Playing it safe?

Premium carriers these days need to have premium economy, especially as business class cabin footprints and ticket prices rise.

And SQ’s is very much the same premium economy that passengers will see elsewhere. There’s really no need for passenger re-education here – people know what they’re going to get for their premium economy dollar.

In construction, Singapore Airlines’ is a fairly standard premium economy seat after all – nothing in particular to write home about, and not new to airlines. A seat width of 18. 5-19. 5in is average, barely more than Singapore’s existing economy seats, although that is more a function of spacious wide seats in the A380 and 777. At 38in, seat pitch, too, is in the middle of the pack. A 2-4-2 widebody layout on this size of aircraft isn’t surprising either.

Other airlines have products from the same manufacturers too. Lufthansa, the previous legacy airline to get in the premium economy game, offers a ZIM-manufactured premium economy seat, a version of which Singapore Airlines will use for the A380 and 777. So does SQ’s low-cost long-haul subsidiary Scoot. Zodiac Aerospace’s US subsidiary, which has seats across numerous airlines, is also manufacturing the version for the A350, which has a narrower cabin diameter than the 777 or A380, meaning it’s likely to be the aircraft with the 18. 5in version.

There’s AC power and a USB socket, like everyone else’s premium economy, and a slightly stingy 10 per cent KrisFlyer mileage bonus. Relatively unusual to premium economy are the Book the Cook option for inflight dining and the offering of champagne as part of the beverage menu, and being last to the table means SQ can offer a 13. 3in touchscreen IFE monitor.

Yet SQ has broken away from the pack of airlines that present their premium economy seats as a clear middle ground between economy (‘World Traveller Plus’, anyone?) and business (look at the design language of Qantas’s Marc Newson-designed premium economy and Air New Zealand’s Spaceseats).

A lot of the break is the way the seat, customised by James Park Associates, is presented. A cool slate grey is the dominant colour, a change from the rich browns and warm tans of Singapore Airlines’ other seats. An armrest cheatline in bright orange catches the eye, and a sky blue is used for the retaining slot for water bottles. Both colours are repeated in the textured backrests. The break is also visible in how Singapore Airlines markets premium economy compared with the economy and business class cabins that are to bracket it on board 777-300ER, A380 and A350 aircraft. (Quite literally: premium economy will be found between business and economy on the 777 and, presumably, the A350, while it will sit downstairs between first and economy on the A380. ) Everything about the jaunty, ubercool microsite that presents the seat in terms of “comfort, choices, privileges” changes the focus from SQ’s previous emphasis on elegance and service. Very little of the positive brand equity from the airline’s other classes of travel has been carried over – and for a carrier like Singapore Airlines, with an enormous place in the traveller zeitgeist, that’s a huge step. The iconic Singapore Girl only pops up twice in the 15 pages of the microsite. There’s a new typeface set that gives a young and fresh feeling. The promo video is all about the orange and blue patterns. Even clicking on the Singapore Airlines logo keeps you on the microsite rather than taking you to the main airline website.

Before the unveiling of the seats, the question for Singapore Airlines was whether it would come down on the scale between SQ’s excellent economy seating and equally excellent business class product.

The answer to that question – “six inches extra legroom and a bit more seat width” is now much less interesting than what the design of the seat itself means for the way Singapore Airlines sees itself and appeals to its passengers. The opportunity was there to revolutionise the premium economy space, yet the airline played it safe on the hard product side but took a big swing at the soft product and the branding.

Is this the first step in a wholescale rebranding of Singapore Airlines? An attempt to carve out a new niche in market segments where the SQ product might feel more elderly than elegant? Or something different? Sydney passengers might be the first to find out when premium economy starts flying on August 9 this year.