'Emirates, if this is business class - I'll stick to economy'

Aboard the luxurious airline, Simon Calder finds out the hard way the glaring differences between planes in its fleet

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The moment I stepped aboard the Emirates Boeing 777, I was enthralled. After decades of trudging past the posh seats on the way to the back of the plane, suddenly I was a premium passenger.

What joy! Just four seats abreast, compared with 10 at the back of the plane. Acres of personal space. I have flown on Emirates in economy class and know what to expect. Great cabin crew. Ample food and drink. Outstanding in-flight entertainment.

What more could one want? Well, how about the chance to “look forward to a comfortable journey in some of the best seats at 40,000ft”? That’s what you get in business class, according to the airline’s publicity. Plus the chance to “remix business with pleasure”, apparently.

As I looked forward to my first experience in business class on one of the world’s great airlines, I wasn’t delving deeply into the small print on the website. Had I done so, I might have read: “Disclaimer: Emirates operates a mixed fleet of earlier and later models of A380 and B777 aircraft. Products, services and features on actual flights may vary depending on routes and aircraft configuration.”