TTG Features Air travel
and the “Chef on Call” facility, currently only offered in First Class, will be in this cabin. American Airlines ups its game on Heathrow-New York this summer, introducing new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. These have a new business cabin with a 180-degrees lie-flat seat, bringing its product more into line with its joint venture partner British Airways.
Premium Economy Premium economy ranges from the basic economy seat and service but with more legroom, to the much grander, with a dedicated cabin and crew and bigger seat. In the former category, American
Airlines introduces Main Cabin Extra on selected routes this summer. A supplement gets you priority boarding, four to six-inches more legroom and a seat at the front of the economy cabin, but no other perks. Cathay Pacific debuts its premium
economy product on London flights from May. The cabin of 26-34 seats offers a 38-inch pitch, upgraded catering and touch-screen TVs. Passengers also get an extra 5kg hold luggage allowance. The cabin will first appear on the CX252 and CX255, with daily availability later in 2012. Air New Zealand boasts the largest
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Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner will have fully flat beds in business
seat pitch in this class and possibly the most radical cabin. Spaceseats on Boeing 777-300ERs on London-Los Angeles-Auckland flights offer up to a 42-inch pitch and a 2-2-2 layout. Seats
near the windows angle away from each other, ideal for those wanting privacy. Those in the middle face each other, allowing shared dining.
Economy The big news, literally, this summer is Malaysia Airlines’ Airbus A380, which flies to Heathrow from July 2. The carrier will retain its generous 34-inch seat pitch on its new aircraft, but include seatback TVs with the latest on-demand entertainment systems.
British Airways has an improved Air New Zealand Spaceseats have a pitch of 42-inches
WHERE DO YOU START WITH MAKING A NEW CABIN AND HOW DO YOU TEST IT? For our new 777-300 interiors we undertook testing over several months in a cabin mock-up (including the sounds of the aircraft’s engines). We used staff, frequent flyers, non-Air New Zealand travellers and actors to assume particular traveller types.
KERRY REEVES Programme manager, Air New Zealand
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YOU TOOK SOME RADICAL STEPS WITH THE REDESIGN, HOW POPULAR HAS THE SKYCOUCH BEEN? Sales have been very strong, particularly from families. It’s not uncommon to find a family of four purchasing two Skycouches so each child can sleep through the night. I’m told it makes the first couple of days at your
economy cabin on new Boeing 777- 300ER aircraft on selected flights including, this summer, some
destination much more bearable when kids aren’t jetlagged.
YOU CONSIDERED BUNK BEDS IN ECONOMY. WHAT STOPPED YOU? Bunk beds require the strengthening of the aircraft roof, adding significant weight. It’s an idea we haven’t let go of and hope one day it will become a reality.
SOME SEATS IN PREMIUM ECONOMY FACE AWAY FROM EACH OTHER. WHY'S THAT? Some travellers like to keep to themselves and others enjoy interaction – meeting both needs where every inch counts is a challenge. We think our Spaceseats deliver to both types. For more social travellers the centre seats work well.
frequencies to Los Angeles and Shanghai. These have new seats with hammock-style headrests, on-demand entertainment and USB ports allowing you to charge devices and display pictures. Thai Airways has upgraded its
economy product, making it more of a competitor to carriers like EVA and Singapore Airlines. Economy cabins on Airbus A340-600s now have nine- inch seatback TVs with on-demand entertainment, PC power and phone. Seats retain Thai’s spacious 34-inch pitch. Note, however, that certain Heathrow flights use Boeing 747s, some of which have yet to be refitted.
YOU LICENSED THE VIRGIN BUSINESS SEAT DESIGN, BUT WITHOUT THE BAR. WHY? Given the vast majority of our flights are overnight, departing late evening, our research was very clear that the most important thing our Business Premier passengers value is sleep. For this reason we focused on a seat design with more privacy.
TELL US THE SECRET TO COMFORTABLE LONG-HAUL FLYING Select an airline that delivers the things that you value the most; seat pitch, seat width, IFE content, meal selection etc. For me, it’s about getting into the destination time zone as you board and timing sleep accordingly.
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