The way you fly with Emirates may soon be about to change…

It’s just been revealed that Emirates Airlines are looking to introduce a ‘premium economy’ class on their planes as they battle falling financial returns.

What is premium economy? It consists of a few extra luxuries, which tend to include extra legroom, wider seats and seats which recline further.

President Tim Clark told an airlines conference in London that Emirates are also considering introducing charges for seat selection and additional baggage.

“We cannot sit back and wait for things to get better,” he said of the possible changes.

OH, AND TRAVELLING THIS WEEKEND? GET READY…

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With a five-day weekend ahead for Eid Al Adha it’s no surprise that Emirates and other airlines are expecting a huge spike in travellers moving through Dubai airport this weekend.

Emirates Airline alone expects 90,000 people to fly out of Dubai airport on their planes on Friday September 9.

While the airport expects that more than one million people will travel through Dubai International over the next four days. 

In total, the airline anticipates that 160,000 people will travel through its terminal, Terminal 3, between Thursday and Saturday (this is less than the Christmas rush last year at least).

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The most popular destinations will be Karachi, Mumbai, London Heathrow, Amman and Beirut. So yes, your flights will be very full if you’re heading to any of these spots.

The spike in traffic also means queues at the airport will be longer than usual and the drive to the terminal might be extra sticky. So plan ahead and aim to get to the airport at least three hours early.

The good news is that on the way back into Dubai you can now use your Emirates ID at e-gates so you won’t need to queue (we used ours upon arrival in Terminal 1 this week and the process was super speedy).

We flew out of Terminal 3 at the start of the last Eid holidays and the queues to buy snacks and a bottle of water at Duty Free were immense. So be prepared.

DUBAI AIRPORTS BUSY IN GENERAL THIS YEAR

It’s not just this weekend that’s busy – in fact, Dubai International airports have been busy all of 2016. In July the airports saw 7.6 million passengers travelling through (a 14 per cent increase from the same time last year). Thank goodness for Concourse D and it’s Pret a Manger.

During the first seven months of 2016 the airports serviced more than 48 million passengers. Aka, heaps. (Which is why it’s still the world’s busiest international airport.)

Here are some top travel tips to ensure a smooth Dubai departure…

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– Be sure to check which airport/terminal you are departing from before leaving home. Check dubaiairports.ae for flight status.

– Aim to arrive early at the airport: leave three hours for check-in and immigration. Take into consideration daily rush hours in calculating your commute to the airport.

– Make sure all liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) in your check-in baggage are in a clear re-sealable plastic bag. Each item should not be more than 100ml, and the total content of all items should not be more than one litre.

– Take off all metal items – like watches, belts, etc, before you go through the security screening. Perhaps put it in your hand luggage before you even get to the security area to save time.

– Check in online (when possible) or use the self-service check-in kiosks in the departures hall.

Oh, and remember, you now pay a fee every time you fly out of Dubai airport (but it’s added to your ticket price so no need to worry about having cash in hand).

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Images: Getty