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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
Emirates' business class product on the A380 is surely aging (especially the older aircraft without a face lift), though the soft product continues to be extremely competitive, and the onboard bar is super fun. WiFi could use a major overhaul, though |
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In August 2024, as part of my crazy journey between London and Hong Kong/the Philippines, I flew Emirates’ A380 business class from Dubai to Singapore. I last flew Emirates’ A380 business class in 2019, and was curious to see how the product was holding up after five years.
Emirates introduced their A380s with a staggered business class product in 2008, and it was known to be extremely cutting-edge, with the onboard bar and the at-seat minibar receiving a particular amount of hype. While the airline has made some minor tweaks (including a recent re-upholster, which my flight didn’t feature), the airline hasn’t actually updated their business class product in over 17 years.
So, how was it? On one hand, Emirates’ A380s do feel quite tired these days, and I didn’t find the hard product to be industry-leading. However, while Emirates’ soft product isn’t one of the world’s most polished, it is still very good, and I had a fun flight. Additionally, the experiences making up the “Emirates experience” are still fun, including the onboard bar.
How I Booked Emirates’ A380 Business Class
I booked a one-way ticket from London Heathrow to Singapore in Emirates’ A380 premium economy class, which set me back £1,160.49 (HK$11,769). As I booked a Flex Plus ticket, I was able to subsequently upgrade my Dubai to Singapore leg from business class for 40,760 Skywards miles.
I intentionally booked this Dubai to Singapore flight as there was award space, despite the original cabin class being in economy. It would’ve been nice to fly a plane with premium economy outfitted as I could be guaranteed the “updated” business class product, though none of those flights had award space (anywhere in Asia that day, not just to Singapore).
My itinerary was as follows:
05/08/24 EK6 London Heathrow – Dubai dep. 22:15 arr. 08:05 [Premium Economy]
06/08/24 EK352 Dubai – Singapore dep. 10:05 arr. 21;45 [Business Class]
Emirates A380 Business Class Ground Experience
I was connecting from London in Emirates’ A380 premium economy class, so made my way past security in the transit area, before making a beeline to their lounge in Concourse A, which I’ve reviewed here. Since my flight was departing from gate A16, I could board directly from the lounge, which I took advantage of. Nobody was manning the gate until final call was announced, before a gate agent leisurely came up and scanned our boarding passes.
Boarding Emirates’ A380 directly from the lounge
We made our way down the lift, where I saw A6-EOT, our 9-year-old A380 decked out in a blue Destination Dubai livery. I sure was excited to board another A380 flight!
Emirates A380 at Dubai Airport
Emirates Flight EK352
Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Origin: Dubai (DXB) T: 3 Gate: A16 Dep: 10:05 (10:10)
Destination: Singapore (SIN) T: 1 Gate: C23 Arr: 21:45 (22:10)
Duration: 7 h 40 min (8 h)
Aircraft: Airbus A380 Reg: A6-EOT
Seat: 14A (Business Class)
Emirates A380 Business Class Cabin and Seat
I boarded through the second door from the front of the upper deck (turning left would’ve brought me into first class), and turned right into the business class cabin.
Emirates’ business class cabin is laid out in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration, and it features a staggering 76 seats. There are two cabins – the massive forward cabin features 58 seats, whereas there’s a rear cabin that features 18 seats.
Emirates A380 Business Class Cabin
The cabin colours are gaudy and not particularly elegant, with the purple on the seats feeling particularly aged – Emirates is changing this on their newer planes, which are much nicer with more understated tones. You’ll get the same seat on all Emirates A380s though, perhaps with just a couple of minor changes.
As is the norm for staggered configurations, the window seats alternate between being closer to the window and closer to the aisle. Here’s a seat that’s closer to the aisle (this was the one behind mine) – as you can see, there’s a console between the seat and the window, and not a lot separating the seat itself and the aisle. These are the “B” and “J” seats in the cabin – below is seat 15B.
Emirates A380 Business Class Seat 15B
Meanwhile, the A and K seats are snugly located by the window, with a console separating the seat from the aisle. These seats are much more private, and therefore my preference. I’d selected seat 14A, which was located somewhere near the middle of the forward cabin.
Emirates A380 Business Class Seat 14A
While I’m talking about the different seat types, let me introduce you to the seating configurations in the middle of the cabin as well. The “D” and “F” seats function very similarly to the “B” and “J” seats, in that they’re proximate to the aisle, and don’t provide much privacy.
