by Donald Wood
Last updated: 6:48 PM ET, Mon October 30, 2017
Sorry, first-class travelers! Dubai-based airline Emirates is adding more seats and doing away with first class on several routes this winter to and from London.
Emirates currently operates three Airbus A380 planes between Dubai International Airport and Gatwick Airport every day, but that will change in November and December, according to Finance.co.
Routesonline.com is reporting several flights operating between the cities will fly planes that only boast economy and business classes, increasing the number of seats from 489 to 615 per aircraft, a 26 percent increase.
"With fares cheaper than ever before, it is great news for customers, but it also means airlines have to work harder to keep fares down," Air Transport World's Victoria Moores said. "That means airlines have to stay flexible with their products, in this case swapping aircraft layouts to suit market demand."
With fares down across the industry, Emirates is feeling the pressure to reduce unit costs and cutting first class on routes that don't have the demand is an easy way to increase revenue. By operating the higher-capacity, two-cabin A380s, Emirates can carry more passengers and avoid empty first-class seats.
Emirates isn't the only carrier experimenting with adding more seats or cutting first class, either. British Airways is adding 52 extra seats to its fleet of Boeing 777s at Gatwick, and Qantas will not offer first class tickets on its non-stop service between Perth, Australia, and Heathrow launching in 2018.
"Emirates is following the airline trend to drop the exclusive first class on less prestigious routes," Business Travel News editor-in-chief Malcolm Ginsberg said. "It is more profitable for the carriers to increase business class than fill the front end with upgrades at a high cost. Emirates' next move will probably be to introduce Premium Economy."
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