see the product on routes to New York, San Francisco and Singapore.
Aussies flying Premium Economy with Emirates can expect a 2-4-2 configuration in the cabin, with all 56 seats distinguished by a creamy anti-stain leather with a wood panel finishing not dissimilar to what you’d find in the airline’s Business Class cabin. There’s a great deal of legroom with a 40-inch pitch for each seat with a width of 19.5 inches and a recline of eight inches.
Rounding out each seat is a 13.3-inch display, in-seat power, a wider-than-usual polished woodgrain dining table and a swinging leg rest. As far as power goes, there’s only one universal AC socket shared between every two seats, although you’ve got both USB-A and USB-C beneath the display.
The food menu has been “inspired by Business Class” but you’d be kidding yourself if you expect something on par with what you’d be eating at the pointy-end. Still, there will be food that takes a step up from Economy as well as wines that wouldn’t be available further back in the plane.
And while it sounds like Emirates has invested a lot into enhancing the Premium Economy experience, those flying the middle class still won’t get lounge access on the ground. They will, however, have a separate check-in at Dubai Airport as well as priority boarding and a generous 35 kg checked luggage allowance.
