Sydney Travellers Score Emirates’ Refreshed A380 Business Class

Bang for buck.

Sydney Travellers Score Emirates’ Refreshed A380 Business Class

DMARGE recently had the good fortune to travel to Dubai from Sydney in business class on an Emirates A380. During the experience, we got to take a first-hand look at Emirates’ refreshed A380 business class.


DMARGE’s Director and Founder Luc Wiesman was recently invited to Dubai for the grand opening of Atlantis The Royal – Dubai’s newest luxury resort. On his way there, in between losing his AirPods and realising his phone camera was broken (the tragedies of travel), he was lucky enough to fly in business class – the recently refreshed business class – on one of Emirates’ refreshed A380s. Here’s a sneak peek at what it’s like to fly in business class on one of these refurbished jets – new decals, starlight roof and all.

The starlight roof is sublime

B.O.B may have wished we could pretend airplanes were like shooting stars back in 2010, but on an Emirates business class flight in 2021 you won’t have to work your imagination too hard to have some incredible nighttime vision. The starlight roof is nice and soothing, and a welcome part of the refreshed A380.

The wood panelling has been redone

No, this isn’t the inside of some over-enthusiastic van lifer’s Toyota Hiace – it’s Emirates business class. In all seriousness, the wood panelling lends the cabin a nice touch of homeliness and class you just don’t get any other way.

The argyle pattern leather is a nice touch

Like a mall massage chair – but (way) better. Emirates’ business class seats on its A380s have a pitch and width of 48″ – 18.5″ respectively. The leather pattern is squeaky schmick too.

The big screen tv (and touch pad) jump out at you

Another thing that jumps out at you (in a good way) is the TV. It’s very generously sized (20 inches) and great for watching movies and TV shows on – and Emirates has a wide range of entertainment options (up to 5,000 channels) to suit all tastes. There is also onboard high speed wifi and Bluetooth, so you can connect your own headphones to your TV.

Every seat has direct aisle access

This makes getting in and out of your seat a breeze. On top of that, the seat seamlessly reclines into a fully flat bed (as you’d expect from business class) with a mattress and a cosy blanket. Sweet dreams indeed.

The lounge is ‘pinch yourself’ good

This is always surreal moment. One of those things you’ve seen in photos and videos all those times, but to experience in person (even if for the second time) was a game changer. Great for meeting people and having a chat, if you’re up for that, or just having a quiet drink (or light bite), if you’re not.

There is also relaxed ambient lighting, and bronze and woodgrain accents (as you’d expect as part of a multi billion dollar investment program like this). Also on the plus side, this time the other passengers behaved themselves, not like the last time Luc flew business class and found himself next to some other passengers appearing to be doing their best to break David Boone’s record for martinis (or was it VBs) across the Indian Ocean…

All up, thanks to this ongoing refreshed A380 program, Sydney travellers now have the opportunity to experience all these double-decker business class luxuries with Emirates, when flying to Dubai (or London via Dubai).