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Emirates to Introduce Premium Economy Class Seating
Ryan Boyd June 09, 2016
Emirates might begin offering premium-economy seats to passengers due to a decrease in business brought on by plummeting oil prices. Emirates previously declined to capitalize on the industry’s rush to include economy-plus seating as an intermediate seating option for fear of losing revenue on more lucrative seats, but president Tim Clark believes that a cabin wedged between coach and business class would improve fare flexibility. Clark said in a press briefing: “There’s clear and present evidence that this is something that we too should take seriously. The job of the industry is now to adjust to the growing demand in other segments that don’t yield as much as the corporate segments did.”
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So this is news?
Hope that will put enough pressure on the always-late-to-the-party carriers that haven't noticed that BA, LH, CX, SQ, AC, and now even AA have hopped on that train.
If the airline is only offering unsold seats for upgrades, then they are technically realizing a profit because they can reduce the liability that those points carry. The Whale has an awful lot of J seats, so that's a bunch of vacant real estate if nobody's butts are in them. Many carriers are investing in this segement.
This change will bring about a larger change to flyers in that it will prevent regular economy class passengers from upgrading to Business class via points. I have always felt this was the primary underhanded purpose of Premium economy as the jump from economy to business is substantial and a flyer upgrading using points is a significant loss of revenue for the airline.