Etihad Residence highlights the UAE airline ascension in first class travel, while others cut back

The new cabins from Etihad Airways may bring unprecedented levels of luxury to first class, but elsewhere the trend of long-haul first class is unequivocally one of decline. TAM is the latest airline to remove first class, while American's removal of the cabin from its 777-200s will have an impact on some of the world's largest first class routes ranked on available seats.

London Heathrow-New York JFK is the route with the most first class seats with 1,116 a week, but this figure is down considerably, following aircraft changes from American. Nine of the world's 10 largest first class routes are to/from London Heathrow, while 15 of the top 25 are to/from London Heathrow. British Airways has the largest amount of first class capacity on nine of those 15 routes. 10 of the 25 routes are trans-Atlantic while Dubai is home to four; Singapore and Los Angeles three each; and Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Seoul home to just one each.

But meanwhile the Gulf is going from strength to strength. Overall Dubai is home to more long-haul first class routes than London Heathrow, and Emirates flies more long-haul first class seats than British Airways or Lufthansa.