Third time the charm?

Virgin Australia’s premium economy opens up a gulf

Virgin Australia transforms Boeing 777 Premium Economy with new service and cabin,” the airline’s press release says. But the actual seats aren’t the “major redesign” the airline is spruiking.

Sure, Virgin Australia has spaced them out a little further – at 41in, that’s three inches more than Qantas’s 38in, which is also the general standard for premium economy seating – but this is the third reupholstering for the old V Australia seats that launched six years ago, were announced in 2008 and, by then-CEO Brett Godfrey’s own admission, were researched for two years before that.