by Krish Patel

Three of the best airlines in the world are Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar, also known as the big three middle eastern carriers. Over the past few years, I flew on each airline in their best Business Class cabins to name which airline deserves the title, “BEST Middle Eastern Airline”. We’ll compare the ground experience, cabin and seat, food, in-flight entertainment, amenities, and the service to name a winner.  

Ground Experience at JFK

For each of the itineraries with these three airlines, I flew out of JFK and into their middle eastern hubs in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Both Emirates and Etihad fly out of JFK’s terminal four, while Qatar uses terminal eight, as they’re a OneWorld member. 

Checking in at JFK for the flight was an easy process with each airline, as the staff were friendly and professional. However, I think that Qatar’s hospitable staff deserve the most credit, as I was able to check-in for my flight almost 10 minutes before it closed. What could have been a stressful process wasn’t, and I boarded without any issues. 

Emirates is the only airline to offer their own lounge at JFK, as well as a chauffeur service to and from the airport. Qatar’s Business Class passengers can use the Greenwich Lounge run by OneWorld partners, British Airways and American Airlines. Etihad has partnered up with Chase to offer access to the Chase Sapphire Lounge. 

The Emirates Lounge at JFK is a spacious enclave, with comfortable seating and chef-curated food, with a wide variety. Best of all, it’s possible to board your flight from the lounge directly.

I love the Chase Sapphire Lounge Etihad provides access to, which offers comfortable seating in a vibrant atmosphere, along with one of the best buffets I’ve seen in a lounge run by a credit card issuer. I highly recommend trying the cauliflower curry and pesto burrata.

However, the premium Greenwich Business Class Lounge offers a wide buffet spread and features comfortable seating, with many variants th choose from. The amenities in the lounge are luxurious as well, such as shower suites and work pods.

Middle Eastern Hub Airport Lounges

The flagship lounges offered by each of these airlines are more than impressive. However, only one of them can be the best. 

The Emirates Lounge in Dubai is luxurious and offers a fun lounge experience, with healthy lounge catering from a variety of cuisines, as well as some desserts. You’ll find a salad bar, an ice cream cart, and a champagne bar. There are also several variants of seating to choose from, ranging from armchairs to plush couches. However, the coolest part of this lounge is that you can board your flight from the lounge directly, which is something that isn’t even seen in Qatar’s Al Mourjan Lounge. Overall, it’s a great space, but I wish that it felt more modern.

Related Video- Emirates Business Class Lounge Dubai (A Concourse)

Etihad’s Business Class Lounge in Abu Dhabi is massive and confusing to navigate because it spans three levels. Spread across three levels of this airport lounge is plenty of comfortable seating, with many variants to choose from, such as chairs that swivel and fine armchairs with pillows. I love the amenities offered in this lounge, especially the shower suites and the triangular-shaped Constellation Bar on level six, with a chandelier inspired by Etihad’s livery. The food in this lounge is also tasty, but doesn’t possess a great variety like the Emirates Lounge. I love the modern ambiance and it is certainly one of the best lounges anywhere.

Qatar’s Al Mourjan Lounge in Doha Hamad International Airport takes the cake in this category. The airline also has a second Al Mourjan Lounge in Doha that’s near the Orchid Garden, however, it’s the smaller one of the two. You’ll find almost every amenity you can imagine in this lounge, such as a sit-down dining restaurant, a smaller cafe, luxurious shower suites with rose-scented Diptyque soap products, a full-service bar, and a games room. The food in this lounge has surpassed my expectations, with plenty of cuisines to enjoy. There are several variants of seating to choose from, with more than enough space for a few hundred passengers. With high ceilings and a classy water feature with a stunning spiral staircase, there are plenty of focal points in this lounge.

The Hard Product

An important part of Business Class is the quality of the seats. I was impressed with the Business Class products offered by each airline. 

On the Emirates A380, Business Class is split into two cabins, both of which feature staggered seats offering direct aisle access. The seats alternate between facing closer to the window and closer to the aisle. The true window seats offer more privacy and storage thanks to the easier access to the A380’s upper deck side storage bins. I was satisfied with the amount of storage offered by the seat, as well as the mini bar, stocked with soft drinks and water. The lavatory in Business Class is a generous size, and offers plenty of space for your legs and knees to stretch out. However, the most iconic part of the Emirates A380 is the bar and lounge located behind the mini cabin, which includes plush couches, a table of snacks, and a semi-circular bar offering refreshments.

The 32-seat Business Class cabin on Etihad’s new 787-9 Dreamliner is one of the smaller Business Class cabins I’ve encountered on a wide body aircraft. It’s stunning in every possible way, with cream finishes, mood lighting, and large overhead bins. The seats feature privacy doors and offer plenty of storage and even a wireless charging pad. In bed mode, there’s plenty of space to stretch out, as well as privacy, so having a door isn’t necessary but ups the privacy level. There are three lavatories in Business Class, which offer plenty of space, but aren’t as well sized as the Emirates A380 lavatory. Overall, I prefer Etihad’s hard product over that of Emirates.

Related Reading- Modern and Sleek: Etihad’s New Business Class Suites from New York to Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport

Voted as the world’s best Business Class among travelers for several years in a row, the Qatar Airways Qsuites offer plenty of privacy, storage space, and legroom in bed mode. During my Qsuite flight on the airline’s luxurious A350-1000, I wasn’t able to see a single passenger seated, even when I was standing up. Visually, the cabin is striking, with elegant purple finishes and cream leather. Qsuites is a fun Business Class product if you’re traveling with a party of three or four because the seat dividers in the center section can be slid to allow for easier communication among travelers, thanks to the alternating configuration with forward and backwards facing seats. The seats in the center section can also convert into a double bed. I was impressed by the sheer amount of space in the lavatory, which is stocked with Diptyque products and feels classy.

