Emirates Spending US$2bn in Passenger Enhancements

DALLAS - Emirates (EK) will spend US$2bn to improve its inflight cabin experience. This will include a complete refresh of every cabin class on over 120 aircraft.

The airline will retrofit the latest interiors to older cabins with upgraded seats, flooring, paneling, and improvements to cabin features.

The "extensive and record-breaking" upgrade will also see upgrades to the airline's inflight entertainment options with a 'cinema in the sky' experience. This will allow passengers to choose the movies they wish to watch using the Emirates app before the flight, which will then be synced to the IFE once onboard.

An award-winning team of chefs will help roll out new menus to deliver 'the best fine dining experience in the sky.' The first class menu is currently undergoing an upgrade, while business and economy will see a refreshed offering from September 1. The airline will also add a dedicated vegan menu, available to pre-order across all cabin classes.

Apart from the cabin upgrades, its Flight Attendants will receive an upgrade to their onboard service and hospitality strategy. EK is to partner with Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, one of the world's top hospitality management schools, to help 'encourage inspiring customer experiences.

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"Flying Against the Grain"

"While others respond to industry pressures with cost cuts, Emirates is flying against the grain and investing to deliver ever better experiences to our customers," said EK President Tim Clark.

"Through the pandemic, we've continued to launch new services and initiatives to ensure our customers travel with assurance and ease, including digital initiatives to improve customer experiences on the ground. Now we're rolling out a series of intensive programmes to take Emirates' signature inflight experiences to the next level," he added.

Premium Economy

The first aircraft is due to be retrofitted in November, and "more announcements about new products and services" are expected.

EK is also accelerating the installation of its premium economy offering. The first aircraft to feature the cabin, an Airbus A380, joined the fleet in December 2020. It plans to have 120 of its 2020 strong fleet fitted with the cabin. This is 20 more than announced in late 2021.

Featured Image: The "record-breaking" upgrade will commence in November. Photo: Emirates.