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WHAT’S THE VIBE: Emirates is ranked alongside Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines as one of the most-loved carriers. The most recommended global brand for 2025 according to market research firm YouGov, Emirates has clout, and their fleet offers a predictably luxurious in-flight experience.
ON BOARD: City AM flew Premium Economy and Business Class with Emirates on their Airbus A380 aircraft (Emirates is the largest operator of this fleet as well as the Boeing 777). The A380 is exceptional, especially for bad flyers: you barely feel take-off and at cruise height turbulence doesn’t often get a look in. Emirates is known for their premium service and while Business Class offers a competitive experience, some of the food and drink in Premium Economy was better than it was in Business.
The new Premium Economy service, launched this year, includes a well-presented food and drink menu with a three-course meal after take off, and a decent amenities kit that punches above its weight. Leather seats are wider than expected and feel spacious and TV screens are the size of the sets you had in your living room in the 1990s. If you go for Business Class, there is more attentive service and comfortable lay-flat beds, even if the tangible upgrades (the menus and food items) weren’t always discernibly higher quality.
Read more: Forget Dubai: why Abu Dhabi should be your next Middle East pitstop
FINAL SAY: Service, fleet and on-board deliverables are broadly and predictably classy with Emirates. The beige colour scheme may not pop like Qatar Airways’ rich purple or the iconic branding of British Airways, but that’s ultimately down to personal preference. Emirates may not be loud and brash, but it is the quiet luxury airline of choice: bucket loads of space, and the types of plush leather seats that remind you to purchase the upgrade next time you get a new car.
The experience with the carrier is likely to continue getting better: Emirates is midway through its $5 billion retrofit program, upgrading cabins of its Boeing and Airbus aircraft. A 1-2-1 Business Class seat design means every passenger has direct access to the corridor spaces. Emirates is also continuing to roll out its updated Premium Economy offering. So even if the stock isn’t brand new the experience feels it. A total of 67 aircraft have been refurbished out of 219 planned for retrofitting in total, across 110 A380s and 109 Boeing 777s.
WHERE TO FLY: Emirates flies to 148 destinations in 80 countries and across six continents from its hub in Dubai. From London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports Emirates flies to 80 destinations, with many routes going via a connection in Dubai.
