Emirates plans cheaper class to lure top clients

Emirates may offer premium-economy seats in a reversal of its resistance to a class combining a touch of luxury with reasonable fares, as declining oil revenues prompt Middle Eastern customers to tighten travel budgets. Introducing a cabin pitched between coach and business would improve fare flexibility as falling crude prices prompt a “paradigm change” in travel habits among wealthier passengers and companies exposed to the Persian Gulf that took hold elsewhere after the recession, Emirates President Tim Clark said. Emirates, which counts on petroleum-rich markets for a chunk of bookings, has previously avoided the industry’s rush to economy-plus products for fear of cannibalizing sales of more lucrative seats. With oil reaching a 12-year low in February after falling by about one-third in 2015, the airline is now finding it tougher to fill the world’s biggest fleet of wide-body jets. “There’s clear and present evidence that this is something that we too should take seriously,” Clark said. “The job of the industry is now to adjust to the growing demand in other segments that don’t yield as much as the corporate segments did.” Emirates, which would become the only major Middle Eastern airline to offer premium economy should it adopt the class, reported its first annual sales decline in a decade in the year through March, while the proportion of first- and business-class seats filled dropped 3.2 percentage points.<br/>