www.globalsolution.de
offers a leather seat some three inches wider than those in its rivals’ Premium Economy cabins, with a pitch of 38 inches, recently redesigned tray tables and laptop power points. In addition, passengers benefit from dedicated check- in, priority boarding and pre-departure drinks, a state- of-the- art AVOD entertainment system, newspapers and a smart amenity kit. On top of this, the enhanced dinner service comes on china with stainless steel cutlery and a choice of three entrees, including a vegetarian option. It’s a hard act to follow, but another entrant to the marketplace, American Airlines, has at least been there before. In 2000, the airline introduced ‘More Room Throughout Coach’, offering just that. The product lasted just three years, dying a death when the airline decided to increase revenue by dropping it to instal more Economy seats.
Now American is responding to the current trend,
announcing in March that it is to launch its own take on the Premium Economy cabin. Called ‘Main Cabin Extra’, it is located at the front of the aircraft for easier boarding and deplaning and provides four to six inches more legroom than Economy. On aircraft fitted with the new product, passengers have three options: Main Cabin Extra (MCE) seats, Preferred seats, with standard legroom in a prime position in the cabin, and Standard Main Cabin seats. AAdvantage Elite status members and passengers with full-fare tickets have complimentary access to both
MCE and Preferred seats, and AAdvantage Gold members are to be offered free MCE seating until the end of 2013.
Available on Boeing 767-300, 757 and 777-300 aircraft, the new cabin will be rolled out across the American Airlines fleet throughout 2013. Such extras will be carefully scrutinised by consumers and those travel management companies tasked with negotiating the best deals for their clients and best-placed to assess traveller demands. Sifting through the pros and cons of Premium Economy, the jury is not unanimous.
The UK experience The UK market has mixed views on Premium Economy worth noting. Travel management expert, Stephen Woodward, senior vice president global account management at Portman Travel says: “There is definitely a growing increase in the use of Premium Economy, with a 12% rise recorded at Portman compared with this time last year. “Sectors with the strongest uptake include business travellers in retail and banking, and while this increase is partly from travellers downgrading from Business, it is largely from those choosing to upgrade from Economy. This is being achieved without a significant rise in the capacity of Premium Economy cabins. “Since the beginning of the economic downturn, the default mode for cabin class for the majority of clients became Economy. It is only recently that there has been a shift back up to classes such as Premium Economy and this is reflected in our figures.”
• ROTABLE SOFT FURNISHING
• CUTLERY • PORCELAIN • GLASSES • TRAVEL BAGS AND AMENITIES
• HEADSETS • INFLIGHT BLANKETS • PLASTIC ROTABLES • ALUMINIUM PACKAGING
• DISPOSABLES designing
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Global Solution GmbH D-27211 Bassum Fon: +49 (0) 4241-92230 Fax: +49 (0) 4241-922311 email:
info@globalsolution.de
Global Solution GmbH Ronald von Häfen
Global Solution (HK) Inc. Kowloon, Hong Kong email:
info@globalsolution.de
ISO certified inflight specialist with offices in Germany and China.
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