Emirates Reveals New 777-200LR Cabins – Business Class Just Got Better

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Back in November Emirates confirmed that it would be refitting its ten 777-200LR aircraft with new interiors before launching the refreshed aircraft in March. We’ve known from the outset that the aircraft would be losing its First Class cabin and that Business Class would be losing a seat from each row but, until now, we didn’t really know much more.

Emirates has new revealed the new cabins it has installed in its 777-200LR aircraft and, surprisingly, there is a little bit more good news for Business Class travelers.

Emirates’ 777 Business Class cabins have been behind the times for years (despite the airline’s reputation as a premium carrier) so any improvements we get are very welcome.

We’ve already seen Emirates begin eliminating angle-flat seats from its 777-300 aircraft and now the airline has gone a little further with its 777-200LR Business Class cabin – passengers are getting more room too.

While we’ve known since November that the new 777-200 Business Class cabin would go from a 2-3-3 layout to a 2-2-2 layout (like you’ll find on Qatar Airways non-Qsuite 777s), speculation had suggested that the extra room gained from losing the center seat would go to widening the aisles.

It hasn’t….at least not by all that much.

The Business Class seat in Emirates’ new 777-200LR cabin has been widened to give passengers more room….and it has been widened by a significant two inches.

Emirates 777-200LR New Business Class – Image Emirates

Here’s what Emirates has had to say about its refurbished aircraft:

The newly refurbished Emirates 777-200LR aircraft is set in a two-class configuration which offers 38 Business Class seats and 264 seats in Economy Class.  While the Business Class seats are in the same design and shape of Emirates’ latest lie-flat seats, they are now two inches wider for a more comfortable journey. The seats retain the champagne coloured finish and diamond stitch pattern on the full leather cover, and the ergonomically designed headrest revealed on Emirates’ newest Boeing 777 in November.

The Business Class seat has a pitch of 72 inches and moves into a fully flat sleeping position.  It also has touchscreen controls for the seat and inflight entertainment system, several personal lighting options, privacy panels between seats, a shoe stowage area, footrest and a personal mini-bar.

Note: the 72″ seat pitch appears to be 12″ more than this aircraft used to offer

Emirates has also eliminated the overhead bins from the center section of the aircraft to give the cabin a more spacious feel and, as the remaining overhead bins in the Business Class cabin are quite substantial, this shouldn’t cause any storage issues.

Another new element to the new Business Class cabin is a “social area” located two rows from the back of the cabin which the airline is describing as a “mini-lounge”.

Emirates 777-200LR New Business Class – Image Emirates

The airline says that this area “features snacks such as crisps, sandwiches and fruit, as well as beverages for customers to help themselves to during the flight“.

Based on the image provided (above) this looks more like an elongated cabinet than a “mini-lounge” area and, if passengers actually use this, I can imagine those in the surrounding seats being disturbed by fellow flyers mingling around here.

Emirates says that the Economy Class cabin has been refreshed too but, unlike with Business Class, passengers will definitely not be getting any more room.

Emirates 777-200LR Economy Class – Image Emirates

The color palette may be slightly different but the 10-across seating is very much the same so passengers can continue to expect seats which are just 17″ wide.

On a slightly more positive note I should point out that the Emirates 777-200LR comes equipped with wi-fi, the airline’s good in-flight entertainment system and live TV so at least Economy Class passengers will have something to distract them on their journey.

Emirates 777-200LR Routes

The newly refurbished aircraft go into service from tomorrow (6 March 2018) with the Dubai – Ft. Lauderdale route getting the first of the new-look 777s.

Other 777-200LR destinations include:

• Ahmedabad
• Karachi
• Mumbai
• Santiago
• Yinchuan
• Zhengzhou

Bottom Line

I don’t like the idea of the “mini-lounge” area” as this is just going to be disturbing to passengers in the surrounding seats – I would definitely avoid the rows either side of this area – it just comes over as the airline desperately trying to fill a space they can’t really figure out how to fill.

Still….

The Business Class cabin should be a significant step up from what was offered on the 777-200LR in the past. 2″ more seat width and up to 12″ of more seat pitch is a significant increase in space for Business Class passengers and the fact that the seats now offer a true lie-flat bed will make a difference too.

In addition, now that there are only two center seats these are probably the seats to choose whether you’re a solo traveler or traveling as a couple – both seats have direct access to the aisle so there’s no need to clamber over anyone if you want to stretch your legs and there won’t be anyone clambering over you either.

Overall this is a definite improvement on what was on offer before but, while the seats in the cabin may be new, this is still an outdated cabin layout that other premium airlines have already eliminated or are in the process of eliminating.