On Friday, December 1st, 2017, the Luxury Travel Expert was invited to experience the new and insane First Class Suites on Emirates. If you can’t quite stretch to this First Class Suite, you might want to consider flying away with these deals for cheap travel in 2018.
The first brand new Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft which features the newly designed and highly anticipated Business and First Class cabins flew into Brussels airport so, following a small reception and a few obligatory speeches by representatives from both the airport and Emirates, a select group of reporters were offered a tour aboard the B777 aircraft (before its scheduled departure to Dubai).
While he was not impressed by the new Business and Economy Class cabins, the new First Class product, I quote, “blew me off my feet!”.
The Emirates B777 new First Class is one of the best First Class products we have ever seen. The product was created in collaboration with Boeing, Rockwell Collins interior systems, Panasonic, Jacques Pierre Jean Design studio, and Seattle-based design firm Teague. However, despite some phenomenal design features such as virtual windows (more on that below), it’s not as revolutionary as the A380 First Class Apartments that you find on Etihad Airways A380 planes and the soon-to-be-launched Singapore Airlines A380 suites.
Emirates newly delivered and refurbished B777s feature only 6 First Class suites arranged in a 1-1-1 layout: 2 window suites on each side and 2 suites in the middle aisle (instead of 4 middle seats in the older B777 First Class cabins). The cabin itself feels claustrophobic and the aisle is very narrow, but that’s because the six suites, each one offering up to 40 square feet of personal space, take most of the cabin’s space. The suites are so large that they have ample space to change in the privacy of your suite even after the bed has been made.
Each suite is fully enclosed with floor to ceiling sliding doors, a first in the airline industry. Contrary to Emirates older B777 and A380 First Class suites, which feature a lot of walnut veneer and gold trim, the new B777 First Class suites feature a sleek interior with a new color palette of soft greys, cream, and champagne, conveying a contemporary, open and airy feel, with quiet and timeless luxury. Above the three windows, you’ll notice an artistic motif, representing the Ghaf (prosopis cineraria) tree, that is used as a design highlight throughout the aircraft. An indigenous evergreen plant, the Ghaf is considered the national tree of the United Arab Emirates and has deep cultural and ecological significance.
The suite’s layout is very similar to Emirates old First Class product, with an ergonomic seat at its center, which can recline into a fully flat bed of 86 inches (218 cm) long with retractable armrest. In front of the seat is a large desk with a vanity mirror below a 32-inch Full HD LCD TV screen. The latter can be commanded with a tablet located in the armrest. There are subtle differences though with the old First Class suite, such as the location of the private minibar on both sides of the TV screen instead of in the armrest, but overall, the suite feels very similar.
That said, the new First Class suites do feature some new spectacular design elements: The soft leather seat reclines into a fully flat bed that can be placed in a ‘zero-gravity‘ position inspired by NASA technology, giving a feeling of relaxation and weightlessness. To ensure all First Class passengers have a view, Emirates introduced the industry’s first virtual windows for the two suites located in the middle aisle. These virtual windows project the view from outside the aircraft using real-time camera technology. Wow! This is probably the first plane where I would prefer an aisle seat over a window seat.
In the window suites, binoculars are available for passengers who want to explore the sky outside their windows. Passengers can easily communicate with the cabin crew or request room service using a video call function. The suites also come with a service window where passengers can be served drinks and canapes undisturbed.
The in-flight entertainment experience is enhanced with brand new Bowers & Wilkins Active Noise Cancelling E1 headphones. These headphones were designed exclusively for Emirates to ensure the sound was optimized for the First Class cabin.
Each suite is fitted with an inspiration kit that features a luxury Byredo skincare collection.
Emirates B777 new Business Class is very similar to the old product although it has a more sleek overall look and we have reviewed this separately.
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