Emirates Airlines is Working on New Economy Class Seats with Better Height for Long-Haul Flights

No extra padding. No additional entertainment hours. No new upholstery. Emirates Airlines is working brand new economy class seats – bold, better and beyond those usual improvements. Emirates’ next-gen economy seat design, the first of its kind in the industry, will take the aviation world by storm, according to the airline’s president Sir Tim Clark, who describes it as a “game changer” for economy class travelers.

Emirates Airline News: New Economy Seat Features

The new seat design for economy travel cabins on Emirates flights to India, USA, China, and other countries will leverage vertical space to enhance comfort. Seat height – neither seat width nor seat pitch – is the focus of unusual seating improvement for the Dubai-based airline this time. The design has already been prototyped for seat manufacturers and aviation regulators.

Vertical enhancement of economy class seats is a signature innovation, like Emirates’ virtual windows in the first class cabins of B777-300ER planes. The new seats will be taller by 4 to 5 inches to improve the way the seat height supports our body posture and contour, according to Tim Clark, one of the most revered leaders in aviation, who is credited with driving the growth of Emirates Airlines from a two-plane startup in 1985 to one of the best international airlines in the world.

The more legroom, the more premium fare. In Economy Class, the wider the seats, the higher the ticket prices. By utilizing the vertical cabin space, Emirates Airlines aims to elevate your seating comfort in Economy without charging a premium. Usually, Emirates’ economy flight seats are wider and more spacious than Air India’s and other airlines’. Currently, seat height is the only area wherein the airline has some room for improvement without reducing cabin density.

Emirates’ new economy seats height has challenges

“The more height a seat has, the more space it needs to recline back. The reclining of one’s seat causing discomfort to the other behind is often the reason for inflight scuffles among economy class passengers. Given the cases of passengers getting into an argument over unfair reclining of seats, Emirates’ tall seat design for Economy travel cabins seems to be a move against basic air travel etiquette,” said Sourav Agarwal, Senior Editor of Travel Beats.

A more serious concern than the above is obstructed viewing of passengers for the cabin crew. Emirates’ new economy seats height (to be increased by 4 to 5 inches) could block the line of sight, one of the inflight safety requirements for the cabin crew. However, President Tim Clark shrugged off this concern by saying that cameras are installed inside Economy Class cabins of modern aircraft like A380s in the fleet of Emirates Airlines. Passengers activity and safety can be monitored through inflight cameras.

On one hand, Sir Tim Clark is sanguine about the pragmatism of increasing the height of seats for international economy travelers. On the other hand, he says, “It’s not an easy process” to get approval from aviation regulators. He is trying to connect dots between inflight seating innovation and aviation safety compliance.

Better seat height or better seat width – what is your preference for comfort on economy flights between USA and India?

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