Emirates now offers Premium Economy on flights to 31 of its 41 destinations in Europe and the UK, after adding the cabin at Paris Charles de Gaulle on 25 October, as it adds capacity to winter sun destinations beyond its Dubai hub.
The airline will operate an average of 78 flights a day between Dubai and Europe across its winter schedule, and is adding 31 weekly flights to cities including Cape Town, Nairobi, Phuket, Hanoi, Manila, Tokyo Narita and Accra. The A380 is serving 21 European destinations this winter, connecting with 21 eastbound A380 routes including Bangkok, Sydney and Tokyo.
“Winter is one of the busiest travel seasons for our customers in Europe, and we’re giving them more ways to enjoy it,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer. He said the airline was making it easier to reach destinations beyond Dubai “with an expanded eastbound schedule and more of our popular Premium Economy seats deployed”.
The Premium Economy roll-out is part of Emirates’ multibillion-dollar retrofit programme, which has so far brought new cabin interiors to 108 aircraft. On its newest Airbus A350s, each Premium Economy seat has a full-height privacy screen, an electric leg rest, a wraparound headrest and wireless charging. The carrier recently confirmed it will put A350s with Premium Economy on its Durban route from March 2027 and is moving its Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City flights to the type.
Helsinki, Emirates’ newest European destination, launched with daily A350 flights and is timed for onward connections across Asia, the Indian Ocean, Africa and Australasia.
Beyond its own network, Emirates’ codeshare and interline partners give European travellers access to 216 more cities across the Far East, Africa and the Indian Ocean on a single ticket. In the Far East, 35 partners including Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Garuda Indonesia, Bangkok Airways and Philippine Airlines reach more than 123 cities, among them Koh Samui, Phu Quoc, Langkawi, Busan, Surabaya and Fukuoka. The airline has also added rail partners Korail in South Korea and Hong Kong Airport Direct to Macau.
In Africa, partners such as South African Airways, Airlink and Kenya Airways serve almost 75 points, including Victoria Falls, Mount Kilimanjaro and Volcanoes National Park, while Maldivian, Air Seychelles and Air Mauritius link to the Maldives, Praslin and Madagascar.
Emirates is also pushing Dubai stopovers, with packages through Dubai Experience and Emirates Holidays timed for the Dubai Shopping Festival and Global Village, as Gulf carriers compete for transit traffic, with Visit Qatar offering two free nights to UK travellers. The push comes after the Emirates Group reported its half-year results, and as rivals including Saudia unveil their own Premium Economy products.
