The best seats in Business Class on Emirates' Boeing 777-300ER

Australian Business Traveller reveals the best seats to pick on the aircraft you're most likely to encounter on your travels.

This week: Business Class on Emirates' Boeing 777-300ER.

The plane

Emirates' stretched long-range Boeing 777-300ERs are the airline's most frequently used planes on Australian routes.

Even though the A380 is the airline's flagship, the giant Airbus superjumbo only flies on some flights to Sydney and Melbourne from Dubai (and then on to Auckland) – all other flights to Australia are on the 777-300ER. 

The Business Class cabin

Unsurprisingly, Business Class is located towards the front of the 777-300ER, between First Class and Economy, and has 42 seats in a 2-3-2 layout.

(For infrequent travellers, that means that A & B seats are to the left of the cabin, then an aisle, the D, E and F seats in the middle, another aisle, and the J & K seats on the right.)

Rows 6 and 7 are in a little mini-cabin immediately behind First Class, while rows 8-11 are further back. In between the two is a galley kitchen, the business class lavatories and the main exit doors.

Business Class seats on the 777-300ER are different to the ones you'll find on the A380. These seats slide down to become sloped beds, and don't give aisle access for every passenger.

There's a power socket at each seat, though, and the ICE in-flight entertainment system is absolutely top-notch. Australian Business Traveller recently reviewed the seats on a trans-Tasman flight.

The best seats on the plane

Row 6: at the front of the small first cabin, these bulkhead seats immediately behind first class have a little extra legroom for manoeuvring (and hopping over the aisle passenger if in a window or middle seat). The smaller cabin is quieter and further away from the noise and bustle of Economy Class. Row 6 is a designated bassinet crib row, so business travellers are slightly more likely to be moved for a passenger with an infant, but the cabin is small enough that the baby will be no louder in row 6 than row 7

Row 8: at the front of the larger second cabin, these bulkheads again have a little more legroom. They're also bassinet crib seats, though, so the same warning applies.

7D 7E 7F: after row 6, the best trio of seats on the plane, in the smaller front cabin.

D and F seats if you like the aisle: the middle E seats are likely the last to be filled in Business Class, and passengers in the D and F seats are least likely to be disturbed by people climbing over them, even if the plane is full.

The worst seats on the plane

7A 7K: these window seats are missing a window, so if you lean back you're just looking at a wall.

Row 11: all the way at the back of Business Class and separated from Economy by only a thin wall and curtain, these are right in front of the Economy Class bassinet crib spots.

E seats: avoid these middle seats if flying alone, and if flying with a partner aim for the window pairs instead.

Previous seat guides: 

• Business Class on Qantas' domestic Boeing 767
• New Business Class on Cathay Pacific's Airbus A330
• Business Class on Singapore Airlines' Airbus A380
• Business Class on Emirates' Boeing 777-300ER
• Club World (Business Class) on British Airways' Boeing 747

John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.