Emirates changes planes in Rome and Milan: a quarter of seats in First disappear. But if you travel in Business...

If you are planning to book a trip for next summer with Emirates. , take an extra look at the plane you will be flying the route with. between Milan and Dubai and Rome and Dubai. Why the Emirates carrier will introduce a new aircraft on the two routes.

No, it is not the Airbus A350. But of the Boeing 777-200LR, Long Range version of the popular 777-200ER.

It will do so to and from Milan starting May 1, 2026, replacing the Boeing 777-300ER that currently operates EK101/EK 102 Dubai-Milan-Dubai flights. And to and from Rome starting March 29. (i.e. from the first day of Summer 2026), Adding a third rotation on the route which until March 28 will instead be served twice a day (with a Boeing 777-300ER and an Airbus A380).

Beyond its exceptional flight range capabilities (it is the plane Air India uses to fly to the western U.S., the stuff of 16-17 hours nonstop), which, however, are of little use between Italy and Dubai, Emirates' -200LR (the carrier has 10 in its fleet, compared with 130 -300ER) is configured quite differently from the 777-300ER because it does not have a First cabin, only Business and Economy.

This means that on the Milan-Dubai-Milan, one of the three flights will lose queen class and the total daily availability of seats in First will drop from 72 to 56. The number of seats in Business and Economy will also drop, as the -200LR has 38 instead of 42 and 264 instead of 304, respectively, reducing the daily supply by 8 and 80 seats, respectively.

 

So far it is a downgrade. However, while in Economy the two products are equivalent, in Business Class, Emirates' -200LRs have a better product than the -777-300ERs that have not yet been refurbished, such as those that will operate until April 30 on the Milan-Dubai-Milan.

In fact, each row has in fact 6 places (2-2-2) instead of 7 (2-3-2 with the horrendous middle seat), the seats are fully-flat instead of angled-flat, The distance between the rows of seats is 72 inches (183cm) Instead of 60 inches (152cm), the width of the seat is 22 inches (56cm) Instead of 20.5 inches (52cm) And the screen of the IFE is 23 in. instead of 17. Numbers for which one can call the transition between the -300ER (in its old configuration) and the -200LR a marked upgrade.

It is possible that the introduction of a smaller machine will prelude the arrival of both Milan and Rome (where flights will remain three per day even after the end of Summer 2026), Of the A350, which in terms of overall capacity is similar to the 777-200LR and does not have a First Class (but does have premium economy). Until mid-December 2026 (the last date currently bookable on the Emirates website), however, there is no sign of the A350 over Italy's two largest cities, but it is possible that the Airbus house biget will arrive with Summer 2027.