Emirates A380 Business Class Seat 12D
Meanwhile the “E” and “F” seats are situated right next to each other, with the console separating the seat and the aisle. These are called “honeymoon” seats, as they’re placed very close together. While I was alone on this flight, I’m more starting to recognise the value of being able to spend a flight together with a loved one, and you also get separation from foot traffic in the aisle. These seats can be quite awkward and cramped if seated next to a stranger, though – there’s a raised partition between seats if that happens, as pictured below.
Emirates A380 Business Class Seats 14E and 14F
Emirates’ seatmap is clearly laid out to distinguish the different types of seats, so I wouldn’t worry too much about being confused over the above configurations. Generally the “A” and “K” window seats are always my preference, unless you want to sit next to your travel partner, where you should choose the “E” and “F” honeymoon seats (the “D” and “G” seats are situated so far apart that you might as well just both pick window seats).
Back at my seat 14A, the console was featured to my right. This featured a storage area that couldn’t be used during takeoff and landing, two USB-A and one 110V power port, a headphone jack, and an HDMI port, in case you wanted to plug a game console or a laptop into the entertainment system (I didn’t have an HDMI cable on me, so couldn’t test whether it was working). There was also a reading light and two remote controls – a smaller one just for the entertainment system, and a larger one that was also able to control the seat.
Note the at-seat minibar as well – completely a gimmick (since you can be served drinks anytime, and the minibar itself isn’t cold), though cool nonetheless.
Emirates A380 Business Class Console and Minibar
In front of me was a reasonably high-definition screen, though I did remember feeling like they had significantly more glare than the newer premium economy screens I’d experienced the night prior.
Emirates A380 Business Class Entertainment Screen
Meanwhile, the larger remote control let you control the seat’s recline function as well. The seat really only has one mechanism (only the seatback goes down), so the controls are extremely intuitive.
Emirates A380 Business Class Console and Seat Controls
The seat goes fully flat – I’ll talk about the bed later on in the post, though here’s what the seat looks like in the pre-set “lounge” position. As you can see, there’s no fold-up legrest, but rather the seat moves forward so you can use the ottoman in front.
Emirates A380 Business Class Seat in “Lounge” mode
The ottoman is very spacious, though did look quite tired on my flight.
Emirates A380 Business Class Ottoman
The tray table comes out from underneath the console. This is one large, sturdy table, though while it swivels, you won’t be able to get out of your seat while this is extended.
Emirates A380 Business Class Tray Table
To my left were some storage bins. I have a relatively larger backpack now, so to my disappointment, I couldn’t actually fit my backpack here, and had to use the overhead bins – thankfully I could just take things out of my bag as needed (such as my laptop and a zip hoodie), and put them in here. When closed, these bins function as a side table. It’s worth noting that this is a feature specific to the A380 – Emirates has just released a similar business class seat onboard their 777s and A350s, which don’t have these side storage bins. On those aircraft, I can imagine that there’s a painfully lacking amount of storage space.
Emirates A380 Business Class Side Bins
The blinds are electronically controlled, and there are two “levels” – you can either have just the translucent blinds down, or there’s a blackout blinds function.
Emirates A380 Business Class Electronic Blinds
Lastly, there are overhead air nozzles, which can be helpful especially after the aircraft has sat in the summer heat in Dubai for a while. Emirates does tend to keep its cabins quite cool inflight, though.
Emirates A380 Business Class Overhead Panel and Air Nozzles
The seat itself is tired and the storage options rely completely on the A380’s side storage bins, though it’s still a relatively comfortable and spacious seat. I will say that the Emirates hard product lies quite far behind the best of its competitors Etihad and Qatar Airways, and they would be my last choice out of the three if based on seat alone (this doesn’t even factor in the fact that Emirates has ancient 777s with angled lie-flat seats still flying on some longhaul routes).
Emirates A380 Business Class Amenities
Waiting at my seat were a pillow and blanket. Both were quite decent, and among the better of their respective kind that I’ve seen in business class.
Emirates A380 Business Class Pillow and Blanket
At some point shortly after takeoff, the crew comes around to distribute mattress pads, and puts them onto the seat for you. I didn’t take a photo this time round, so here’s a photo of the mattress pad from my flight back in 2019. The mattress pad is very substantial, and one of the thickest I’ve seen in business class.
Emirates A380 Business Class Mattress Pad
Shortly after boarding, the cabin crew came around to distribute a pack with slippers and eye masks. This is as close to an amenity kit as it gets for this 7-hour daytime flight.
