Singapore Airlines unveiled its new premium cabin strategy last week, launching new designs and layouts for its 777X and A350 long-haul aircraft. The updates bring significant change to the product, especially in business class. They also bring to the surface many challenges associated with cabin interiors, including how to deal with an aircraft delayed by many years.
Singapore Airlines’ next-generation long-haul cabin products will ensure that our customers travel more comfortably than before, and have greater control over their in-flight experience, whether they are working, dining, relaxing, or resting.
– Mr Lee Lik Hsin, Chief Commercial Officer, Singapore Airlines
Bigger Beds in First Class
The new first class cabin continues the carrier’s focus on delivering more space for passengers, now in the form of a seat that converts to an 80-inch long bed. For the center pair the 30-inch wide seats can combine to form the widest double bed in the sky. Or, unlike the Lufthansa Allegris approach, they can remain separated, delivering a private and luxurious experience.
Buddy dining is on offer in the suites, as is dedicated storage space in the form of a personal wardrobe and separate baggage stowage space.
The new first class cabin will fly on the 777X when it is eventually delivered. It will also be installed on the A350ULR, bringing the top luxury experience to Singapore Airlines’ longest flights for the first time.
The first class cabin was designed in partnership with PriestmanGoode, with seats manufactured by Collins Aerospace.
Business Class Modernizes
Singapore Airlines will keep its spacious business class offering, with the new seats measuring 79 inches long in bed mode and 24 inches wide on the 777X or 22 inches wide on the A350s. They will also, for the first time include doors for privacy and offer pyjamas for guests flying the long trips up front.
Recaro and Singapore Airlines tout the revamped tray table positioning to increase space in the footwell. The seat also offers other typical amenities, including a cocktail tray for holding a beverage without taking out the full meal tray. Its positioning, however, places it rather far from a seated passenger.
The seats are arranged 1-2-1 in the cabin, with some center pairs offered in “honeymoon” mode. They can convert to deliver a companion bed layout, though not quite a shared bed space.
The cabin was designed in partnership with BMW Designworks, with seats manufactured by Recaro.
Premium Economy’s Boost
With delivery of the 777X Singapore Airlines will also launch a new Premium Economy seat. Pitched at 40″ and 19″ wide, the 2-4-2 layout will offer additional comfort and travel space to 36 passengers.
As with the new first class and business class cabins, the new premium economy seats are dressed in real leather, not synthetics, something the carrier highlights as a benefit for passengers.
Not explicitly called out in the release, the A350ULR fleet will see the Premium Economy cabin shrink on board with the refresh. The current layout offers 67 business class seats and 94 in premium economy. The new design adds four first class suites and boosts the business class cabin to 70, leaving less room on board for premium economy.
Economy Class Still Exists
Finally, the economy class cabin for the 777X will look an awful lot like an economy class cabin on a 777.
Seat are pitched at 31-32″ in a 3-4-3 layout. They’ll fill the back half of the plane, with room for 204 passengers, bringing the 777X to a total of 300 seats (6/54/36/204).
The A350s will see the premium economy and economy class seats “refreshed” but not replaced as part of those aircraft updates.
Both the premium economy and economy class cabins were designed in partnership with Factorydesign and manufactured by Collins Aerospace.
Digital Diversity
All the cabins will get updated inflight entertainment as well. The company issued a separate release about the new KrisWorld experience a couple weeks ago and they are reiterated in the new cabin unveiling.
The secondary screen showing flight progress and other key details is a nice touch, as is retaining tactile control buttons for the premium cabins. Being able to save seat position preferences in the airline app and carry them over to the next flight is also a neat bit, though of questionable real-world utility.
One challenge the airline faces: Delays in delivery of the 777X fleet means some of those planes will fly with an older version of the IFE system on board. The carrier is careful to note that only some of the 777-9 fleet will have OLED screens in the cabin. Other aircraft will carry the older generation of screens, at least for now.
The older screens also come with different charging ports for passengers. In economy class, for example, all seats will fly with USB-C ports. But only “Selected aircraft” will have AC power and USB-A. In premium economy all seats get the AC power, while “selected aircraft” keep USB-A. The A350s pitch the USB-C as “high-speed charging” while the 777X does not, again reflecting the difference in capabilities available over time from the IFE platforms.
The 777X fleet will also offer smaller screens in business class (20″ v 22″) than the A350s, despite the seats being wider (24″ v 22″). Presumably this is tied to seat certification and the original expected delivery timing of the 777X. Conversely, however, the 777X offers Bluetooth pairing nose-to-tail. On the refreshed A350s that will only fly in business class and first class, as the seats (and their screens) are not being replaced.
Disparate Designs
Perhaps the most bizarre bit about the new cabins is just how different they are. Business class reflects this the most, with the light grey leather adding neon accents. Compared to the darker, richer tones of the current cabin it is somewhat jarring.
Even the premium economy and economy class cabins, both designed by Factorydesign, offer impressively different color schemes.
Chief Commercial Officer Lee Lik Hsin offered up the observation that the cabins “are united by the same ambition to make the experience more comfortable, flexible, and rewarding for our customers,” despite being designed individually. And perhaps that’s accurate. But the different design language from nose to tail is somewhat jarring when looking at the designs side-by-side.
Judging seat comfort from renderings or even from a few minutes sitting in them during a media event is rarely effective. And, ultimately, comfort is what will matter in these cabins over the decade ahead. Hopefully that plays out in passengers’ favor.
And, eventually, perhaps there will once again be a more unified design and digital experience on offer.
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