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Dubai’s long-haul carrier Emirates Airline announced on Tuesday at the Dubai Airshow 2021 that it will retrofit a total of 105 aircraft, including the double decker Airbus A380, with premium economy cabins that promise more legroom and comfortable seats to non-business-class flyers.
The major project, scheduled to begin at the end of 2022 and run for 18 months, will see 52 A380s and 53 Boeing 777s fitted with seats in a 2-4-2 configuration, a layout that offers fewer seats per row than the standard 3-4-3 economy cabin. The seats are to have design elements found on the airline’s business-class offering.
The airline first introduced its premium economy cabin product with the deployment of its newly delivered A380 aircraft in December last year. The initial plan was to offer the seats as complimentary upgrades for loyal customers.
The retrofit programme will be conducted at the airline’s engineering centre in Dubai. At the end of the project, the airline will have a total of 111 Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft fitted with premium economy cabins.
Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, said the airline is investing in the retrofit programme to provide their customers with “the best experiences in the sky.”
“Since we introduced our premium economy seats a year back, we’ve received a hugely positive response. Customers have been amazed by the quality and comfort,” Clark said.
Emirates also said that it is considering upgrades to its 777 business class cabins to offer new seats in a 1-2-1 layout.
The major retrofit
On a Boeing 777 airplane, five rows of economy class seats located behind business class will be taken out and replaced with 24 premium economy seats. On the A380, 56 premium economy seats will be installed at the front of the main deck.
The seats will be covered in anti-stain leather and feature wood panel finishing, as well as in-seat charging points, a wide dining table and side cocktail table.
Each seat will have 40 inches of pitch and a width of 19.5 inches. It will recline 8 inches into a comfortable cradle position, with ample room to stretch out.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria )
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