The world’s best first-class cabin? I’ve flown in most of them and this is my verdict

Sometimes it really is better to travel than to arrive. After spending years stripping out first-class cabins, airlines are racing to bring them back bigger and better than ever.

Carriers are installing new private apartments in the sky. Caviar and grand cru vintages are on the menu and ritzy travellers can enjoy new technological innovations, such as speakers built into the headrest of seats, so they don’t have to wear headphones.

The reason for the luxury arms race at 39,000ft? The appetite for upscale travel is back with a vengeance. “Demand has exceeded our expectations and travellers aren’t blinking at first-class fares,” says Sir Tim Clark, the Briton who runs Emirates.

He is trying to tempt upscale travellers with the best food and wine in the sky and revamped showers on his airline’s Airbus A380 superjumbos. Emirates has sole rights to serve Dom Pérignon Vintage 2013, Dom Pérignon Vintage Rosé 2008 and Dom Pérignon Plénitude 2 2004.

But Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, Etihad, Lufthansa and even British Airways are catching up fast.

“First-class is key to British Airways,” said BA CEO Sean Doyle late last year when he unveiled the flag carrier’s new first suite, which he said would “take British Airways to the next level.”

First-class will soon be available on 65 per cent of BA’s long-haul flights – more than any other global carrier apart from Emirates.

At the airport all carriers have fast-track check-in and security, and priority boarding. Once on board, all offer passengers mood lighting, temperature controls, giant TVs, and dine on demand on bone china and crystal glassware.

There’s free Wi-Fi, wireless mobile phone charging, pyjamas and slippers, fancy amenity kits, mattresses, high-thread-count bed linen and masses of storage, including in-suite space for hand luggage. The flight attendant to guest ratio is one for every 3-4 passengers.

But each is different in its own way. Here’s what the main airlines offer now or will be rolling out soon.

British Airways

Pros: BA first-class customers board at Heathrow Terminal 5, the best hub airport terminal in Europe.

Cons: The new first-class cabin is being introduced downstairs on the Airbus A380, instead of upstairs.

How much? Return fare from London to New York: £8,426.

The flag carrier, which once led the world in pukka air travel, has not been at the races in recent years but last November CEO Sean Doyle unveiled a mini-room at 39,000ft for each first-class passenger. It will be rolled on on the airline’s A380s next year.

The new seat is 3ft wide and the bed is 6ft 7in long, with an ottoman that moves forward and backwards electronically so that travellers of any height can find the most comfortable position. The suite is big enough for two to dine together, one sitting on the seat, the other on the ottoman.

The walls of each suite are 5ft high and the door closes electronically for total privacy. You can change into pyjamas at night and get dressed again in the morning. Soft grey cloth upholstery, cream fabrics and wood veneer create a homely feel. One feature that rival carriers are sure to copy is a mobile phone stand.

The suites will be arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration across the cabin. BA has done away with the conventional retractable divider at waist height for customers travelling together in the centre pair. Instead, the entire dividing wall from the floor to the top of the suite retracts to create a shared lounge space that you can walk through from one side to the other.

American Airlines is ditching its first-class cabin on international routes which means that, by the time the new BA suite is launched, BA will be the only European carrier from the UK to offer first-class across the Atlantic.

The missing pieces? No chauffeur transfer to and from the departure and arrival airport, nor from the Concorde Room at Terminal 5 to the steps of the jet. Plus, some passengers may find it odd that the fold-out table in the suite is relatively small.

Emirates

Pros: Food and wine, service, showers and chauffeur drive make Emirates first in first-class, overall.

Cons: The suites are now relatively small compared to its rivals.

How much? Return fare from London to Dubai: £7,768.

Once customers take their seats in the 14 6ft 8in-long suites on the upper deck of Emirates’ A380s they are offered Dom Perignon champagne, paired with – unlimited – caviar. Main courses include walnut-crusted veal tenderloin, roasted Suffolk chicken, seared halibut, and harissa cauliflower with pomodoro. There’s a Movie Snacks menu with Wagyu sliders, lobster rolls, popcorn, and edamame.

