The Dubai-based carrier took out the top spot in both the Best Premium Economy category and Best-in-Flight Entertainment category at the annual Airlineratings.com Airline Excellence Awards for 2024.

It also ranked fifth in the Top 25 Best Airlines. Qatar Airways nabbed the winning spot.

The judging panel, which consists of five editors, consider a range of criteria that include safety and product rating, fleet age, profitability, serious incidents, passenger reviews from several sources, innovation and forward fleet orders.

Between the judges there’s more than 100 years of industry experience.

“Our editors were unanimous in their praise for Emirates ICE system as a step above,” Airlineratings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said.

“That early investment in in-flight entertainment has paid off for Emirates and just when you think it can’t do it better – it lifts the bar once again.”

This is the ninth year that Emirates has won Best IFE for its ICE system, boasting 6,500 channels.

It was also one of the first airline’s to introduce seat-back videos for economy passengers back in the early 1990s.

The world’s largest international airline was also praised and recognised for its premium economy cabin that it introduced back in 2021.

An Emirates spokesperson told news.com.au the cabin has been a huge hit from the moment it was first introduced in Australia in 2022.

“Customer response has been overwhelmingly positive with demand exceeding expectations,” the spokesperson said.

“Over 90,000 passengers have flown in premium economy and it has been highly popular among solo travellers (40.9 per cent), couples (38.4 per cent) and families (15.5 per cent).”

She said the new cabin exceeded expectations in Australia, averaging over 80 per cent load factors since its introduction.

Emirates premium economy costs roughly twice as much as standard economy and when asked why Aussies are happy to fork out the extra dollars, the spokeswoman said it comes down to several “standout features”.

“The spacious luxurious cream leather seats, with six-way adjustable headrests, a footrest and a generous recline, and the gourmet dining experience which includes a welcome drink served in fine glassware,” she said.

“Other premium features include the cabin being positioned at the very front of the aircraft, and the three dedicated toilets for premium economy passengers.”

She said prices varied depending on factors including location of travel, departure date and demand, but it roughly costs double what you would pay for an economy seat.

Rise in premium economy bookings

James Kavanagh, Flight Centre Travel Group managing director Australia, said he’s noticed premium economy bookings across all airlines were up year-on-year for a wide range of destinations.

He said it’s because travellers are seeking more comfort, convenience and a little luxury from the moment their trip begins.

“Growing popularity at the front end of the plane for leisure travellers reflects that people no longer consider travel a discretionary item and are willing to spend a little more on it while cutting back on other budgetary items due to the cost-of-living,” he told news.com.au.

“Data from our boutique luxury brand Travel Associates shows that long haul destinations have had the biggest jump in premium economy bookings with Japan up 40 per cent, USA up 15 per cent, the UK up seven per cent and Spain up six per cent.”

He added that there has been a significant spike in premium economy bookings since Emirates announced it would become available on the Melbourne to Dubai route back in February.

“In Australia Emirates already offers premium economy on flights out of Melbourne and Sydney and bookings on these routes have been growing steadily,” he added.

“We’d love to see Emirates extend their premium economy offer to their other Australian destinations. We see huge opportunity here, particularly out of Brisbane and Perth, as business class already sells very well from these ports.”

So far, 22 of 67 A380s have been retrofitted to date as part of the Emirates retrofit program.