An Emirates business class traveler is suing the company after the product fell short of his expectations.
In April 2023, Brodie Chapman, 20, took a $3,240 business class flight from Oslo Airport (OSL) to Dubai International Airport (DXB).
Chapman told Daily Mail Australia that his business class seat was “absolutely disgusting” and a “misrepresentation of the brand.” Chapman claims to fly with Emirates up to 20 times per year.
The 777 or the A380 are advertised, but Chapman observed, “This plane I got on was absolutely disgusting.”
“It was about 23 years old, and it’s not a plane they advertise. They didn’t provide any of the services they advertised or offered. The seats were filthy, socks were tangled in the armrest of my chair, it didn’t recline properly, one of the screens wasn’t functional, and the seat was stained, he continued.
Chapman alleged that he was duped into buying a product that he thought would provide the same level of luxury because Emirates only advertises its flagship Airbus A380 or the more recent Boeing B777 aircraft.”I spend more money flying with Emirates than I do with other airlines because they are designed to provide more comfort and luxury. But I don’t think it’s really fair if the advertised product has nothing to do with what you actually get, Chapman added.
Chapman is thought to have flown the airline’s older B777-300 plane.
Chapman initially turned down Emirates’ offer of 20,000 Skyward Miles. He filed the lawsuit in an effort to recover close to $5,000.
Chapman’s case was filed shortly after Emirates was ordered to pay $8,440 to a passenger who took a business class flight from New Zealand to the UK after losing a lawsuit in March 2013. Similar to Chapman, the passenger was seduced by images of lie-flat seats, in-seat minibars, and cutting-edge entertainment systems.
Instead, the traveler took a B777-300ER flight, which was equipped with Emirates’ earliest business class offering and didn’t look anything like what was advertised.
On social media, numerous other business class travelers on Emirates have discussed their “expectations vs reality” experiences. One traveler complained about the airline’s business class on TikTok, calling it “meh”.
