Leather-clad seating, lacquered woodgrain, and a palette pitched between ivory and champagne now finish a nearly 1,600-square-foot suite inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. The material list belongs to an aircraft, specifically the front cabins of the Airbus A380, and Emirates has carried that design language courtside in its 15th consecutive year as the airline partner of the U.S. Open.
Anchoring the space is the horseshoe-shaped bar from the A380’s upper deck, appearing at the tournament for the first time. Its geometry dates to 2004, when Emirates commissioned Paris-based Pierrejean Vision to develop concepts for the onboard lounge, arriving at a central horseshoe counter with curved seating. The version that entered service in 2008 has flown on the airline’s A380 fleet since, and its reproduction inside Arthur Ashe Stadium creates the suite’s most direct connection to the aircraft interior.
Photography courtesy of Emirates
Arthur Ashe Stadium, built in 1997, currently sits at the center of an $800 million reimagining of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, led by HOK+ROSSETTI and scheduled to finish before the 2027 tournament. More than a million people move through the grounds every August and September, a volume the USTA planned to accommodate at each phase. The second of three phases was completed in time for this year’s championship, adding an expanded courtside bowl and two new levels of luxury suites.
Emirates used the new space to translate its cabin interiors into a hospitality setting, pairing familiar materials and finishes with unbroken views of the matches unfolding at ground level. Holding a mid-court vantage, the suite extends outside into terraced seating on the same axis, trading enclosure for proximity to the play.
Photography courtesy of Emirates
The connection to the A380 extends beyond the bar. The cream palette, seating, and lacquered finishes all reference the airline’s cabin interiors, while the U.S. Open makes the reverse journey aboard Emirates flights during the two weeks of the tournament. Themed dishes, coasters, and headrest covers carry elements of the championship into the cabin, creating a design exchange between two very different forms of hospitality.
