Onboard Emirates' New Airbus A350

Emirates is entering a new era as its first Airbus A350 prepares to enter service in September of this year. As the time draws near for Emirates' new A350, let's explore what the plane will offer.

Onboard Experience

Emirates will configure its Airbus A350-900s with three cabin classes: Business Class, Premium Economy, and Economy Class. The configuration underscores Emirates' intentions to keep the A350 as a short-to-medium haul plane in its network.

According to the carrier, Business Class will consist of 32 "next generation" seats. As the name suggests, these will be new seats coming to the Emirates fleet. While images or renderings of these seats have not been released, it can be inferred that the configuration will be a 1-2-1 layout similar to what is found in the current Emirates fleet.

Furthermore, Emirates recently announced a complete overhaul of select Boeing 777 aircraft. These planes will receive brand-new Business Class seats and be fitted with Premium Economy. 

Business Class on these refurbished 777s will be a 1-2-1 layout just like what is found on the Airbus A380.

Premium Economy will consist of 21 seats while standard Economy Class will have 259 seats. Like 

Business Class, renderings and official details have not been disclosed. However, when it comes to these cabins, we know a little better about what to expect.

These cabins will have seats similar to what is found on the refurbished A380s and 777s. Premium Economy will likely have a 2-3-2 layout with Economy in a 3-3-3 layout.

In addition to the seats, customers can look forward to the spacious and quiet cabin offered on the A350. These are in addition to the high ceilings, large bin space, and customized mood lighting.

Where Will Emirates A350s Fly?

Emirates has announced nine initial destinations for its A350 fleet ranging from cities in Europe to the Middle East and South Asia.

In total, 65 A350-900s are on order, and as more planes are delivered, more Emirates destinations will see the new A350 fly there.

The inaugural flight will be on September 15th to Bahrain (BAH) with one daily service. Eventually, Bahrain will receive two daily A350 flights from November 1st.

As of now, here are the other eight destinations currently set to receive the new Emirates A350 along with when the carrier will start flying the aircraft there. 

• Kuwait City, Kuwait (KWI) from September 16th (EK853/854)
• Mumbai, India (BOM) from October 27th (EK502/503)
• Ahmedabad, India (AMD) from October 27th (EK538/539)
• Edinburgh, Scotland (EDI) from November 4th
• Muscat, Oman (MCT) from December 1st (EK866/867)
• Lyon, France (LYS) from December 1st
• Bologna, Italy (BLQ) from December 1st
• Colombo, Sri Lanka (CMB) from January 1st (EK654/655)

Emirates will not only be bringing the A350 to Edinburgh, but it will also be returning to the Scottish capital entirely. Emirates launched service to the city in 2018 using the Boeing 777-300ER. The route was later suspended due to the pandemic.

Emirates also serves Glasgow (GLA) in Scotland with the Airbus A380. Once Edinburgh service resumes, Emirates will offer 14 weekly flights to the country.

As Adnan Kazim, Emirates' Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer says, the A350 "will be a game-changer" with its "latest generation cabin products". 

Kazim went on to add that the A350 builds on Emirates' long-standing commitment to investing in the very best customer experience in the sky. Exciting times are ahead for the Dubai-based carrier.