Product Pioneer

The airline had hoped to show off its new interior in the capacious A380 for which it was primarily designed but, with the much publicised delays in the delivery of the A380, that role fell to the airline’s new fleet of 19 777-300ERs.

The handover of two 777-300ERs took place on a freezing November 29 between unseasonal blizzards in Seattle.

That’s fitting because the new interior product is going to send an icy blast through more than a few board rooms as Singapore Airlines raises the bar in the chase for premium class passengers.

The acid test was the business class cabins where the airline had designed significantly wider seats that are located closer together – lengthwise – than typical flat bed designs, which may have resulted in a slightly claustro-phobic effect.

The contrary was the case with a feeling of wide open spaces particularly when seated. While the seats are located closer together, the actual bed length when reclined is over 1. 9m thanks to some smart angling of the bed function.

Product

ia’s domestic airline In the first class cabin, Singapore Airlines has done away with all overhead bins with more than ample storage in the first class suites, while in business class, the overhead centre bins have been removed. Visually, this enhances the feeling of spaciousness.

The new product clearly positions the airline at the top of the very top of the premium market, says the airline’s CEO Chew Choon Seng.

As would be expected, that level of luxury comes at a price. Key to the upgrade plans were extensive surveys of the airline’s busi-ness and first class clientele according to Singapore Airlines’s senior VP operations and services, Bey Soo Khiang. Those surveyed told the airline that they would be prepared to pay up to 20 per cent more for the new features.

Chew told Australian Aviation that surveyed passengers wanted forward-facing seats and aisle access. The result is a very innovative use of space that features a 1-2-1 configuration in first and business class.

All seats in first and business class are significantly wider as a result. Seats in first class are 89cm wide while those in business are 76cm wide.

With the wider seats comes much wider personal TV screens in first class at 58cm and business class has a 39cm screen.

The 777-300ERs feature the airline’s new Panasonic in-flight entertainment system which has over 1000 on-demand options. Here the airline is gaining the benefit of years of pioneering IFE and the latest system is generations ahead of its competitors, some of which are still installing systems that are five years behind.

“ The new interior product is going to send an icy blast through more than a few board rooms as Singapore Airlines raises the bar in the chase for premium class passengers.

” The appointments in the first and business class suites are excellent and seemingly every whim has been catered for, including larger and height adjustable tables for working or dining.

Another extra is the addition of two personal privacy screens for the dual central seats, which eliminates any disputes on the use of the privacy screen.

Passengers can also access office software for those without laptops but armed with a USB memory stick and, in the premium cab-ins, passengers can bring their own keyboard and plug it in.

The upgrade was four years in the making and it will take a number of years before the long haul fleet is upgraded as the airline carefully selects routes that will support the extra costs.

One of the major advantages of the new product argues the airline is that it allows the passengers to sleep in their natural sleeping position, although it does draw the line at passengers sharing beds – even though they are almost big enough.

Chew told Australian Aviation that the premium class products are the “most spa-cious ever to be introduced by a commercial airline. ” While the first class bed is a consistent width, the business class bed narrows at the head and feet areas. But through clever design, it is 76cm wide where it counts – around the waist area.

The overall effect of the premium class cabins is spacious opulence with extensive use of leather on seats and panelling.

Even economy gets a serious makeover with a little more legroom but it is the innova-tion in entertainment and business features that will win passengers over.

Economy features the 1000 plus options entertainment system on a 25cm wide screen, which has a reading light built into its base for use when not watching a movie.

As in premium class, the entertainment system features a comprehensive suite of of-fice tools that includes spreadsheet and word processing for those with a USB memory stick. A new addition is in-seat power for economy seats with two power plugs for every set of three seats.

Singapore Airlines launched its new 777-300ER services on its daily Singapore-Paris route in early December with Milan, Hong Kong, Zurich, San Francisco and Frankfurt to follow into 2007.

The order for 19 777-300ERs will take the airline’s 777 fleet to 77 – the world’s largest – and Chew has not ruled out buying the 777-200LR.

He told Australian Aviation in Seattle that an order for the -200LR is up to “Scott and Stan”, referring to Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Scott Carson and newly appointed VP Asia Pacific Sales Stan Deal.

Part of the problem for the airline is what to do with the five A340-500s it has operating the Singapore-Los Angeles and Singapore-New York routes, with Boeing declining to take them as trade-ins after its problems with disposing of Singapore Airlines’s 19 A340-300s. The airline may also want to bed down experience with the GE90 before committing to the -200LR.

Working in Boeing’s favour is Chew’s enthusiasm for the 777. “We are gladly accepting more,” he said. “This delivery is reaffirmation of our confidence in the aircraft. ” The overall effect of the premium class cabins is spacious opulence with extensive use of leather on seats and panelling.