Emirates A380 Business Class Slippers and Eye Mask
Emirates offers pyjamas as well on longhaul flights of 9+ hours, though that didn’t include our flight.
In terms of other amenities, there’s also some headphones, which I didn’t try out on this flight. I’ve tried them out on previous flights, and they’re decent, though not spectacular.
Emirates A380 Business Class Headphones
This is a decent set of amenities for a mid-haul flight, and the bedding in particular is quite good.
Emirates A380 Entertainment System
I didn’t peruse the entertainment system much on this flight, though had done so on my previous flight in premium economy, which also featured Emirates’ award-winning ICE entertainment system. Here are some photos of the incredibly extensive entertainment system, for anyone interested.
Emirates A380 Entertainment System
While Emirates features a nose, belly and tail camera on their A380s, I by far prefer the tail camera, which provides such a cool perspective of the flight. In this case, sadly, it was broken.
Emirates A380 Tail Camera (or lack thereof)
Emirates A380 Business Class Pre-Departure Service
I didn’t note a cabin crew introduction in business class on this flight, though they did come around with some lemon mint juice and some champagne. I decided to indulge in some rosé champagne this time round, which was tasty.
Emirates A380 Business Class Pre-Departure Champagne
A hot towel service was done after boarding was complete as well.
Along with the slippers and eyewear sets, the cabin crew also passed out menus during this time, which I’ll get into a bit more later on in the review.
Emirates A380 Business Class Menus
Taking Off from Dubai Airport
Boarding was completed at around 10:05 AM, when our departure time was slated to end. At this point, the captain came onto the PA to announce our flying time of 7h 10m, saying that it was going to be “nice and smooth”, asked us to keep our seatbelt “smoothly” fastened, and mentioned that it’d be a pleasant evening upon arrival into Singapore. We were then informed that there were 24 cabin crew from 17 countries serving our aircraft (that’s really cool!).
The safety video was screened at this point, which played in both Arabic and English.
Emirates A380 Business Class Safety Video
Afterwards the crew put on some blue mood lighting, which made the aging cabin feel a bit more modern again.
Emirates A380 Business Class Cabin During Takeoff
At 10:10 AM, we began our pushback. Our taxi time was fairly lengthy as we queued behind a number of aircraft, and we weren’t actually airborne until 10:40 AM. While the tail camera was broken, I had the nose camera on, which gave me a bit of a new perspective during the taxiing process.
Taxiing at Dubai Airport
We ended up taking off from runway 12R at 10:40 AM, 35 minutes after our scheduled departure time.
Taking off from Dubai Airport
Emirates A380 Business Class Lavatory
Emirates has four lavatories for business class passengers, and they’re all located at the back of the business class cabin, behind the bar. The lavatories themselves have the same gaudy faux wood finishes as the rest of the cabin, though they do feature “real” towels that you can wash your hands with, which is quite nice. You can also find combs, hand cream, and dental kits in the lavatory, since they aren’t included with the amenity kit.
Emirates A380 Business Class Lavatory
One of the lavatories even features a window, which of course has faux wood lining.
Emirates A380 Business Class Lavatory
Emirates A380 Business Class WiFi
On the plus side, Emirates offers free WiFi for all Skywards members – you don’t even have to be crediting your flight towards Emirates Skywards, and just need to log in with your account. On the minus side, WiFi was so slow on this flight that I couldn’t even run a speed test, and was pretty much useless beyond basic messaging capabilities. It was also unusable over India, which we flew over for quite a while (this is fair enough, and isn’t Emirates’ fault).
Emirates’ WiFi is provided by OnAir, by far the slowest onboard WiFi provider onboard any airline. I find that WiFi tends to be worst on these older A380s, though in general I feel they need to switch providers. Emirates offers by far the slowest onboard WiFi out of any of the Middle Eastern major carriers.
Emirates A380 Business Class Bar
Now here’s where the review gets fun. Emirates’ A380 business class features a massive bar at the back of the business class cabin. This is the same area where other airlines either elect to place more business class seats, or a mini-economy class cabin. Emirates elected to use this space for a bar – although they could use it to add more capacity, they’ve never chosen to do so, given how much of a marketing success it’s been for the airline over the past 17 years.
The bar itself is a cool little open space – the bar in the center features a lit table and some alcohol on display, and there are two benches on the side. These benches feature seatbelts, so you can stay at the bar if there’s turbulence (though not during takeoff and landing). It gets set up right after takeoff, and is open until shortly before landing.
