Emirates A350 Edinburgh to Dubai (Inaugural Flight)

Flight Details:

Airline: Emirates, EK

Aircraft: Airbus A350-900

Aircraft registration: EDI-DXB on A6-EXA, DXB-EDI on A6-EPV

Route: Edinburgh - Dubai

Flight number: EK24

Seat: EDI-DXB in 7B, DXB-EDI in 10A

Watch my full YouTube video below:

Full disclosure: I was invited by Emirates to take this inaugural flight and received a free ticket. Note that I have paid for dozens of Emirates premium cabin tickets in the past, and will continue to do so after this special event flight so my thoughts are honest, as always.

Earlier this year, Emirates took delivery of its first new aircraft type in decades and I got to be on its inaugural flight to share all my first impressions with you guys.

This new aircraft is exciting for many reasons. First of all, Emirates hasn't taken delivery of a new aircraft type since 2008, and they haven't received a single new airplane in several years.The A350 represents a huge shift for the airline for several reasons. It's a much smaller aircraft than their signature 777-300ERs and A380s. Considering they have 65 of these A350s on order, it signals a shift to smaller planes on certain routes and also a future with more potential routes.

Also, none of Emirates A350s are currently planned to have first class. This means the airline is unfortunately moving away from featuring its iconic first class on the vast majority of its fleet. In other words, the A350 is an aircraft that will shake up Emirates.

The good news is that these aircraft will feature Emirates' latest cabins, in addition to the A350 just being a joy to fly in general. If I can't be on an A380, my second choice is always an A350. So how does Emirates A350 stack up? Let’s find out!

SEAT

A350

The Emirates A350 comes in a three class configuration. So far, Emirates only has their so-called regional configuration, with the main difference being a smaller 21 seat premium economy cabin, as opposed to 28 and lack of a crew rest. This aircraft also has 259 economy class seats, as well as the star of the show, 32 business class seats in a one-to-one configuration.

If traveling with someone else, especially a loved one or a child you want to be close to, I love the center honeymoon seats and I really appreciate that Emirates chose to maintain those.

Another thing I realized is that every single window seat on this aircraft has a window, which might not sound noteworthy, except most aircrafts out there have at least one blocked window due to wiring. That includes the Emirates 777. So on their A350, rest assured that your window will actually have a view outside.

For this flight I was in seat 7B, a business class seat closer to the aisle, and to my surprise, that didn't bother me one bit. The seat felt just as private as the one closer to the window thanks to how the rows are staggered, as well as the sizable privacy partition on the seat next to me.

In a way, I prefer this seat to the one closer to the window since the floor can be used as storage for my bag during the flight without blocking my exit to the aisle. Now, do we all wish a business class product introduced on a brand new aircraft in 2025 had a door? Of course. But Emirates knows that as long as the seat is good enough, people won't choose to book the competition over them, so you can't really blame them.

Now let’s talk about the seat as a bed. Between the mattress pad, the soft blanket, the large space by my feet, I knew I would sleep like a baby. I think it's hard to sleep better than you can on an A350 thanks to the cabin being pressurized at a lower altitude and the higher humidity.

Unfortunately the pillow on this flight was a little scratchy and I believe they use this on all their A350 flights. I’m not sure why they chose to introduce an inferior pillow for this new aircraft.

When I woke up to see the first layer of the shade was a fantastic darkening panel, I was so pleased. This has to be my new favorite window shade system in the world. Thank you Emirates for not installing dimmable window shades and investing in this instead.

Let’s talk about the reconfigured 777 in comparison to the A350.

The day prior, I flew the new 777 business class to Edinburgh which let me try out this new seat in daylight. So, how does the new seat compare to the existing A380 seat? Among all the initial dialogue about the seat when it was introduced on the 777 in August 2024, one of the things that seemed to be missed is that the seat backs are much higher than they are on the A380.

