Airline News
Emirates tweaks first class, flydubai expands
December 16th 2014
Emirates Airline said it will drop first class from some of its Airbus A380s starting next year without elaborating how many of its current 57 A380s or which routes will be affected. Read More »
“There are some routes that don’t require first class,” Shaikh Majid Al Mualla, divisional senior vice president, commercial operations, told the Gulf News in an interview. Al Mualla also revealed that Emirates is in the final planning stages for a new “bedroom concept” first class, saying it followed more of a “room concept” and as such was very “private.” However, the new bedrooms will not include a butler service, Al Mualla said.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways is set to launch its first class ‘Residence’ on December 27 on the London Heathrow route. Tickets for the three-bedroom suite with dedicated butler are $20,000 one-way, and Etihad says it is sold out for the initial ten flights.
In the meantime, low-cost competitor flydubai is continuing its expansion into central and eastern Europe as it launches flights to Bratislava, Prague, Sarajevo, Sofia and Zagreb this month. In 2014, flydubai announced 26 new routes. It operates to 89 destinations in 46 countries with its current 43-strong Boeing B737-800 fleet. It has an additional 17 of the type on order as well as 75 B737 MAX.
