Extra leather in premium economy adds value for Emirates
Emirates has incorporated a premium economy cabin into its newest aircraft.
The Dubai-based airline took delivery of a first Airbus A380 aircraft with its first premium economy cabin at the end of December. It will add a further five A380s with premium economy (as well as first, business and economy class seating) to its fleet in the course of 2021 and 2022.
Seats in premium economy have a pitch of 40 inches (more than 100 centimetres), which is more than double the pitch of economy-class seats. The 56 premium-economy seats are covered in cream-coloured, anti-stain leather with stitching details to make a diamond-shaped quilted effect.
This contrasts with seats in the economy cabin, which only have leather on the headrest.
At first, Emirates is using the newest A380 on a number of its most popular routes and is offering complimentary upgrades to “valued customers”. It will sell the seats at a higher price once demand picks up.
Leather supplier Boxmark welcomed the Emirates announcement and quoted Bonn-based aviation industry consultancy Bauer Aviation Advisory as saying that, while premium economy seats cost 1.6 times the price of economy seats, they generate 2.3 times the revenue.
Boxmark said that helping its aviation customers to use more leather was a way of helping them add value and that greater use of leather was part of a “strategic mechanism to improve yield on services”.
