Emirates ditches hated middle seat in business class

Hooray, I’m in the middle seat!” said nobody ever, and certainly not when they are booked in business class.

Yet Emirates, undisputed powerhouse of the airline world, has long persisted with the dreaded middle seat in the business class cabin of its Boeing 777-300ER jets.

Perhaps an equally grave sin for high flyers is that the middle seat belongs to a dated 2-3-2 layout which sees every passenger either stepping over their neighbour to get to the aisle, or being stepped over by a seatmate with the same intent.

But that’s about to change, with the Gulf colossus confirming an all-new 777 business class is on the cards – one with a modern 1-2-1 seating configuration (as already enjoyed on the Emirates A380 superjumbos) and no middle seat.

Going, going, gone: the dated 2-3-2 business class seating of Emirates' Boeing 777s.

Taking wing in the middle of this year, this new Emirates business class seat will also align with what’s to come when the delayed Boeing 777-9 jetliners finally arrive from 2025.

“We are re-adjusting our business class in terms of the look and feel and even the configuration from the existing 2-3-2 to 1-2-1 configuration,” Emirates' Chief Commercial Officer Adnan Kazim told international media on the sidelines of the Arab Air Carriers Organization 56th AGM in Riyadh (ironically home of new rival Riyadh Airways, which is plotting its own new business class from 2025).

“The existing 2-3-2 business class on (the) B777 will go away and you’ll see a new product that will be launched which will bring us the alignment to the product that we have with the upcoming 777-9X (and) with the A350 that is coming in.”

“Everything will be streamlined in term of the product offering and consistent in term of what we do on the way forward,” he added.

Here's cheers to direct aisle access in Emirates next-gen 777 and A350 business class.

The new Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 seats are being developed and supplied by Safran Seats, with Emirates promising they “will offer a host of enhancements that set a new standard for comfort, privacy and convenience, including generous space and a bolder roster of luxurious features, stylish interior finishes and next level-technology.”

The 777 business class reboot will take place from the middle of 2024 at the same time the jets are upgraded with Emirates' new premium economy seats, with as many as four rows of premium economy in a 2-4-2 layout replacing the first five rows of economy in their own dedicated cabin nestled between business and economy class.

Emirates will upgrade its Boeing 777-300ER business class at the same time as it installs premium economy.

Passengers will find themselves cradled in a spacious cushioned 19.5" wide seat – with a pitch of “up to 40 inches” compared to the 32-34 inches of economy, an 8" recline and a generous leg-rest – boasting a 13.3" HD touchscreen, AC/USB power outlets, a wide dining table and a side cocktail table.

“It’s probably where business class used to be, and in some cases where first used to be in the old days, 30 years ago,” Emirates President Sir Tim Clark told Executive Traveller when the seat was first launched, describing it as more akin to a railway-style ‘sleeperette’.

High-flying couples may be the only ones who'll miss the paired window seats of Emirates' current 777 business class.

Up next: the Emirates A350

Kazim expects to collect the keys to the first Emirates Airbus A350 in August 2024, and “within a period of three and a half years, by mid-November 2027, we’ll be able to complete the 50 A350s on order.”

As expected, the Emirates A350s will come in a three-class configuration of business, premium economy and economy.

As for the long-awaited Boeing 777-9, Kazim says this is on track for delivery “in the last quarter of 2025, and we have 115 aircraft that have been lined up to be delivered between 2025 and early 2030s.”

Emirates' new 777 and A350 business class will adopt the same layout and core features of the A380.

Emirates President Clark has previously described its next-generation 777 business class as “basically the same as we have on the A380” in terms of not only its layout but core feature seat, although nobody woud be surprised if this new business class seat sprouted on-trend privacy doors.

The 777-9s will also sport a small self-serve snack and social area in the middle of the business class cabin, while being crowned with six “fully-enclosed” first class suites of the same design as the latest Boeing 777-300ERs.