Emirates, the Dubai airline renowned for its luxury on-board offerings, will get its first Premium Economy cabin in December.
The airline's newest class of travel could launch this year as it will be fitted on at least one of three new A380 superjumbos being delivered to Emirates before the end of this year.
The new cabin is set to give travellers 'sleeperette' seats and other perks for fares that are higher than economy tickets, but well below business class airfares.
President of Emirates Tim Clark, told Bloomberg TV that the airline would receive three new superjumbos by the end of the year. He said at least one of these would have a Premium Economy cabin.
What to expect when flying Emirates Premium Economy
Emirates has been promising Premium Economy cabins for a while. At last year's Arabian Travel Market, Clark said the new class of travel would launch in 2020 on Emirates' new A380 aircraft and Boeing 777 jets. However, this was before the coronavirus pandemic plunged aviation into its worst crisis.
Clark told Bloomberg that he now has "no idea" when the new 777X jets will be delivered to Dubai by Boeing.
On the A380, the airline is not giving much away on what travellers can expect from the Premium Economy cabins.
Clark previously said that travellers would be offered "sleeperettes" rather than fully lie-flat beds. The cabin will also have a customised design with textures, materials, seat covers and wood grain that differs from existing cabins.
Typically, Premium Economy tickets offer travellers more legroom and enhanced food and beverage services. Fares are usually higher than regular economy tickets, but cheaper than business and first class tickets.
Which routes will Emirates offer Premium Economy tickets on?
With the first Premium Economy cabin being delivered on an Emirates A380 jet, it's likely that the first tickets will be available to book on one of the six routes that the airline is operating via its superjumbos.
Of these, London is the busiest route. This month, Emirates announced it was increasing its A380 services between Dubai and London owing to customer demand. From Friday, November 27, it will operate four superjumbos a day to London Heathrow. This came after the UK announced an air travel corridor with the UAE and England slashed its quarantine period from 14 days to five days with a negative coronavirus test.
Emirates is also operating the A380 to destinations in Jordan, Russia, Egypt, France and China. However, Clark told Bloomberg TV that he was optimistic the airline's entire fleet of A380 aircraft could be back in the air by 2022.
Will I need to be vaccinated to fly Emirates?
Clark said he was hopeful air travel would recover over the course of next year as coronavirus vaccines are approved and distributed globally.
When asked if Emirates would require passengers to be vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus before flying, Clark said it was "early days".
He added it was "likely the countries themselves will decide on requirements".
Earlier this week, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the Australian airline planned to make the Covid-19 vaccination a requirement for flying.
