Emirates Is Developing Personal First Class Bathrooms

As airlines look to upgrade their first and business class experiences, frequent travelers are seeing those improvements in a variety of ways. It could mean improved food options, or an expansive space in which to spend a long-haul flight. And for at least one airline, it could mean something very different: a dedicated restroom for each passenger at the highest level of service. That airline is Emirates — but when this new policy will go into effect remains to be seen.

Emirates President Sir Tim Clark was one of the speakers at this year’s CAPA Airline Leader Summit, held in Berlin on April 23 and 24. There, he told the audience, “I’m working on en suite bathrooms in first class suites.” He also implied that, with that announcement, other airlines’ leaderships would be inspired to try a similar approach. In bringing this up, Clark also stated that this was of several developments that Emirates was currently engaged in.

“We’re constantly on product refinement; the way we go about that is very high-priority, in terms of what things we can offer,” Clark said. As for what the timetable for implementing this might be, Clark left that question open. Skift’s Deepthi Nair reports that Emirates declined to comment any further on his remarks.

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Assuming Emirates can make personal bathrooms a reality, it will feel something like an extension of another first class amenity the airline has implemented last year: showers on their Airbus A380. In 2025, One Mile at a Time’s Ben Schlappig described the experience of showering in first class with admiration. “These aren’t just dinky showers, but actually shower suites that are probably larger than the average bathroom in a NYC apartment,” he wrote.

The idea of not having to wait for a bathroom while flying is enticing, though presumably the logistics of adding several toilets and sinks to an existing plane will be complex. But in an era of air travel where premium experiences tend to become more premium, this seems very much in keeping with industry trends.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…