Emirates has secured exclusive rights to become the only airline in the world allowed to serve Champagne made by Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot or Dom Pérignon until 2024 at the very earliest.
In September, Emirates revealed that after it had secured an exclusive distribution agreement with Dom Pérignon, the Dubai-based airline would serve the special Plénitude 2 vintage from the luxury champagne brand for a limited period.
A month later, Singapore Airlines announced that it was being forced to drop Dom Pérignon from its own Champagne lineup – and although Singapore Airlines didn’t say why it soon became apparent that the reason was that Emirates had secured exclusive rights.
Dom Pérignon is served in First Class across the entire Emirates route network, while Veuve Clicquot is a Business Class Champagne served on routes to the Americas, UK, and Europe.
Meanwhile, Moët & Chandon is reserved as a Business Class Champagne on flights to Africa, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region – which includes Australia and New Zealand.
Economy Class passengers can also purchase a smaller bottle of Moët & Chandon Champagne, and there’s a Moët & Chandon Champagne Lounge in the airline’s sprawling Business Class lounge at its Dubai hub.
Having secured exclusive rights for the next two years, Emirates says Moët & Chandon has been available onboard for more than 30 years – almost the lifespan of the airline itself.
But while Emirates promises the ‘perfect serve’ of its Champagne at the hands of its ‘highly trained cabin crew’, thing’s don’t always go as the airline intends. Back in 2017, Emirates launched an internal investigation after one member of cabin crew was caught on camera pouring Champagne back into an open bottle.
Business Class passenger Yevgeny Kaymov captured the moment the crew member tipped flutes of Champagne back into the bottle during a flight to Dubai.
We never learned why the flight attendant decided to break Emirates’ ‘quality standards’ but some internet slueths suggested she was trying to save spare Champagne from going to waste in order to avoid running out of fizz at a later point during the flight.
Other commentators suggested the flight attendant could have found a better use for the pre-poured Champagne – perhaps a luxurious Champagne hand wash.
Veuve is so overrated