Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me, Simon Calder, Tuesday the 5th of May.

Travel Desk Tuesday, of course. And I'm back with Senior Travel Writer, Natalie Wilson. How are you doing, Natalie?

I'm very well, thank you. How are you?

Well, I'm fine, but I've been reading your stuff and I'm fascinating with a couple of stories, actually.

One by you, one by our excellent colleague, Amelia Neath.

Your one was Sir Tim Clark, boss of Emirates, saying we're working on en suitesweet bathrooms in first-class.

What can you tell me?

So that is the crux of it, but Tim Clark has confirmed that Emirates will be working

to fit first-class suites with onsweet bathrooms, and it would be a first, so private per premium

passenger.

At the moment, my understanding is that, and I've never made it into first class on Emirates,

sorry to say, even though you are a senior travel rider, I imagine you haven't.

I absolutely have not.

So I understand you can go and have a quick sort of five-minute shower in Emirates' first class at the moment, but the idea of having your own personal

loom, maybe a shower as well, is something I don't think has happened except on the most

opulent private jets. So what's your take on it? I'm just not sure there's a necessity. But from

a branding perspective, Emiririts do describe their

first-class suites as private hotel rooms in the sky, which I guess a hotel room does come with

a bathroom. Is there an expectation from these people that aren't us that fly first-class to have

these private facilities? Whether I think it's necessary, no.

I suppose there is a chance that there are some very rich people out there and they might be

thinking, oh, well, I'll use my private jet to fly from London to Dubai, except of course,

...