In the photo, you can see I'm sitting up straight and the seat back behind me extends way above my head, which makes it more private. Now, it's not as high as Q-suite, very few seats are, but when you compare it with almost any other business class seat in this type of staggered configuration without a door, the seats do not get more private.

FOOD

When it came to meal time, boy was I so impressed with this catering. I did not expect this level out of Edinburgh, but I was served some sort of mushroom pate with sliced truffle and vegan truffle cream on top as an appetizer. This might just be the single most impressive outstation catered meal I've had in 10 years of reviewing airlines.

My main course was a pasta dish which was less exciting.

My dessert? Fruit. These meals are a little more in line with what I'd expect out of a smaller airport like Edinburgh.

In the galley, I get a little look at the most luxurious meal option on the menu, the lobster as well as a few others.

For an idea of what you can expect on flights out of Dubai to the UK, here are the three mains on the DXB-EDI flight from the day prior.

SEAT FEATURES

The new Emirates A350 Business Class seat

So what’s new on the A350?

I think the more modern tablet is most noticeable along with the slightly different window shade controls and the addition of wireless charging.

Looking at the finer details, you'll see the wattages are significantly higher here, more than double that of the USB-C ports on the 777. Now the interesting thing is that the 777 is a wider airplane and guess what? You can kind of tell. This seat feels a little bit narrower as does the side console. It's especially noticeable since you have two fewer drink compartments in the minibar. Really important stuff, I know…

Another major difference on the A350 is that the entertainment system ICE has been completely redesigned and scarily enough manages to reach completely new heights. They have all 12 seasons of one of my favorite shows, Curb Your Enthusiasm! We have come a long way since the days of having one episode from the fifth season of a show.

The UI is also an absolute dream. It actually feels like something you'd find outside of an airplane. That's to say they have user-friendly features like being able to skip back and forth 10 seconds with this button rather than having to use the fast forward and back buttons, which makes it impossible to find what you need.

Plus, the A350 tail camera design is a dream. The good entertainment system might come in handy since Emirates has chosen not to install Starlink yet. Instead, they promised faster Wi-Fi on the A350, which showed the following speeds on my speed test.

Emirates is the first airline I've ever seen to install individual air vents as part of the seats in the center - impressive - and to think some airlines don't install individual air vents at all!

AMENITIES

The amenity kit is mighty impressive and not too different from their first class one. This kit includes Bvlgari products, deodorant, real shaving cream, and all types of other goodies.

It’s worth noting that Emirates only offers amenity kits on overnight flights in business class.

When I woke up, the staff had left a certificate celebrating the inaugural flight and it has a little slot here to put your boarding pass as well! I am absolutely going to frame this and put it on my wall to really remember this historic event that I was lucky enough to witness.

TOILETS

The lavatory situation is a little confusing since on paper, business class has three lavatories to itself. In reality, the two lavatories behind business class seem to be shared with premium economy. However, I never had to wait to use the toilet, unlike on Emirates 777 so overall, this is definitely an improvement.

The forward lavatory has an amazing curved back wall and I can't tell you how nice it feels to know how few people have used this before me. The trash door is operated by a pedal here which is another nice touch.

CONCLUSION

Let me conclude with my first thoughts on the Emirates A350 with you. I'm planning on doing several more reviews on this aircraft on flights I've paid for myself, since that's how I prefer to do it at the end of the day.

Let me say this completely genuinely. I would love to fly the Emirates A350 again. The challenge for Emirates is that their A380s are so fun to fly between the bar and the basically comparable seat to this, that I would still recommend seeking out their A380 over the A350.

That said, you likely won't be facing that situation given that the A350 will serve cities that don't get the Emirates A380s.

If it comes down to choosing between an Emirates 777 with their new seats and an A350, there are perks to both. On the 777, you'll get what I felt was a slightly wider and more spacious seat. On the A350, you'll get better cabin air, even better tech, and an improved lavatory-to-passenger ratio.

So, welcome to the skies, Emirates A350. On behalf of the flying public, we are happy to have you.