Launching a replica of its new, onboard lounge bar on its A380s, Emirates hospitality suite at the 2024 Australian Open has smashed its opponents out of the park.
Celebrating its decade-long partnership with the event, the suite was designed to encapsulate the airline’s premium hospitality with an exact replica of its new bar – right down to the flight crew who flew in from Dubai and were popping Piper Heidsieck and whipping up the speciality cocktail of the day, Tie Breaker.
We dine on tuna sashimi with yuzu compressed nashi, Peking duck salad and grilled lobster with young ginger. Desserts are Yuzu meringue roulade with poached pear and chocolate mousse domes – topped with pretty, edible flowers. The food alone enough to make you want to choose Emirates for your next flight. The atmosphere is as electric off the court as it is on, with the room filled with the famed, think Michelle Payne and Gai Waterhouse, to name but a few.
Special guest Li Na, who won the French Open and the Australia Open in 2014, spoke about her win in Australia ten years ago, “the Australian Open is my favourite tournament, so I was so happy at the end of my career to win my favourite tournament,” she says. Admitting, she’s enjoying the break now.
Guests pop in and out to watch the live matches, returning to cabin crew who anticipate your every need. This ‘money-can’t-buy experience’ is on offer to travellers who reach Emirates invitation-only frequent flyer tier, celebrities and invited guests.
For some, it was simply too good to leave, and they posed for selfies on the plush airline seats alongside the bar and whiled away the day over their Asian-inspired cuisine, sipping the free-flowing champagne and cocktails.
For others, the pull to watch Russian Daniil Medvedev and Polish Hubert Hurkacz fight it out on the court was too strong. A tight match where the crowd oohed and aahed over the long rallies, fanning themselves to a hot Melbourne summer day before returning for just one more drink – because, after all, Emirates had aced it.
This article is a Signature Luxury Travel & Style digital exclusive. Be the first to see more exclusive online content by subscribing to the enewsletter.