Emirates A380 Business Class Bar
Can you have £100 Hennessy X.O cognac at the bar? Yes! In fairness, you can also have it at your seat. (To clarify, this isn’t the exclusive Hennessy Paradis cognac, which is only available for first class passengers.)
Emirates A380 Business Class Bar Cognac
As you’d expect, the bar has featured cocktails, which you’ll also be able to find in the menu.
Emirates A380 Business Class Bar Menu
There are also various cakes on display, as well as light bites that are featured at the back of the lounge.
Emirates A380 Business Class Light Bites
What a fun amenity. Now, I do marginally prefer Qatar Airways’ onboard bar on their A380, which is more modern – though we’re really splitting hairs here.
Emirates A380 Business Class Meal Service
The meal service began half an hour after the seatbelt sign was turned off. Emirates doesn’t feature dine-on-demand, being the only one of the big four Middle Eastern carriers not to do so (Qatar Airways, Etihad, and Turkish Airlines all do, although Turkish doesn’t advertise it as much anymore). Instead, meal orders were taken after takeoff.
The menu read as follows:
Emirates A380 Business Class Menu
Meanwhile, the drinks menu read as follows, including (but not limited to) the cocktail list available in the lounge:
Emirates A380 Business Class Drinks Menu
I liked that there were three options for both the appetiser and main course, and four options for the (single-course) pre-arrival meal; on top of that, the drinks list is extensive, and I particularly like how many cocktails and mocktails are on offer with Emirates. You also can order as much as you want off the menu, within reason – you’re not limited to one item per course.
I decided to start my meal off with an iced Americano, which was served with mixed nuts and pitted olives.
Emirates A380 Business Class Drinks Service
The meal service was quite drawn out, and I even had time to pop to the bar after the initial drinks service. The appetisers weren’t actually served until 50 minutes later (by this time we were 1h 30m after takeoff), and I asked for both the butternut squash soup and the seared tuna salad. Both were delicious, and the seared tuna salad in particular was very well presented, and quite flavourful.
Emirates A380 Business Class Appetisers
After my appetiser tray was cleared, I decided to ask for a virgin mojito.
Emirates A380 Business Class Virgin Mojito
The main course was served 20 minutes later. I’d ordered the grilled beef tenderloin, in order to assess how Emirates would do with a meat dish. While the tenderloin was overcooked and quite dry, the dish also had quite a bit of flavour.
Emirates A380 Business Class Meal Service
I had eaten in the lounge and also on the plane, so at this point I was quite stuffed, and only had a fruit plate for dessert. This was served with some Emirates pralines.
Emirates A380 Business Class Dessert and Pralines
While the main course wasn’t particularly well-executed, overall I was quite happy with the quality of the meal service on Emirates. I think that while the structure of the meal service can feel a little bit drawn out and less flexible on Emirates, the actual food quality is just as good as that of Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Etihad (there’s fierce competition for food quality in the Middle East – I’m also waiting to try Oman Air, which I’ve heard has great catering as well). The variety and quality of beverages available is also extremely good.
Emirates A380 Business Class Service
Service on this Emirates flight was good, and felt polished. I particularly enjoyed getting to know the crewmembers serving me at the bar, and how the Dubai and Emirates work culture is like. Now, I think that Emirates’ service style is a little less polished than that of rivals Etihad and Qatar Airways – you’re less likely to be addressed by name or greeted at your seat, and I didn’t get either of that on my flight here. However, everyone was friendly and definitely eager to please, and I have no complaints.
With the size of the A380, service also was done at quite a relaxed pace. Trolleys and trays weren’t used, which meant that crewmembers went to and fro from the galley to serve each passenger. I didn’t mind that on this daytime flight, though can imagine that a similar pace would’ve been a little less convenient on a short redeye flight, where I’m trying to maximise sleep.
Emirates A380 Business Class Bed
After the meal service, I decided to test out the seat in bed mode. Between the side storage bins and counter space, and my seat being one of those closer to the window, the bed surface was both private and spacious. The substantial bedding meant that it was quite a comfortable surface to sleep on as well – one of my neighbours certainly agreed, as I heard some fairly loud snoring at points during the flight.
Emirates A380 Business Class Bed
I actually ended up napping for a couple of hours after the meal service. There’s no door or enhanced privacy partition here, though the seat does the trick, albeit not being particularly cutting-edge.
