The new Emirates 777 first class suites are officially in service as of this month and they are stunning. While they are arguably the top first class product, these suites are only found on very limited routes and nearly impossible to book with points. As of now, they are found on the 777s servicing Brussels and Geneva and by the end of 2019, they plan to only have 9 777s with the new suites. On top of that, these first class suites currently have their award space blocked meaning that if you want to pay with points, you can only book them through a travel portal (assuming they show up there).
Nevertheless, it’s still exciting to track the progress of these new 777 cabins and now there’s a new route to be excited about.
The new Emirates 777 route
Via Emirates, we know that starting on June 8, 2018, Emirates will fly daily between Dubai (DXB) and London Stansted (STN) with the following schedule:
- EK33: Dubai (DXB) to London Stansted (STN) departing 9:30AM arriving 2:10PM
- EK34: London Stansted (STN) to Dubai (DXB) departing 9:10PM arriving 7:05AM (+1 day)
Emirates already flies to 6 times a day to London Heathrow (LHR) and 3 times a day to London Gatwick (LGW), all with a fleet of A380s, so this will put a total of 10 daily flights from Dubai to London for Emirates.
The new move is based on a strategy to move into the “tech and pharma hubs of Cambridge and Peterborough.” According to Emirates, this is a “thriving business community in London’s north east” with a “7.5 million population.” It’s also home to more than 25 of the world’s largest corporations, including Airbus. For business travel these folks are usually heading to destinations like Hong Kong, Dubai, Shanghai, Singapore, and Mumbai and so Emirates is a hoping to serve them with both direct and connecting flights to these destinations.
This is an interesting move because Stansted Airport is an airport known for servicing low-cost carriers, such as Ryanair. The airport is connected to London via the Stansted Express which operates a regular daily service to London Liverpool Street Station, which takes only 47 minutes to arrive in the heart of the City of London.
I flew into Stansted once and arrived very late (around midnight) only to find that customs and immigration was an absolute madhouse! Because we had US passports, it wasn’t so bad for us getting through but the lines for EU passengers were some of the longest airport lines I’ve ever come across. However, others have found the smaller and less-busy airport easier to navigate than some of the local alternatives like LHR, so it could have just been bad timing on my part.
Final word
Overall, it’s good to see Emirates expanding but still slightly depressing that we haven’t seen awards open up for these new first class cabins. Hopefully, we don’t have to wait much longer for that to happen. I suspect new routes will be announced in the months to follow with Chicago, Brisbane, and Perth all likely candidates for the new routes.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
