When searching for flights between the US East Coast and India or Europe and Asia, it is not uncommon to see Emirates and Lufthansa appear among the top results.
Having taken dozens of flights across the two airlines, I am a bigger fan of Emirates’ product than Lufthansa’s. That said, while Emirates’ economy class is excellent, Lufthansa still offers a decent product. As such, if you are in a situation where you have to choose between the two and the difference in price is significant or the schedules of one or the other are considerably more convenient, I would simply go with the cheaper/more convenient option.
If you can’t decide, though, continue reading for a detailed comparison of the two airlines.
Safety and Punctuality: Emirates Wins
First things first, I think it’s safe to say (no pun intended) that both Emirates and Lufthansa are as safe as any other major airlines that operate hundreds of flights each day. In terms of punctuality, none of the 20 or so Emirates flights and a dozen or so Lufthansa flights I took in the past were significantly delayed.
Looking at the data, based on flight data provider OAG’s rankings, Emirates is the more punctual of the two airlines. In 2022, 81.13% of the Middle Eastern airline’s flights tracked by OAG arrived on time (within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival time) while only 66.26% of Lufthansa’s flights did so.
This placed Emirates in the third place in OAG’s Middle East & Africa on-time ranking and 20th globally. Lufthansa’s performance was enough to earn it the 15th spot in OAG’s “Mega Airlines” on-time ranking comparing “world’s top 20 operators globally in terms of scheduled flights in 2022.”
I wouldn’t choose one or the other based on just punctuality. That said, I would definitely keep in mind that every now and then Lufthansa and German airport staff tend to go on strike which has the potential to completely derail your travel plans (with some advance notice).
Frequent Flyer Benefits: Lufthansa Wins
Unlike Emirates which is not a member of any of the major airline alliances, Lufthansa is a Star Alliance member. While this is not too much of a deal if you do not collect miles or have a frequent flyer status, if you do, this might be a deciding point for you.
Passengers flying on Lufthansa in economy class that hold a Star Alliance Gold equivalent with any Star Alliance airline can enjoy perks like lounge access and access to priority check in and sometimes security lanes. Additionally, they can earn miles for their Lufthansa flights into any Star Alliance program.
Those traveling with Emirates can credit their miles to the airline’s Skywards program as well as to a number of other programs that Emirates partners with. Among others, those include Air Canada Aeroplan, Korean Air Skypass, and JAL Mileage Bank. When it comes to enjoying frequent flyer perks like lounge access for free, though, having a status with Emirates itself is more or less the only way.
Prior to deciding whether this matters to you or not, I recommend checking WheretoCredit to see what earning rate your ticket will offer depending on the program you choose to credit the flight to.
Seats and Interior: It’s a Tie
With a fleet of just Boeing 777s and Airbus A380s, Emirates operates widebodies even on its shortest flights. That said, considering that the two airlines’ shortest flights are in two separate geographies, there is no point in comparing them on such flights.
On long-haul flights, both airlines offer relatively comfortable seats across their fleets. Both airlines also have USB charging ports, power outlets, and personal screens in economy class across their widebody fleets.
The one major difference between the two airlines is the types of aircraft they operate which, in turn affects the seating layout. While both Emirates and Lufthansa operate the A380, the former’s scale of A380 operations is incomparably larger. In fact, with nearly half of Emirates’ fleet being A380s, chances are good that you will be flying on the largest aircraft in the world which is also relatively comfortable to fly on.
On the other hand, Lufthansa has a sizeable fleet of A330s and A340s which offer 2-4-2 eight-abreast seating in economy. The window-side pairs of seats in this configuration are nice whether you are traveling with someone else or alone as they lack a middle seat.
Both airlines operate aircraft with 3-3-3 (787, A350) and 3-4-3 (777, 747) layouts which can feel a bit narrow. That’s something caused by the cabin width rather than the airline itself, though, and the seats on these aircraft are otherwise fine.
All in all, while Emirates’ economy class cabins might offer some extra bells and whistles (like the fanciest economy class lavatory I’ve seen), both of the airlines offer seats that are – within reason – comfortable enough.
Meals and Beverages: Emirates Wins
Even on its shortest flights, Emirates still offers a light meal in the form of a sandwich or similar and a drink service.
Lufthansa, on the other hand, like other European airlines has cut down its short-haul service to the bare minimum meaning a small chocolate on flights up to 30 minutes long, a bottle of water on top of that on flights up to 60 minutes long, and a buy on board menu on top of the chocolate and water on longer flights.
On medium- and long-haul flights, the two airlines offer similar meal service flow. While on the former you can expect to be served a hot meal, on the latter you can expect to be served two hot meals – a larger meal like lunch or dinner and a smaller meal like breakfast.
Similar service flow does not equal similar meals, though. In general, I found Emirates’ meals to be of higher quality and more filling than those served by Lufthansa. In fact, Emirates’ economy class meals are some of the – if not the – best ones out there. Lufthansa has details about its meal service and a sample menu here. Emirates allows you to see the menu for your specific flight here.
