Emirates Boeing 777X will have "next-generation" first, business class

Emirates will launch what it describes as "next-generation bespoke cabins" on its future flagship Boeing 777X aircraft next year as the first of a massive order for 150 Boeing 777X jets rolls into the hangars at Dubai.

A spokeswoman for Emirates has confirmed to Australian Business Traveller that the long-range jets will include first class: the suites are tipped to take their cues from the chic first class suites of Emirates' latest Boeing 777-300 jets.

Emirates' latest Boeing 777 first class suites are a fully-private and fully-plush affair

Those fully-enclosed 3.7m² (40ft²) suites offer total privacy, with innovative 'virtual windows' for passengers in the middle of the plane.

Read more: Here is Emirates' all-new luxury first class suite

Emirates' next-gen Boeing 777X business class will draw on both its Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 business class as shared starting points for creating a new business class seat for the new decade.

From the A380 superjumbo, expect a Boeing 777X business class layout which affords direct aisle access to every passenger.

Emirates CEO Sir Tim Clark previously revealed to Australian Business Traveller that the upgraded Boeing 777X business class seat would “resemble what we have on the Airbus A380s upstairs.”

Emirates' Boeing 777X will likely adopt a 1-2-1 layout, in keeping with the Airbus A380

However, the look of Emirates' Boeing 777X business class cabin will be an evolution of its latest and more polished Boeing 777-200LR business class, which also did away with the Boeing 777's unloved middle seat.

Middle seat begone: Emirates' latest Boeing 777 business class

Clark told Australian Business Traveller that the Boeing 777 seats would serve as a “test for the new interior design of Emirates”, and that “the same colour scheme will be on the 777X in 2020”.

The Boeing 777X jets will also feature premium economy, which Clark has previously described to Australian Business Traveller as being a railway-style ‘sleeperette’ with a deep recline which will fully cradle the legs and feet.

Emirates CEO Sir Tim Clark says the airline's forthcoming premium economy seat will be an all-new design exclusive to Emirates

Clark added that the airline's premium economy seat was an all-new design exclusive to Emirates and built to the airline’s specifications, and would enjoy its own cabin seperate to economy class in order to provide "a degree of exclusivity... and not just a curtain, it'll be a proper cabin and most of the time passengers will have access to their own washrooms."

Read more: Emirates' new premium economy ‘sleeperette’ seats

Emirates' call for 150 of Boeing's advanced 777X jets will begin with 115 of the 777-9 series, due to arrive from 2020, with 35 of the smaller but longer-range 777-8.

In case that's not enough, the Gulf colossus and Qantas partner holds purchase rights for up to 50 more Boeing 777X aircraft, which could conceivably include the proposed stretched 777-10.

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.