The ultimate Emirates seating guide
 

No posts here on FT or elsewhere seem to have gathered information about the best seats on Emirates flights. Therefore my vision is that we in this thread can share our experiences concerning the seats to get on Emirates flights. I will keep this first post updated with the latest contributions, hereby making it available for easy reference.

Updated 17. march 2005


Seating advice

B777-200 [18 First, 49 Business & 236 Economy seats]
F:

J:
Recommended: Row 9,10,11

Y:




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B777-200 [49 Business & 304 Economy Class seats]

J:
Reccommended: Row 2,3,4,5

Y:

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B777-300, [18 first, 42 Business & 320 Economy class seats]

F:

J:
Recommended: Row 9,10

Y:

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B777-300, [42/49?? Business & 385 Economy class seats]

J:
Recommended: Row 2,3,4,5,6.
Be Aware:
To be avoided:

Y:

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A340-300 [12 First, 42 Business & 213 Economy seats]
F:

J:
Reccommended: 7 A,B,D,F,J,K. 10 A,B,D,F,J,K. (all seats have a nice big seat pitch.
Be aware:
To be avoided: all E seats: 6,7,8,9,10,11, (middle seats in a row of 3 seats).

Y:
Recommended: Bulkhead row 16: 16A/16B - 16D/16E/16F/16G - 16J/16K
Recommended: Bulkhead row: 27D/27E/27F/27G
Recommended: Emergency exit row 27: 27A/27B - 27J/27K
Be aware: There is an equipment box for the IFE under every window seat (A/K) and every aisle seat in the middle row (D/G), which limits the foot room under seats in front of you.
To be avoided:
__________________________________________________ _______________

A340-500 [12 First suites, 42 Business & 204 Economy seats]
F:
J:

Y:
Recommended: bulkhead: 15D/15E/15F and 16A/16B 16J/16K
Recommended: bulkhead: 23D/23E/23F
Recommended: Emergency exit seats: 24A/24B - 24J/24K.

Be aware: all window seats A/J and the middle seats E/F have an equipment box under the seat in front, which limits the foot room by 50%!
Be aware: seat 18A and 18J: instead of two windows there is only one. You can only look out, when the seat is fully reclined.

To be avoided: The rows behind bulkhead because of large equipment box under the seats in front: 16 E,F (16 D,G are better, you can stretch the feets out a little, because there are only 3 seats in front) and 17 A,B,D,G,J,K.
To be avoided: Same bad seats in the second cabin: 24 E,F and 25 A,B,D,G,J,K.
__________________________________________________ _______________

Links:
Fleet information and seatmaps: http://www.emirates.com/miniSites/Ab...Home/index.asp
Good generel overview of Emirates: http://airreview.members.beeb.net/Emirates/index.htm

Notes:
According to emirates.com the b772 aircrafts are currently being updated to provide greater comfort and a new 500 channel (ICE) entertainment system.

Great idea - but lot of work to do!
 

Dear Mogensen:

you will need lot of information gathered by other Ek-flyers, to get all different seats and configurations of the EK fleet.
Because EK gives not this information (they know that their seats are below average), it is important to make the work ourselves.

I just returned from a flight to Melbourne. DUS-DXB and DXB-MEL in J-class, the return legs in Y-Class. The aircrafts used were an A340-300 and A340-500.
Let me start today with my report about the A340-300.
The giving informations are my own observations (yes, I took a measuring device with me - don't ask me, what my wife thought about this: she was looking for a seat away from me).

A340-300 Business Class:

Seating: 2-3-2
Seat pitch: 54" = 137 cm (the pitch of all bulkhead seats is around 50".).
Seat width: 18" = 46 cm
Seat recline: 11" = 28 cm (EK-information)
TV screen: 14" = 35,5 cm

My opinion:
Same business class seats like on the A330-200. Comfortable for day flights up to 8 hours. Not comfortable on night flights, when you like to find some sleep (too narrow, recline is not good enough).


A340-300 Economy class:

Seating: 2-4-2 (EK says they have 2-4-3 too - I never saw it and hope I never will).
Seat pitch: 31" = 79 cm
Seat width: 17,5" = 44,5 cm
Seat recline: 6" = 15 cm (EK-information)
TV-screen: 6" = 15 cm (EK says 6,5" = 16,5 cm).

My opinion:
I think the 340-300 seats are the most comfortable economy seats in the whole EK fleet (still nothing to write home about).
EK received their A340-300s from Singapore Airlines and I think in economy they only changed the cover of the seats to EK-colours. The IFE-system in the seats is different than on other Ek-aircrafts.

