In the middle of it all

Premium economy is not, however, the extra-legroom economy products being offered by many airlines, whether that is simply the extra fee for a bulkhead or exit row seat, or whether it’s a section of regular economy class seats with a few inches more legroom. That’s despite many airlines branding this with names very similar to other airlines’ premium economy offerings.

The line between these two types of onboard product have blurred significantly in recent years, and the US carriers have been particularly strong in this regard. Delta’s Comfort+, the renamed Economy Comfort, has seen additional onboard amenities like bundled food and beverage options, for example.

Compared with extra-legroom economy, premium economy has had the advantage of being one of the four classes of service offered for sale via the global distribution systems, alongside first class, business and economy – but, notably, there is some progress being made on much-promised next-generation distribution technology (like IATA’s NDC, as well as a number of independent offerings) that may take away this remarkably powerful advantage.

As business gets better and economy gets worse, the niche for premium economy expands

Since the fully flat business class bed was introduced in 2000 by British Airways, and direct aisle access was pioneered by Virgin Atlantic three years later, business class has come on by leaps and bounds. No seatmaker or airframer is currently advertising an angled lie-flat seat, for example, although several seatmakers and interior MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) operators continue to produce them for an increasingly limited number of airlines.

Even airlines with the most cost-conscious passengers in their traditional business classes are upgrading – Philippine Airlines, Air Europa, and Royal Air Maroc, for example, have selected the overlapping Stelia Equinox 3D product, where one passenger in each seat pair rises and one sinks when converting to bed mode. The overlap between passengers enables a pitch similar to that in an angled lie-flat seat, but with the market requirement fully flat bed on offer.

At the same time, economy class seats are getting significantly smaller, with the majority of airlines selecting a 3-4-3 layout on their Boeing 777 aircraft, and all but Japan Airlines choosing 3-3-3 on Boeing 787 Dreamliners. This is a cut of up to 1. 5 inches per passenger in terms of seat width, and it’s noticeable even if airlines are fudging the numbers by making armrests slimmer and measuring between them, rather than measuring across at shoulder level (where most passengers will primarily be brushing up against their neighbour).

Airbus calls this gap the Comfort Canyon, and expects a river of premium economy seats to rise up and fill it. With an increasing number of airlines choosing a premium economy product, that prediction is likely to come true. The European airframer suggests that most premium economy classes are priced at 1. 5-2 times the cost of economy, and back-of-the-envelope calculations on a number of popular routes suggests that this is indeed the case. Firm economy class pricing on a number of joint-venture routes, however, means that the occasions when the number is closer to a factor of 1. 5 more reflects a relatively high economy class price than a relatively low premium economy price.

Lack of real seat innovation means premium economy looks fairly similar

It is frankly surprising that, for the most part, premium economy looks very similar to what was installed by Virgin Atlantic and EVA Air in the early 1990s: recliner seats, sized to fit 2-4-2 across a Boeing 747 frame.

The bells and whistles – large high-definition inflight entertainment screens with an ever-increasing range of options, at-seat power via USB and AC sockets, and the soft product – have got more exciting, but the basic real estate hasn’t really changed in nearly a quarter century.

Exceptions are few and far between, primarily in the Asia-Pacific market. Air New Zealand’s 2011 Spaceseat, installed on the airline’s 777-300ER aircraft, has been neither a great success for Air New Zealand (which dropped the product in favour of a standard recliner on its 787 and refitted 777-200ER aircraft) nor sold to any other carrier.

The Premium Flatbed product on the various nationalities of AirAsia X airlines, which is an angled lie-flat seat, is the other notable example. British Airways subsidiary OpenSkies, which still offers a remarkably spacious cradle sleeper seat in its Prem Plus premium economy product on Boeing 757-200 aircraft, is inheriting a more standard premium economy recliner when it takes Boeing 767-300ER jets from its parent airline.

