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With the new option of booking up to three adjacent seats on their flight, Emirates Economy Class customers can now enjoy more personal space and privacy on board. Various other airlines around the world, including Lufthansa, already offer this option.

Free adjoining seats at Emirates cost up to USD $165

All Economy Class passengers can book empty adjacent seats, but seats are only offered at the airport’s check-in counter before departure. These cost between 55 and 165 US dollars per empty seat, plus taxes, depending on the flight route. It is not possible to book empty seats in advance, as these depend on availability.

In addition, Emirates offers a variety of seating products for Economy Class customers, from which they can choose their favourite seat based on their personal needs:

• Seats in the emergency exit row that provide additional space (subject to safety requirements)
• Twin seats: Seats in a row of two in the rear area of ​​the Boeing 777 and on the upper deck of the two-class A380 jets
• Preferred seats: Seats in the front part of the cabin and on the upper deck of the A380 (two-class configuration)
• Regular seats: all other economy seats

These seats are offered for free or for a fee, depending on the customer’s Emirates Skywards membership level, fare type or time to departure.

Bottom line

Emirates claims it has introduced the new seating offering based on customer feedback, addressing the needs of passengers who want additional privacy and space but want to travel in economy class. This includes, for example, couples who want to have a whole row to themselves (a maximum of three seats in the same row) or parents who travel with small children.

This seems like a pretty simple and effective way to generate a bit of extra revenue while passenger numbers are low. Even without the COVID situation, there are lots of occasions where you might appreciate some more space, so long as the price was right.

How much would you pay to have nobody sitting next to you on a long haul flight?

Image: (c) Emirates