Best seats:
bulkhead row 16 and row 27 (exit seats in row 27 have lot of leg room). The problem: normaly you can not reserve bulkhead and exit row seats in advance.
Be aware:
There is an equipment box for the IFE under every window seat (A/K) and every aisle seat in the middle row (D/G), which limits the foot room under seats in front of you. But on this aircraft the box is much smaller than on other EK aircrafts, it takes only about 20% of the available room away.


This is all information I gathered about the A340-300. May be someone else can comment about first class.
Next time I will give information about the A340-500.

Thanks Dusordua. I'll try to keep the post above updated with the "best seats" information, whilst leaving the other more general information in the posts.

I have a couple of EK flights coming up in feb/march so will try to add this information as soon as i get back.

Mogensen: "To be avoided" are not the right words, because in this case the equipment box is not so big like on the A330. Better use the words "Be aware".

it's been changed :) - thanks!

A340-500 Business Class:

Seating: 2-2-2
Seat pitch: 38" = 96 cm
Seat width: 20" = 51 cm
Seat recline: ? (no information, but for sure not flat enough)
TV screen: 14" = 35,5 cm

My opinion:
The seat is very "high tech" inside a shell, so the seat in front of you can not recline into you. All seat positions are handled with a hand held mode controller (same for the IFE). The seat has a very nice and effectiv massage system.
But the recline is poor. Because this aircraft serves ultra long flights, I wished to have something like a flat bed.
The seat pitch is poor. Large people will touch the shell in front with their feet. This makes the two seats on both window sides uncomfortable: the person in the window seat has to climb over the legs of the person in the aisle seat, if he/she leaves the seat.
Best seats are the two in the middle row: you can leave the seats to the left or right, without disturbing your neighbor.
Very good IFE-system (ICE) with 500 channels: over 50 TV channels, 350 radio and CD channels and more than 40 games. This makes a long flight short.

A340-500 Economy Class:

Seating: 2-4-2
Seat pitch: 31" = 78 cm
Seat width: 18,5" = 47 cm
Seat recline: ? (no information)
TV screen: 9" = 23 cm

My opinion:
The seat is good for "normal" flights, but for long range (13-15 hours) a seat pitch of 31" is unacceptable!

Good seats with lot of leg room: bulkhead 15 D,E,F and 16 A,B,J,K and 23 D,E,F and exit seats 24 A,B,J,K.

Bad seats: in the rows behind bulkhead because of large equipment box under the seats in front: 16 E,F (16 D,G are better, you can stretch the feets out a little, because there are only 3 seats in front) and 17 A,B,D,G,J,K.
Same bad seats in the second cabin: 24 E,F and 25 A,B,D,G,J,K.

Be aware: all window seats (A/J) and the middle seats E/F have an equipment box under the seat in front, which limits the foot room by 50%!

If you like to look out of the window, avoid seat 18 A and 18 J: instead of two windows there is only one. You can only look out, when the seat is fully reclined.

Very good IFE-system (ICE) with 500 channels: over 50 TV channels, 350 radio and CD channels and more than 40 games. This makes a long flight short.

-> dusordua

I have a A340-500 EK C flight coming up in the beginning of march, which seat would you suggest - the first row of C looks nice - would this be our best bet? And do you know the seat numbers for this row?

Kind regards
Mogensen

From what I saw on SYD-DXB first row 6B or 6J looked good. In the calm forward cabin and pitch not limited by the bulkhead (stretching into the F cabin hallway/curtain).

Thanks ngfan... Is row 6 the first row of C seats? I wonder how big the screen is, as i suppose this comes out under the seat?

Yes, according to the online booking seating chart row 6 is the first row in C. The video screen is an inseat version but I haven't seen it in use as that small cabin was only occupied by one (!) pax seated in 7K and staring at the seat shell in front of him. ;)

Here's a pic of seats 6A and C.

You can not get wrong choosing the bulkhead seat in the small or bigger cabin of business class.
Make reservation for a middle aisle seat, so you and your neighbour always can leave the seat to the left or right.
The tv-screen is about 15" - very good. It takes some time to learn how to handle the IFE.

If your 345 flight is in the beginning of march, when are you in Dubai?
I will leave for DXB on Feb. 28.

thanks ngfan and dusordua

I will give Emirates a call and request those seats. Unfortuantly I will just be transitting in DXB en route from CAI to ZRH, on hopefully the 10th march.

