Originally Posted by
Havoc10G
First Class, esp in the Middle East, is more than just the relative comfort vs business class. It is a statement, " I am independently wealthy and will travel in the highest class available and segregate myself from the poloi who have to turn right when boarding!" EK understand this well and have created a different service model for those F class of travellers. Not saying everyone has that view I am sure most on this forum will travel F after a careful value calculation, but the real premium revenue comes from the price non sensitive traveller who similarly pays full price for a suite in a London hotel.
You are bang on! IMHO, this is the same for Asians and most Americans as well. It is just sub-par airlines whose products don't have much differentiation. In such cases, passengers will automatically choose to travel in a class that makes the best economic sense for them. If the product is superior as in the case of Emirates, Qatar, Singapore or Etihad, people who can afford it will definitely want to use that as opposed to inferior classes.