As well as champagnes, Emirates has the best selection of Burgundy wines in the sky, including Montrachet Grand Cru 2013 Domaine Bouchard Pere et Fils, Corton-Charlemagne 2014 Domaine Louis Latour, Échezeaux 2012 Domaine des Perdrix, Clos Vougeot 2008 Louis Jadot and Mazoyeres-Chambertin 2013 Domaine Taupenot Merme.

The Dubai-based superconnector is also planning to introduce several first growths from Bordeaux in the coming years from Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Cheval Blanc, and Chateau d’Yquem.

When it’s time to sleep, passengers can change into hydra active pyjamas. Billions of capsules applied to the fabric release naturally moisturising sea kelp. Chamomile sleep oil and a pillow mist help you to nod off.

Waking up is easy. There’s a cappuccino and a shower, where passengers can enjoy soaps and shampoos, cleansers and moisturisers from the Irish organic luxury brand, Voya, plus three different fragrances: rosemary and mint, lavender and rosemary, and lime and mandarin.

First-class passengers also have access to the bar at the rear of the business class cabin on the upper deck of the A380.

Singapore Airlines

Pros: With only six suites, Singapore Suites is the most exclusive first-class cabin in the sky (until Qantas’s Airbus A350 launches next year).

Cons: No chauffeur drive and no arrivals lounges at any airports, even Changi.

How much? Return fare from London to Singapore: £10,785.

Passengers booked in Suites – Singapore Airlines’ primo cabin – have their own terminal building with a private immigration desk at Changi Airport, Singapore’s home hub. After clearing check-in and immigration, an escalator leads directly up to the Private Room. Total time from kerbside to a Dom Perignon 2009 apéritif is less than five minutes.

The A380 superjumbo is the only plane big enough to accommodate Singapore Suites. A private corridor on the upper deck leads to a cabin with just six of them.

Each has a sliding door, which has a cupboard in its frame big enough to store hand luggage and with enough hangers for a jacket, trousers and coat. If you travel with a companion, the divider between two of the suites can be lowered to create a double bed.

The seat is upholstered in tobacco-brown Poltrona Frau leather and set facing forward for take-off, in front of a wall-mounted TV screen. After take-off, it swivels through 360 degrees, so passengers can choose the view they want while they enjoy the latest dishes from Monica Galetti, who learnt her trade at Le Gavroche and is a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals. She creates four seasonal menus which fuse her South Pacific roots with her classical French training.

Each dish can be enjoyed with 2015 Louis Roederer Cristal Millesime Brut champagne, as well as 2023 Deep Woods Hillside Chardonnay and 2002 J. de Villebois Touraine Sauvignon Blanc. On the list of reds are 2012 Bouchard Pere & Fils Corton Grand Cru and 2020 Kaesler The Bogan Shiraz, Barossa Valley.

There’s a separate 6ft 3in-long bed that drops down from the wall between each suite. Turn down comes with Lalique-branded sheets and duvet and pyjamas. Don’t expect to enjoy a shower to help you to wake up. Singapore Airlines thinks they are a marketing gimmick. Emirates and Etihad beg to differ. But the bathrooms on either side of the nose of the aircraft are vast and come with a full-length mirror and vanity table, just in case the vanity mirror in the suite is not big enough.

Etihad

Pros: Etihad’s new home airport, Zayed International, is the best hub in the world.

Cons: Its A380s are showing their age.

How much? Return fare from London to Abu Dhabi: £7,802.52 (The Residence) or £6,166.52 (First).

The Abu Dhabi flag carrier’s decision to bring back into service its mothballed Airbus A380 superjumbos has re-introduced the most luxurious air travel experience outside a private jet. The Residence is a 125 sq ft, three-room micro apartment in the sky on the upper deck.

The “living room” is big enough for two adults to sit on seats upholstered in Poltrona Frau leather. There’s a large dining table and a private chilled mini-bar with Cipriani’s signature Bellini and 2016 Billecart-Salmon champagne.

A corridor leads to a bathroom with a shower with Espa soaps, shampoo and fragrances. The 7ft by 5ft double bed sits in the jet’s nose cone.