I was in C on the 777 or 332 I do not remember, which aircraft it was but the bulkhead seat actually felt quite cramped, as i could not stretch my legs out very far because of the wall in front of us. It does however on the images on airliners.net seem that there is a comfortable legroom in the bulkhead seats of the A345.

A330-200

You do not want the 2nd row in the ecomony cabin, 17. All seats have large equipment boxes underneath so there is no storage and not even room for your feet.

B777-300

Rows 47/48/49 AB JK are pairs on the side and have a little more room to the left and right of the seat.

HAVE YOU GONE MAD? THE SEAT PITCH OF EK'S BUSINESS CLASS SEATS ON THE A340-500 IS NOT 38'' BUT 60''.

Please stop shouting.

Many thanks :)

Thank you for your kindness to point out this mistake.

Yes 38" looks small, and the seat pitch is small, compared to the A330-200 and 340-300 in business class.

I do not know where your 60" come from. Is this an airline information? I don't believe all informations given out by airlines.
Example: EK says seat pitch in economy on the A330-200 is 34". If you look closer, they say "up to 34". This pitch you can find only in bulkhead seats, not between seat rows, where the pitch is 31".

This is the reason why I find it important to share our expirience.

I do not have the chance to travel on a 340-500 in the near future. I hope other can confirm how big the seat pitch really is.

Hi, It has been measure to approximately 59". There is no way it can be 38", the pitch is MORE than any other EK aircraft (where J is between 48" and 55")

EK is indeed not lying about the TV. 6"5 if the distance from the top left to the top right of the screen - all airlines measure their PTV's like that

Also, EK abandoned the 2 x 4 x 3 at the last minute - thank god :D

I'm booked on my first EK flight from CAI-DXB later this year, in business. AC is a 777-200. Does anyone have any seat recommendations? I'm in 1K for now.

777-300

Row 15, first row of Y, is the bulkhead. Lots of legroom and first for food service. Great if you can put up with the young children that get seated around you.

Roger

Is the 200 similar to the 300. I often don't like bulkheads (less space) but they can be quite good too.

Are you sure you are in 1K ? That's first row in F as the 772 on CAI-DXB currently has a three-class configuration. :confused:

Pretty sure as we looked at the seatmap at the Emirates office and I 'handpicked' it. Now that would be a scream! :D

Is it always 3-class?

Yep, both my flights this year (772 in Jan 05 and 332 in Feb 05) were 3-class. Maybe they will change that for the summer schedule but I wouldn't really expect that as long as their competitor on that route (SQ) still uses an F-equiped 777.

777-200 seating
 

Which seats on a 777-200 two classes Biz (J) & Sardines (Y)?

First of all I am not going to cover J as I have only ever been in there once on an Emirates 777-200 and all 49 seats are far superior to any in Y.

First the seats you do not want, first is 9C & H these look good on the "Seat Map" but I am certain they are a few cm’s narrower than any other, hence the table cannot be deployed without overlapping the adjacent seat, also you at risk of having those dammed trolleys push straight in to your legs or people trampling all over them as they queue for the toilets.

Then row 9A,B,D,E,F,G,J&K + row10C&H + row 27D,E,F&G + row 28A,B,C,H,J&K because the seat in front does not have a seat in front so the IFES is stowed under their seat so you have reduced leg room.

Row 8, (and I presume row 26D to G) priority is given to families with young children as they can hang the bassinets on the bulkhead and it is not a place to be near if you enjoy a bit of peace and quiet.

Row 27 A,B,C,H,J&K look nice with all that leg room but that comes at a price, it is right by the toilets so again you are going to get trampled, practically with the “toilet queue trolley shuffle”, and then there is the bonehead who has to come and lift the shade on the emergency door to see the sunrise, blinding everybody.

As for seats to recommend I would go for Rows 36 – 38 A,B,J&K two abreast at the back of the plane.

BB

I've recently done quite a few trips on both 777-300 and 777-200. As I was travelling with my sister, we went the back few rows as you suggested.

The seats were very good, but there was one major problem.

On probably 90% of the sectors, by the time we got served, we didn't have a choice of food. Fortunately, we're both the sort of person who'll eat anything, so it didn't bother us too much.

Cheers,
Rick

Rkenyon, do you know if the bulkhead on the 777-200 is okay? That's what I currently have assigned.

Fliar,

Had the misfortune to be allocated 8J on a 777-200 (or equivalent seat on a A330) the isles seat of two at the front of coach the other seat was taken by a young mother with a 6 month old travelling alone who had nether flown before.