Related Video- Qatar Qsuites Business Class Airbus A350-1000 New York John F. Kennedy to Doha Hamad International

Food and Drink

On each of these airlines, the dining experience is almost unbeatable. The three carriers serve chef-curated dishes, such as an Arabic mezze and vegetable kofta with rice. 

Unlike Qatar and Etihad, Emirates doesn’t offer a dine-on-demand service in Business Class. However, that doesn’t mean the food isn’t top notch. I wasn’t impressed by the fact that there was no vegetarian entree listed on the menu aside from the starters. The mezze I ordered was delicious and included pita bread with various dips and a salad. Dessert was also impressive, with an orange chocolate cake. I didn’t appreciate the fact that my meal was served on a tray.

Etihad offers an extensive selection of food on long haul Business Class flights, with several appetizers and entrees to choose from. You can enjoy signature dishes such as the Arabic mezze and the kofta with saffron rice. While the meal is served on a tray, the food quality and presentation is very impressive. In a similar way to Emirates, Etihad also offers mocktails to their Business Class customers on international flights.

Qatar offers an extensive selection of food and beverages to enjoy during the flight, with a variety of mocktails and non-alcoholic drinks, their signature beverage being lemon mint. The food for both dinner and breakfast is top notch. During your Qsuite flight, you can indulge in fine signature dishes such as the Arabic mezze and vegan laksa. Plus, the restaurant-style presentation of the meal with an artificial candle and no individual tray really elevates the experience. It goes without being said that the dining experience in Qsuite is truly one of a kind.

Amenities

Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways all offer luxurious amenities in flight, such as plush pillows, cozy bedding, and well-stocked amenity kits. The three airlines’s amenities offered to passengers are worthy of five stars, but one specific airline fares better than the others. 

Emirates offers luxurious bedding, noise-canceling headphones, and a well-stocked amenity kit with Bvlgari skin care products, as well as socks and an eye mask. Unfortunately, Emirates doesn’t offer a mattress pad with their bedding.

Qatar’s amenities that are provided are nice, with Diptyque skincare products, however, dental kits and shaving kits are only found in the lavatory. The bedding is also very comfortable and includes two pillows, as well as a mattress pad.

However, Etihad fares better than both Qatar and Emirates, with a memory-foam mattress pad and Armani/Casa bedding, as well as ESPA skincare products found in the amenity kits. The amenity kit is made of real Italian leather, which is more fun than being provided with a typical amenity kit pouch. Plus, the new Dreamliner I flew was equipped with the latest, high-speed Viasat Wi-Fi.

In-Flight Entertainment

The three Middle Eastern carriers are known for having great in-flight entertainment systems, with a variety of movies and TV to choose from across several genres.

Etihad’s E-BOX entertainment system offers a variety of movies and TV shows, as well as games, audio options (music and podcasts), and a responsive touchscreen inflight map. The selection of movies is endless to the point where you can spend the entire flight deciding what to watch. One of the coolest parts of the system is that it’s possible to order food and drinks directly to your seat without having to contact a crew member.

Qatar’s entertainment selection is lovely too, with multiple movies and TV shows to choose from, as well as games, music, podcasts, and information about the airline. You can choose movies from a variety of genres, ranging from Hollywood to award-winning Arabic films. The Oryx One entertainment screen on the A350 is super responsive and can also be controlled from your phone in addition to using the android-like remote. Overall, I prefer Qatar’s slightly more extensive entertainment selection compared to that of Etihad’s.

Before flying Emirates for the first time on their A380 in Business Class, I hadn’t seen an entertainment selection as extensive as Emirates ICE (Information, Connectivity, Entertainment). You can find movies and TV shows from every genre you can think of, as well as multiple music genres and games to choose from. There are dedicated slots for kids entertainment and information about Emirates Airlines. Each Business Class seat also comes with a mini iPad-like device, where you can view the map while watching a movie on the main IFE screen. In-flight entertainment is one area where Emirates fares better than their gulf competitors based out of Qatar and the U.A.E.

Service 

The big three Middle Eastern carriers offer world-class service in Business Class that’s provided by a friendly cabin crew. While the crew on my Emirates A380 flight were professional, the service felt less personalized than my experience with Etihad and Qatar. For example, Emirates doesn’t offer a dine-on-demand concept in Business Class, unlike the other two carriers, nor did they provide turndown service in Business Class. Based on my experience, Qatar has the best crew. 

Booking/Pricing

While Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar are some of the best airlines in the world, flying Business Class on each of the three airlines is expensive. Round-trip flights from the Middle East to New York are less expensive than flying in the opposite direction.

Here’s a table summarizing the prices of round-trip and one-way flights from New York JFK to the Middle East with each of the three carriers:

As shown on the table, Qatar Airways is the most expensive, while Emirates and Etihad offer a similar value in terms of pricing. While Qatar Airways is the best Middle Eastern airline, they come at a significantly higher price and in my opinion not a great value for money. 

When flying from New York JFK to Mumbai BOM and taking a stop-over in one of these middle-east locations comes out much cheaper (baffles my mind). Etihad is the clear winner in this category, followed by Emirates.

Overall Thoughts

Each of the three Middle Eastern carriers are some of the best airlines in the world and provide a fantastic Business Class experience. The fine dining experience, luxurious amenities, quality of the cabin, and the professional service are all areas where the three airlines truly shine. It goes without saying that you’re going to have a terrific time on any of these airlines whether you’re headed to the Middle East or somewhere far beyond.