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Emirates launches Stansted flights with its amazing new First Class suite

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Emirates announced yesterday that it will begin services from London Stansted to Dubai on 8th July.  This will be the 10th daily Emirates flight from London to Dubai, with the airline already operating from Heathrow and Gatwick.

The real stunner is that Emirates is allocating one of its new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to the route.  This is a little illogical since the ‘ER’ bit in 300ER stands for ‘Extended Range’ and London to Dubai is hardly a stretch!

Emirates Boeing 777 First Class Suite

However, this means that the service will feature the brand new Emirates First Class private cabins.  You can check this out on the Emirates website here (warning: website features Jeremy Clarkson) and in this Head for Points article here.

It will also have the updated Business Class product, although this is a bit of a stinker given that it is a 2-3-2 layout with the unwelcome middle seat – see the picture below.

The service is aimed at the tech and pharma companies around Cambridge and Peterborough, such as Glaxo and Astra Zeneca.  Stansted is also a major cargo hub.

Emirates new Boeing 777 business class

The flight times are not ideal if you are flying to Dubai, unless you are happy with a very short sleep before bounding into a meeting. The outbound leaves Stansted at 21.10, arriving into Dubai at 07.05.  The return is more civilised, leaving Dubai at 09.30 and arriving at Stansted at 14.10.

I might give this a go next year on the return leg of a family trip.  I am guessing that reward availability will be decent, except in the First Class Suites which are currently blocked for redemptions. 

Two pairs of Business Class seats, one behind the other, are not a bad option if you have two children.  This is also worth a look if you have one child, since the 3-across middle block would suit you nicely.

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Membership Rewards points convert at 4:3 into Emirates Skywards miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 0.75 Emirates Skywards miles

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Category

Emirates and Emirates Skywards

Comments (70)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Lumma says:
    21 Dec21 December 04:39

    Wonder if they’ll have their own lounge or perhaps they’ll give out Wetherspoons vouchers?

    • Harry says:
      21 Dec21 December 09:17

      looool

    • Michael Jennings says:
      21 Dec21 December 10:55

      I think it is quite a nice Wetherspoons, honestly. I have had a few pleasant pints in it.

      That’s an interesting question, though. Was the question of space for more lounges though of when the terminal was refurbished and refitted recently? Getting rid of the giant winding duty free store would be excellent, but I doubt it is going to happen.

    • RIccatti says:
      21 Dec21 December 11:30

      Ouch, those business class seats look like economy. Also, three in the row, and no preferred seating for single travellers.

  • Peter says:
    21 Dec21 December 05:17

    That middle seat on EK looks horrendous if you don’t know your neighbours. At least on BA 2-3-2 you are facing away from each other.

    • Chsrlie says:
      21 Dec21 December 06:01

      The problem with BA’s configuration is when the shutters don’t work, and you are avoiding one way or another looking at a stranger!

    • drav says:
      21 Dec21 December 08:48

      interesting use of the word “horrendous”

      • peter says:
        21 Dec21 December 12:05

        Have you tried it, do report here if you have. I think trying to watch your TV with one either side would be very distracting, especially on a night flight.

  • Craig says:
    21 Dec21 December 06:46

    There is nothing illogical about EK using the B777-300ER. They only have 2 non-ERs in the fleet which are on their way out and are dedicated to their Indian routes mainly and feature a more dated version of the ICE entertainment system without WiFi and live TV. The ERs operate anything from Saudi flights, Male etc to the likes of east coast Australia and west coast USA. Beyond that the only smaller aircraft is the 777-200LR standing for ‘long range’ which is mainly dedicate to operating ultra long range routes without about any payload restrictions i.e. Dubai to Seattle. The 777-300ER or ‘77W’ is an massivley versitile aircraft in the EK fleet as is the A380 which in the past operated routes as short as Dubai-Doha as well as other regional sectors.

  • Ian says:
    21 Dec21 December 06:58

    Seems odd indeed that they would put a brand new 777 with their flagship new first class suite on a Stansted route. What lounge will first class passengers use at Stansted?

  • Andrew Stock says:
    21 Dec21 December 07:33

    I can just see the EK 1st class passengers surrounded by all the RYANAIR passengers, it will be a sight to see!!!

    As anyone been to Stansted recently, apart from the Escape lounge the place is a dump.

    Poor air con, the security is like one massive cattle pen, threadbare carpets, lack of any space and seats in public areas, damaged fixtures and fittings. Hardly the premium Emirates experience.

    Both Cambridge and Peterborough is getting a direct train service to Gatwick next year.

    • Prins Polo says:
      21 Dec21 December 08:55

      Great that it’s direct, but probably still 2 hours or so?

    • @mkcol says:
      21 Dec21 December 12:57

      You do realise that the Emirates pax will be surrounded by Ryanair pax at several other UK airports and this is no big thing at all, right?

  • CV3V says:
    21 Dec21 December 07:45

    Emirates fly out of plenty regional airports in UK (e.g. 2 flights per day from Glasgow which are usually packed, such a success that EK built their own lounge), adding Stansted seems a logical move to increase capacity. The 2110 flight is designed to allow for onward connections to Asia etc.

    • Michael Jennings says:
      21 Dec21 December 11:00

      Lots of people living north of London would prefer not to have to go to Heathrow or Gatwick when they want to go to Asia. I can’t see any difficulty filling the plane. The question always with long haul from Stansted is how much premium traffic they can get and how much they can charge for it.

  • Ben says:
    21 Dec21 December 07:59

    I wonder what they will do about lounge access? Admittedly the Escape Lounge isn’t awful for a PP lounge and it should be reasonably quiet by 8pm each night because most other flights will have left.
    Surely they won’t open their own lounge for one flight per day? I bet STN airport would give them the space for free for a year if they did!
    If they use the Escape Lounge they would be smart to have a sectioned off area at the back for F pax with a private attendant who can fetch proper champagne and free hot food.

    • Rob says:
      21 Dec21 December 09:13

      There was talk of expanding the luxury 1903 brand into Stansted. Perhaps they do that and Emirates blocks it out from 6pm?

    • Polly says:
      22 Dec22 December 23:53

      That’s what Qatar do in various lounges around the World!

  • Gavin says:
    21 Dec21 December 08:15

    Are they going to launch Luton next??

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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