Emirates Airlines has introduced a stripped-down business class option on some of its routes. It excludes a number of standard benefits, but is cheaper than other business class fares, reports Travel.ru.
The recently introduced minimum business class fare is called Special. It does not include business lounge access (except for Emirates Elite loyalty program members) or complimentary airport transportation in a luxury car. Furthermore, complimentary seat selection will only be available during check-in (48 hours in advance), when seat selection is likely to be severely limited, as all other Business Class passengers can make their selection at any time after purchasing their ticket. Upgrades using miles are also not permitted.
There are no changes to in-flight service, including the 40-kilogram baggage allowance and priority boarding. The price difference between the new Special fare and the upcoming Saver fare can be approximately 10-30%, although some passengers have reported an increase in the Saver fare.
Emirates' new fare is not yet available for flights departing from Russia, and it's unclear whether the company plans to introduce it there in the future. Currently, it appears to be available only for flights departing from Dubai, including to Russian destinations. Moreover, even the reduced Special fare from Dubai to Moscow and back (9,495 AED or 2,290 euros) is generally more expensive than the full Saver fare from Moscow to Dubai and back (140,806 rubles or 1,929 euros). The situation is reversed for flights to St. Petersburg (2,295 euros versus 2,955 euros).
Emirates has long been moving toward separating fares into those that include a full range of services and those that offer only a subset. Until now, this has been limited to Economy Class, where passengers on lower-tier fares have consistently been denied advance seat selection and a generous baggage allowance. Now, these changes have been extended to Business Class. As a reminder, the carrier recently reduced its Moscow service and temporarily removed its largest aircraft, the Airbus A380, from the route.
Source: travel.ru
