How business class could feel like a budget flight, with fewer frills, charging for ‘extras’, but lower base fares
- Premium airlines, including Emirates and Lufthansa, are looking at new ways to get more money out of business class passengers by ‘unbundling’ services
- This means selling cheaper tickets and removing various perks, such as the business class lounge and the chance to upgrade to first class
This is revenue earned on top of the original booking, typically using a low headline price to reel in the traveller, then dangling cost-extra items such as meals, baggage, seat selection and frequent flier miles.
While full-service airlines aren’t rushing all the way down that route, they’re beginning to slice and dice the market to unlock additional profit from premium passengers. The good news is that this can result in cheaper fares, even at the pointy end of the plane.
Emirates’ “Special” business-class fares remove core components of the airline’s business-class proposition, such as lounge access and a chauffeur-driven ride to and from the airport.
Ever cautious not to cannibalise its premium cabin – one reason Emirates has yet to introduce premium economy, although that’s planned for 2020 – the Gulf-based airline says that while these cut-price fares have been “introduced on all routes, availability is often based on demand and supply”.
The savings are not insignificant. For example, for selected dates in early 2020 Emirates lists its “Special” business-class fares between Dubai and Paris at 7,350 dirhams (US$2,000) – a discount of around 17 per cent over the next cheapest Saver business-class ticket, and almost one-third on the mid-range Flex fares.