Emirates makes ‘flying better’ in 2018
View(s):Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, delivered another year (2018) of trendsetting product and service initiatives across its fleet and network to make ‘flying better’ for its customers.
Ten newly-refurbished aircraft are set in a two-class configuration offering 38 Business Class seats with wider seats laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration.
In the last 12 months, Emirates carried over 59 million passengers on over 3,700 passenger flights on average per week. The airline served a diverse menu of over 66 million meals on its flights departing Dubai*, and moved close to 36 million pieces of baggage in Dubai to its global network of 157 destinations. In 2018, Emirates operated over 192,000 flights, with its fleet of 274 aircraft travelling more than 908 million kilometres around the globe, the airline said in a media release.
Reflecting on 2018’s milestones, Sir Tim Clark, President, Emirates airline said in a media release that: “Our ambitions have always been driven by a commitment to continual improvement – to make the customer experience better, and to make our business operations more efficient.
“We had our challenges in 2018, however we continued to maximise opportunities by deploying our capacity to best serve customer demand, keeping a close watch on our costs, utilising technology to improve business performance, as well as developing more customer-centric products and services to provide our passengers with greater choice. Our customers remain at the heart of everything we do, and our continual investments in the business will be the foundation on which we will build our future growth and continue to deliver solid results.”
The year began with Emirates setting out on a US$150 million programme to refurbish its Boeing 777-200LR fleet. These 10 newly refurbished aircraft are set in a two-class configuration offering 38 Business Class seats with wider seats laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration, and 264 seats in Economy Class. The revamp also brought airier and more spacious cabins throughout the aircraft.
Emirates is now planning for the next generation cabin design of its Boeing 777X programme. On its new generation A380s entering service from 2020 onwards, Emirates is planning the deployment of its Premium Economy product, featuring a bespoke design and an array of experience-rich touches.
In line with its ‘fly better’ brand promise, Emirates is bringing in a brand new fleet of high tech buses for airside passenger operations, with a full fleet of 128 buses to be operational by 2020 . These dedicated buses will ferry Emirates’ passengers between terminals and its aircraft at remote stands in greater comfort.
Providing a world-class customer experience in the online world, Emirates last year introduced immersive 3D seat models on emirates.com, making it the first airline in the world to roll out web virtual reality (VR) technology on its digital platform. Customers can navigate the award-winning 3D seat map of the interior of the Emirates A380 and the Emirates Boeing 777; explore their seats, the spacious cabin and the Emirates onboard product before they select their seats.