Just when you’re thinking that Business Class on the A380 with Emirates is as good as it gets then let me tell you what happens if you decided to treat yourself to possibly the ultimate experience when travelling aboard a commercial airliner – First Class on the A380.

In addition to all of the benefits of Business Class, your A380 Suite in First Class is another world. Your Private Suite offers a truly extra-ordinary experience and it is difficult to explain in words just how much more space and comfort you have. Yes the seat is huge, comfortable and converts at the touch of a button to a fully flat bed. The crew will provide you with pillow, mattress and pyjamas – I thought the pj’s were quite Star Trek in design and as if to reinforce the Star Trek theme your Private Suite has sliding doors. It is hard to imagine how you might get more privacy than this at 40,000 feet.

And then just to go that extra mile and then some, you are settling down to watch a movie and a crew member knocks on your suite door and asks you if and at what time you would like a Shower!!! Yes on the A380 in First Class there are two ‘Shower Spa’s’ serving 14 privileged First Class passengers. You specify a time that you would like your shower and you will be invited to the Shower Spa at the appropriate time. You have an allocation of 30 minutes in the Shower Spa and of this around 5 minutes can be spent in the shower itself. The Shower Spa boasts under floor heating, floor to ceiling mirrors, toilet and large vanity unit. The water pressure is amazingly good given the environment you are in at 40,000 feet and just to ensure you don’t get caught with shampoo in your eyes there is a simple colour coded countdown system – they really have thought of everything!

Where: Emirates now fly to over 15 destinations with the A380

How Many: Emirates currently have 19 Airbus A380’s in the fleet

Seats: 14 First Class Private Suites

Shower Spas: 2 of them

Do I have to go to Europe? No, the A380 operates daily from Auckland to Sydney and on to Dubai.