Airline city-centre ticket office comeback – Emirates opens fancy new store in London

The airline city-centre ticket office is making a comeback.

In the 20th century, every airline had walk-in shops in all the major cities served. When intercontinental air fares were beyond the reach of most people, airlines could afford to pay for lavish rentals in areas such as London’s Mayfair.

Piccadilly and Regent Street in the centre of the capital were home to many walk-in ticket offices. But most of them disappeared when online booking took hold. British Airways closed its flagship Regent Street premises in central London early in the 2000s.

But two decades on, Emirates has opened a fancy new store in Kensington, west London, where prospective passengers can try out posh seats and buy merchandise – as well as plane tickets.

On the corner of Gloucester Road and Cromwell Road in Kensington, west London, customers can step into an Emirates World Travel Store decorated in the cream-and champagne tones found inside the aircraft of the Dubai-based carrier. The ghat tree motif – representing the national tree of the UAE – is much in evidence.

While there are staff working behind desks, the overall feel is more of a cross between an executive lounge and a showroom, with examples of the products that higher-spending passengers can buy.

You will look in vain for the economy seats in which most Emirates passengers spend their time between the UK and Dubai, with onward connections into Asia, Africa and Australasia.

A pair of premium-economy seats stands temptingly on a platform, while a corner recess is given over to a full-scale mock-up of the business-class bar area on an Airbus A380 “SuperJumbo”. Emirates is the world’s leading operator of the double-decker aircraft.

Pride of place goes to the first-class suite, which has the feel of an impeccably fitted-out camper van. No sign, though, of the A380 Shower Spa in which premium passengers can freshen up as part of the deal that comes with a £7,377 return ticket between London and Dubai.

Customers who book air travel will not walk out with one of those retro, 20th-century ticket booklets containing all manner of arcane codes; e-ticketing is the norm. But they can buy merchandise, including aircraft models, bespoke accessories of the sort that are handed out in first class and Emirates-branded Wimbledon 2024 towels.

The vast majority of the 8,000 or so passengers that Emirates flies in and out of the London airports every day will not be calling in at the new ticket office. Besides curious passers-by, the main clients are likely to be high-spending travellers who appreciate some personal attention – and, perhaps, inspiration. Customers are invited to have a selfie taken, which is then presented with the individual “placed” in a number of different locations around the world, including Paris and a beach in the Maldives.

“When customers book a flight or holiday, it’s not just a financial transaction, it’s an emotional one.” So says Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ deputy president and chief commercial officer, who opened the store.

“Emirates’ London Travel Store is a testament to our enduring commitment to the UK, a market that has been pivotal to us since our first UK flight 37 years ago.”

Over those decades, other Gulf rivals – including Etihad of Abu Dhabi and Qatar Airways – have moved in at scale. Qatar Airways now has more daily flights from London Heathrow to its Doha hub than Emirates does to Dubai, by a margin of eight to six. But Emirates offers slightly more seats due to the large planes used.

Amid the ferocious competition of global aviation, Emirates believes that bringing its brand to the streets of London, Paris, Rome and Hong Kong – as well as its home city of Dubai – can provide a competitive edge.

Listen to Simon Calder’s latest podcast about the new Emirates landing in London