Emirates is celebrating the tenth anniversary of being based at Brussels Airport. It is now, after American operator United, the second most popular long-haul airline out of Brussels. It has marked the occasion by inaugurating its first refurbished Boeing 777 aircraft on a flight out of the Belgian capital.
“We’re thrilled to be marking 10 years of operations to Belgium. The country has and will always be an integral part of our global network,” Jean-Pierre Martin, Emirates Country Manager in Belgium, said at a news conference at the airport. “As we enter the next decade of operations, we’re proud to be elevating the travel experience for Belgian customers with our premium signature travel touches across all cabins.”
I was among a small group of Brussels-based journalists invited to take a sneak preview of the new-look plane. The aircraft is one of less than a handful that, so far, have received the full makeover. However, the airline has earmarked 191 aircraft for a full revamp which is thought to be the biggest of its kind in aviation industry. The whole refit is costing some $3 billion.
Once you step aboard the sleek jet you get a taste as to where some of that vast sum of money has gone. The retrofitted four-class cabin features the highly lauded Premium Economy. There are 24 of these and each seat fully reclines and now has a 14-inch pitch, allowing for that all-important improved leg room.
The newly introduced seats, which also come with a new interior, increase the number of classes on the aircraft from three to four. Prices for premium economy seats start from a cool €1,500 but passengers can also now expect a few extra special touches, such as a welcome drink and new-designed food menu.
The cabin now, for the first time, boasts the company’s next generation business class seats, set in a more passenger-friendly and comfortable 1-2-1 configuration. There are 38 of these plush seats, which come with an improved and extended entertainment system (including live TV), and the retrofit has meant a small reduction in the number of economy seats.
“I have worked for the company for 17 years and I can tell you the improvements I have seen have been vast over the years and this new refit of the aircraft continues that trend,” Rebecca, one of the flight attendants on board, told Travel Tomorrow.
Soon after we disembarked the plane, Rebecca and her colleagues welcomed on board passengers departing on a 6.5-hour flight to Dubai, the carrier’s hub. The airline has two Brussels-Dubai flights daily and its second daily service will, from early October, also soon be operated by a newly refurbished B777.
Brussels airport was one of the first routes for the Emirates’ refurbished Boeing 777 “Game-Changer” first class private suites in 2018 and is now also one of the first routes to welcome the refurbished four-class Boeing 777 aircraft.
“We are delighted to be part of these celebrations today. Emirates is the eighth ranked airline for passenger numbers at this airport which, in just 10 years, is some achievement. It is also the second most popular for long haul destinations, again a very impressive milestone,” Leon Verhallen, director of aviation development at the Brussels Airport, said at the celebratory press conference.
Since the inaugural flight in September 2014, Emirates has carried more than 2.41 million passengers to/from Brussels, operating 9,917 flights. Emirates SkyCargo, the airline’s air freight division, offers cargo capacity to customers in Belgium on 14 weekly flights.
