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PREMIUM AIR


Getting an upgrade


Premium cabins are undergoing a transformation as new types of long-haul aircraft enter service


By ROB GILL


most heralded – and still relatively young – aircraft, the Airbus A380, colloquially known as the superjumbo. After several years of dwindling orders


T


for the behemoth of the skies and plenty of speculation about its future, Airbus finally admitted that it may have to shut down production unless it received a major new order for the superjumbos. Lo and behold, a few days later, Emirates ordered 36 new A380s and the production line’s future has been secured. The A380, which was first launched as


a commercial passenger jet by Singapore Airlines in 2007, has long been leading the way for innovation within the premium


64 BBT March/April 2018


HE EARLY WEEKS OF 2018 were dominated (at least in aviation circles) by talk about the questionable future of one of the industry’s


cabins, with all that extra room allowing airlines to get creative. Back in 2014, Etihad Airways garnered a lot of publicity when it launched The Residence – the first multi- room suite on a commercial passenger aircraft – featuring a separate lounge, bedroom and shower room. Other airlines have been slowly trying


to catch up with such developments – Singapore Airlines launched new first class suites with fully-flat double beds towards the end of 2017 on its A380s. UK passengers now have a chance to try out these upgraded cabins as the service was launched on Singapore’s Heathrow route in February. While the superjumbo has always been


a headline grabber, it’s the emergence of two smaller long-haul aircraft – the A350 and Boeing’s Dreamliner – that will have more significance over the next few years as airlines put more of them into service.


Both aircraft offer compelling economic benefits to airlines. The first A350 services were launched by


Qatar Airways in early 2015 but production is really starting to gain critical mass now with 78 deliveries to airlines last year – compared with just 15 superjumbo deliveries. Airbus has so far received orders for more than 850 A350s from airlines, with fewer than 150 of them being delivered so far. The latest version of the aircraft, the A350-1000, was due to be handed over to its launch customer – which is again Qatar Airways – in February. Boeing’s latest version of the Dreamliner


– the B787-10, which is 5.5 metres longer than the B787-9 and will carry around 330 passengers – is scheduled to enter service with launch customer Singapore Airlines during the second quarter of 2018. The carrier said it would receive the first of its 49 B787-10s in March. So far, Boeing has


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