Behind the Residence in the rest of the first-class cabin are smaller micro “apartments”, nine arranged in a 1–1 configuration. Each has its own sliding door and, like the Residence, comes with a Poltrona Frau upholstered leather seat and separate chaise longue that converts into a 6ft 7in-long bed. There’s also a TV, wardrobe, chilled mini-bar and vanity unit.

The bed can be made up before take-off, so you can get your head down as soon as it’s safe. You can sleep with your head to the wall of the aircraft, so you are not woken up by flight crew or passengers walking down the aisle.

The bed can be converted back to a chaise longue without you having to leave your seat – another first for first-class.

Adjacent apartments can be joined to create a double bed, so that couples can sleep together. First-class passengers on the A380 share a single bathroom and a single separate shower.

Qantas

Pros: Qantas has the most elegantly understated yet luxurious first-class cabin ever created.

Cons: The new first suites are only available on four routes: London and New York to Sydney and Melbourne.

How much? Likely return fare from London to Sydney: £16,000.

Vanessa Hudson, who runs Qantas, has an enviable problem. She is trying to work out how profane a fare she can charge for the greatest aviation experience since Concorde dipped its beak: first-class non-stop from London and New York to Sydney.

The first cabin on the Qantas Airbus A350 that will make the 21-hour journey starting in 2026 will be the best-ever created.

There will be six large enclosed suites, arranged in a 1-1-1 formation across the front of two rows of seats in the four-class jet. Each will come with a 2ft-wide reclining seat, separate 6ft 6in-long bed, wardrobe, 32-inch TV, and dining table that can comfortably seat three people.

The bed has a headboard that can be angled forwards, so you can sit up in bed to read, watch a film or live sports streamed on the ultra-fast Wi-Fi, or simply look out of the window.

The colour palette is light with eggshell seat fabrics and sage green trim to create what designer David Caon calls “an authentically Australian aesthetic. In your beach house you don’t have dark and moody. You have lighter, fresher colours.” Wrapping around the walls and door is what looks like European oak, with a textured grain, but is, in fact, a synthetic veneer. “Real wood gets bashed about a lot and is hard to refinish and maintain,” Caon explains.

Each of the six stowage compartments in the suite is integrated into the surfaces and closes flush. The touchscreen controls for the seat position and lighting are discreetly mounted in a panel in the wall, and there’s wireless charging built into the surfaces. The stowage compartments in the suites means there are no overhead bins in the cabin. There is one lavatory per three passengers.

Qantas also offers the best food of any airline on the ground and in the air, thanks to its chef, Neil Perry. On board meals are designed to help to nudge you on to the time zone of your destination and minimise jet lag – vital when heading Down Under.

Lufthansa

Pros: Lufthansa’s new first suite will be installed on its Boeing 747s, an ageing yet iconic jet that many travellers still regard as the Queen of the Skies.

Cons: Britons have to make a short hop to Germany to start their long-haul journey from there.

How much? Return fare from Munich to New York: £8,256.

Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa recently launched its upgraded long-haul top-end cabins, known as “Allegris”, and has opted for maximum privacy in its new first-class. Each suite has ceiling-high walls and a sliding door that fully closes.

After Etihad’s Residence, Lufthansa is the best for couples travelling on an overnight flight since the centre suite is a double suite with a double bed with no divider.

This First Class Suite Plus “conveys the feeling of privacy and individuality similar to a hotel room – only at an altitude of eleven kilometers,” says Jens Ritter, Lufthansa CEO. The design of the entire cabin is elegantly minimal. Black leather and black fabrics are offset with back-lit wood finishes.

Ones to watch

Speaking to CNBC last year, Qatar Airways CEO Badr Al-Meer said he will soon unveil a new first-class suite “combining the experience of flying commercial and executive jets.” Qatar has already created a business-class product that is better than many of its rivals’ first-class offerings: the QSuite.

Its new first-class will, therefore, have to set a new standard at the pointy end. Expect a private room with floor-to-ceiling walls, an onboard chef cooking meals to order, spa-like bathrooms (but no showers) with limited-edition Armani amenities. Swiss is updating its first-class cabin with its new SWISS Senses service this year and Air France will also launch its all new La Premiere first-class.