The next time you board that long haul flight to New York on an Emirates Airbus 380, you can look forward to a hot shower in mid-air before you go to bed. But that’s going to cost you more than £9,000 (or about US$17,800), and brickbats from environmental groups.

From October 1 this year, Emirates will become the first commercial airline in the world to offer its first-class passengers a chance to take a bath at 37,000 feet.

Initially available on daily flights from Dubai to New York, the Dubai-based carrier will equip its entire fleet of 50 A380s with shower facilities.

The Times in London reported Sunday that Emirates has not revealed details of how these facilities might look like in its A380 first class cabins, but promises an experience comparable to Dubai's famous "seven-star" Burj Al Arab Hotel.

However, the move has come under strong criticism from several environmental groups for the massive carbon footprint it is expected to incur. For every return trip, a shower-fitted A380 would need to carry an additional tonne of water, which translates to a carbon cost of 48,455 lbs (or about 22 tonnes).

www.emirates.com

via The Sunday Times