It’s also worth noting that both airlines offer a selection of free alcoholic and soft drinks on their long-haul flights. Emirates also sells champagne and allows passengers to pre-order celebration cakes.
In-Flight Entertainment: Emirates Wins
Lufthansa offers personal screens across its widebody fleet but not on its narrowbody aircraft. While that’s generally not a problem given that the narrowbodies are mainly deployed on one to two hour flights within Europe, there are some mid-haul routes operated by these aircraft – like Frankfurt to Amman or Tel Aviv – where the lack of the screens might be more noticable.
On Lufthansa’s aircraft equipped with IFE system, you can expect to see a good selection of dozens of movies, several TV shows, and so on. While the selection is not as extensive as on Emirates, there will still be more than enough to keep you busy even on the longest flights.
You can find the latest line-up of movies available onboard on Lufthansa’s website.
Emirates, on the other hand, has personal screens installed across its entire fleet. Not only that, but its IFE system – ICE (Information, Communication, Entertainment) – is arguably the best in the industry. ICE offers a practically unlimited amount of entertainment in the form of movies and TV shows as well as music, games, and so on.
To see the latest line-up of entertainment options on Emirates, check this page.
It’s also worth noting that while both airlines offered headphones rather than simple earphones the last time I flew with them, the ones offered by Emirates were of considerably higher quality.
Onboard Wi-Fi: Emirates Wins
All Emirates aircraft are equipped with onboard wi-fi. Similarly, Lufthansa offers in-flight wi-fi across its long-haul fleet as well as on the majority of its short-haul fleet notably excluding Embraer and Bombardier aircraft.
On Emirates, three different plans are available:
- $2.99 – $5.99 depending on flight length for a plan allowing unlimited text-only chatting via WhatsApp, iMessage, Messenger, WeChat, Line, and Viber
- $9.99 – $19.99 depending on flight length for a plan providing full internet access
- $9.99 for 30 minutes on selected flights
Additionally, members of Emirates’ frequent flyer program that are also crediting their miles to the program can get free wi-fi. Members without any status or with lower tier statuses can get text-only chatting plan for free for the duration of the flight. Top-tier Emirates Skywards Platinum status holders get free full internet access for the duration of their economy class flight.
Lufthansa offers no free wi-fi. That said, its plans are reasonably priced. While the below gives an overview of the prices, I recommend checking the latest prices on Lufthansa’s website before taking your flight.
On short- and medium-haul flights, the airline offers the following plans:
| Plan | Flights Under 90 Minutes | Flights Over 90 Minutes | Maximum Speed |
| Chat | 3 EUR / 1,000 miles | 3 EUR / 1,000 miles | 150 kbit/s |
| Mail and Surf | 5 EUR / 1,700 miles | 7 EUR / 2,300 miles | 600 kbit/s |
| Stream | 10 EUR / 3,300 miles | 12 EUR / 4,000 miles | 15 Mbit/s |
On long-haul flights, the plans are as follows:
| Plan | Price | Maximum Speed | Time Limit |
| Messaging | 5 EUR / 7 USD / 45 CNY / 1,700 miles | 100 kbit/s | None |
| Premium 2 Hour | 15 EUR / 18 USD / 125 CNY / 5,000 miles | 4 Mbit/s | 2 hours |
| Premium Full Flight | 25 EUR / 27 USD / 200 CNY / 8,300 miles | 4 Mbit/s | None |
All in all, I decided to declare Emirates the winner here because it offers free plans, its paid plans are reasonably priced, and wi-fi is available across its entire fleet. That said, Lufthansa’s in-flight wi-fi is reasonably priced too and might be faster than Emirates’ which is well-known for being, at times, unusably slow.
Emirates and Lufthansa Flight Reviews
To see in more detail what actual flights on Emirates and Lufthansa in economy class look like – and learn more about other service aspects such as the availability (or lack of) amenity kits, make sure to read my reviews of the two airlines:
- Emirates mid-haul economy class (Airbus A380 from Dubai to Vienna)
- Emirates long-haul economy class (Boeing 777-300ER with new cabins from Tokyo Narita to Dubai)
- Lufthansa short-haul economy class (Airbus A321 from Paris CDG to Frankfurt)
- Lufthansa long-haul economy class (Boeing 747-400 from Frankfurt to Vancouver)
Summary
All other things equal, I would choose Emirates over Lufthansa when booking an economy class flight. That said, in general, with different prices and schedules, things will be more nuanced.
If you can find options with acceptable schedules offered by both airlines, I would simply go with the cheaper one. Especially if the price difference was considerable. Both of the airlines offer a fine economy class product and the differences between the two are not worth paying any considerable extra for.
That said, if the prices and schedules offered by both airlines are similar, I would lean toward taking Emirates which offers my favorite economy class product thanks to good meals and excellent in-flight entertainment system among other things.