A Fun Time at the Emirates A380 Bar
As it’s not every day that you get to hang out in an open bar onboard a plane, I made a point to spend a bit of time in the bar when I woke up. I decided to have some Hennessy X.O cognac with some bundt cake, which was on display at the bar. The bundt cake was quite tasty.
Emirates A380 Business Class Cognac and Bundt Cake
Throughout time getting to chat to a couple of the crewmembers, I also had a mojito (actually, I originally asked for a virgin mojito, though was convinced otherwise when the bar attendant said I should live a bit), as well as an espresso martini a bit later on. It’s super fun getting to know some of the crew (and in some cases fellow passengers, though not many people lingered on my flight) over a drink or two, and what a great way to spend time on this daytime flight.
Emirates A380 Business Class Mojito and Espresso Martini
A flight attendant even asked whether I wanted a photo by the bar, and I obliged.
All smiles over an espresso martini in Emirates’ A380 business class
At points, the bar attendant even put out fancy tea-based drinks with edible flower arrangements, which I had one of. It was quite tasty as well.
Emirates A380 Business Class Bar Mocktails
At one point on our journey to Singapore we hit some chop, and we were asked to buckle up on one the benches.
Emirates’ A380 bar is a genuinely fun way to spend time, and the main reason I enjoyed this flight as much as I did.
Emirates A380 Business Class Pre-Arrival Meal
Between my time napping, spending time at the bar, and doing some light work, the flight went by pretty quickly, and soon it was time for the pre-arrival meal, which was served around 90 minutes before landing. This meal was marketed as “light bites”, and once again you could pick as many menu items as you pleased.
I had the laziji, which was flavourful, though not Szechuan spicy as advertised.
Emirates A380 Business Class Pre-Arrival Meal
I decided to follow this up with a glass of port – as one does. The port was very good.
Emirates A380 Business Class Port
Around this time, the cabin lights started to come on, and the cabin lit up with a beautiful purple hue.
Emirates A380 Business Class Cabin
As mentioned earlier, Emirates’ business class food quality is very good, and in this case I also appreciated the pace and timing of the meal.
Landing into Changi Airport
Around an hour before landing, the captain came back onto the PA to announce Singapore’s 29°C weather, and that it was a pleasant evening. The cabin was prepped around 30 minutes before landing, and cabin lights were dimmed for our nighttime arrival.
Emirates A380 Business Class Cabin upon Landing
We did a very quick go-around before landing into Changi Airport at 10 PM, touching down at runway 20R.
Landing into Singapore Changi Airport
Once we taxied to Terminal 1, we parked at gate C23, next to a Scoot 787 (hello!).
Scoot 787 at Changi Airport
From there it was a further few minutes until we were able to disembark, and we finally did so at 10:10 PM, 25 minutes after our scheduled arrival time.
Immigration was a breeze, especially since I had pre-filled the MyICA immigration form to enter Singapore. While I only had a carry-on sized bag, I was bringing my parents a liquid gift from the U.S., so waited around 20 minutes for my bag to come out on the carousel at Changi Airport. From there, I did a little late-night explore of the Jewel, the beautiful airport mall by Terminal 1, before heading to Terminal 4 to catch my redeye flight to Hong Kong. I love Changi Airport, and I also love Singapore, so I was sad I couldn’t have stayed longer.
Conclusion: Emirates A380 Business Class
There’s no denying that Emirates’ A380 is a bit past its prime, and the seat itself isn’t competitive anymore. While rival carriers Etihad and Qatar Airways have introduced business class seats with doors on many (but not all) of their aircraft, Emirates continues to install these rather middling business class seats on some of their brand new planes. The onboard WiFi offering is also by far the worst out of the major premium Middle Eastern carriers (though the entertainment system is excellent), so I’d say that Emirates’ hard product comes behind Etihad, Qatar Airways, and even Turkish Airlines, at least when it comes to their newest planes.
However, all in all, Emirates still provides a very good soft product, at least on their A380s. The meal service isn’t dine-on-demand like the carriers listed above, though can definitely complete in terms of quality and variety of food and beverages. The bar makes the experience so much more fun, and definitely majorly contributed to my overall positive impression of the flight. Amenities are also good, and I understand they’re even more extensive on flights over nine hours.
There’s something to be said about how easy expectation management is with Emirates – if you’re scheduled on an A380, you’ll basically never get an equipment swap, and over 50% of Emirates’ longhaul routes feature A380s with these seats and onboard bars. These seats are due a refresh and I’d hope to see a new hard product altogether be introduced in the next few years, though wouldn’t hesitate to recommend flying their A380 business class, even after so many years.