She was coming to the UK to join her husband, she did not appreciate a man sitting next to her as she wanted to breast feed and it is not pleasant sitting next to someone who does not want you there, the flight was full so there was nowhere to move too so that was another very unpleasant flight.

BB :(

Thanks for the warning.

I'm 8 rows away from row 8 if indeed I'm in row 1. I'll ring EK to check that is indeed correct and if not, and it's the first row in the C cabin, change it double quick.

VIE-DXB-MRU and vice versa in C - recommendations

Airbus 330-200
Seats 4 A/B, last row of business class, but still with full recline - most privacy in C
avoid the 3 seat middle section

Boeing 777-200
Seats 11 J/K in the larger of the to C sections - okay like all other seats in the window sections
Avoid:
Bulkhead seats in the middle section - especially on night flights the bright light of the large main screen (kept on all the time) won't let you sleep
Last row of both sections due to limited recline

Sorry for not updating this thread in some time. Am just on my way back to Denmark from CAI after picking up a RTW in C.

Just off the plane from DXB-ZRH a 340-500 and what a beauty. This plane looked and felt very new, the food was wonderful, the ICE system rocks and the seats for this 6 hour flight were great. Well done Emirates!

However i did do a few observations. I would not go for the bulkhead seat in C. The screens are much smaller than the brilliant seat back versions found in all other rows. Also for a tall person like my self the legroom in the bulkhead row didnt seem very generous. I was late in booking my seats and ended up with my wife in 12A and 12B the last row of business class. The seats are all similar with no real difference, however I would try to aim for a seat some rows further up, as the noise from Y (a crying child) might have been reduced if we were a bit further up front.

We found the seat to be great, with a much more confortable feel than the 777 and 330, the massage function is a neat function. The food on Emirates was great and the service today was also ok.

Mogensen: Do you have any seat recommendations for the 777 (200 or 300?) or A330 (versions?) in C? I also have a RTW coming up. Also, what was the cost of the RTW in C originating in CAI? Was that a UA/EK, or one of the KL/Skyteam?

[QUOTE=SFO_FT]Mogensen: Do you have any seat recommendations for the 777 (200 or 300?) or A330 (versions?) in C?

A330 two class configuration: 2,3 AB/JK
A330 three class configuration: 8,9,10 AB/JK

[QUOTE=dusordua]
Why especially 8,9,10 ? I´m also looking forward flying Emirates C on the A330 soon and I´m still trying to find out which seat is the best.

Does anybody know how Emirates handles upgrades from C to F ? If the flight is in a 3 class configuration and F is almost empty, do they put passengers up front ?

[QUOTE=Shilla]

I very much agree with Dusordua, concerning the seat advice and logic behind it.

On the 777 from CAI to DXB (3 class flight) we were seated in the first row of the first business class section. However the bulkhead was right in front of us - very close by, and since the second row of business class had a (very) limited recline I wouldn't go for a seat in this part of business class instead I would go for something in row 9,10,11 in the 3-class 777-200 or 2,3,4,5 in the 2-class 777-200. In the 3-class 777-300 that would be row 9 or 10 or in the 2-class 777-300 2,3,4,5,6. The crew told me that the 777 are being refitted with ICE and having a row removed in C, which will improve the legroom. However I do not know if this counts all the 777 or only some of them.

by the way Emirates is offering some interesting offers on its new route to Seoul - with free accomodation at the Ritz Carlton for business and first class passengers.

another note is that we weren't offered a STPC thus having an 8 hour layover in DXB, this was according to EK in CAI not possible since this was a RTW ticket, and therefore not very income generating for EK :( I was quite upset about this and as the airport hotel costs app. 160 usd for a six hour sleep and all the airport area hotels were fully booked, we ended up in the very crowed EK business class lounge from 0:30 am to 8:45 am :mad:

Very annoying indeed, but unfortunately common across all carriers/alliances... :mad:

Would row 8 also have limited legroom due to the bulkhead?

A 340-300 J class
 

Mogensen, if you have the time to update the seating guide, you can put in the following for the A340-300 J-class (I made 3 flights in J on this aircraft during the last weeks):

Reccommended: 7 A,B,D,F,J,K. 10 A,B,D,F,J,K. (all this seats have a nice big seat pitch. Same pitch for rows 8 and 11, but I am not sure about the recline there and noise from behind).

To be avoided: all E seats: 6,7,8,9,10,11, (middle seats in a row of 3 seats).

All other seats are "o.k." (even the bulkhead seats with less legroom are not bad).

Avoid Row 6 on A330-200 configured in 3 classes. Seat pitch is absolutely abysmal