Part of the innovation, at least over the last decade, has been due to both Boeing and Airbus including premium economy as part of their catalogue of options for the 787 and A350 next-generation twinjets. While some larger airlines (Lufthansa, for example) decided to select premium economy products off catalogue, not every airline has the MRO oomph of a Lufthansa Technik behind it to back up its threats to take airframes empty and install the seats itself.

This raft of very similar seats creates an issue for legacy carriers in particular: if the same recliner seats are pitched at around 38in and arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration in a 787 on British Airways, Jetstar, Thomson, Virgin Atlantic, Norwegian or Scoot, how do the legacy airlines differentiate from the long-haul, low-cost carriers, and vice versa?

Takehome touches bring the premium class

“Amenity kits provide inflight comfort for the passenger, allowing them to fall asleep more easily and take care [of themselves],” says Petros Sakkis, Vice President of International Operations at WESSCO, one of the leading suppliers of the ever-popular goodie bags.

“For the airline it is a symbol of their service level, and attention to detail in the kit is a signal of the airline’s attention to detail in other areas as well,” Sakkis explains. “The amenity kit is one of the few items in the inflight service that a passenger can take with him/ herself after the flight. As such it becomes a souvenir and a symbol of the flight experience and of the airline itself, in addition to being a great place to keep various cables and cords organised, among other reuses. ” Crucial for the airline is to ensure premium economy kits are different from the more upmarket business class type. Sakkis notes that they are “usually a simpler pouch and far fewer contents – with no fashion or luxury branding – and no branded cosmetics or skincare items. Just the basics. ” Sakkis, whose company supplies Singapore Airlines’ kit, explains that this new premium economy offering “features beautiful photography celebrating Singapore’s 50th anniversary since founding, and contains a pair of anti-skid socks and a dental kit. The bag also snaps together with others like it, so that repeat travelers can snap them together and create a multi-pocketed pouch over time. ” The cost for a premium economy kit “can be about half the cost of a business class kit on the same airline,” Sakkis notes.

Long-haul, low-cost business class is essentially premium economy

Medium to long-haul charter operators have long offered a front cabin with better seats (and occasionally upgraded service), but the rise of the long-haul, low-cost carrier business class is, despite the name, one of the biggest innovations to happen to premium economy since the turn of the century.

Jetstar’s long-haul 787-8 operations offer a business recliner product, in a 2-3-2 configuration. Priority checkin and boarding are available at the airport. Jetstar’s standard business product includes a full meal that closely resembles a slightly upmarket version of Qantas’s premium economy food, plus a 30kg checked bag, free inflight entertainment, and a comfort pack. The Business Max bundle is required for Qantas points and lounge access.

Singapore Airlines’ subsidiary Scoot operates the 787-8 and -9 wiht its ScootBiz a recliner product set at 2-3-2. The “premium meal” on offer is similar to the normal meals, except with a couple of small side dishes.

AirAsia X, meanwhile, offers the world’s best premium economy seat, an angled lie-flat sleeper that it brands as Premium Flatbed, configured in a 2-2-2 layout. Like the others, it also offers priority checkin, boarding and baggage (40kg), but doesn’t include IFE, and the meal is along the lines of ScootBiz rather than Jetstar business.

Yet pricing is often keen, especially for one-way and open-jaw trips on flights that are long enough to make a bigger seat, smaller cabin – and, in some cases, the better class of passenger in the pointy end – very attractive to enough passengers to make this offering worthwhile.

Airport services remain a mostly unanswered question

Inside the airport, the question for airlines is whether they treat premium economy passengers like business class or like economy. This often varies between home hubs and outstations, where airlines have less control and less space.

Some airlines go for a third way – a premium economy checkin zone that also serves mid-tier frequent fliers – but this still seems to be an area in which carriers are careful not to dilute the benefits of their business class cabin.

Very few airlines offer priority security and emigration processing for their premium economy passengers, although a greater number prioritise boarding over economy, at least notionally. The execution of this benefit is often lacking, particularly at outstations where the airline doesn’t have as much control over the full process, and isn’t able to offer a dedicated lane for premium economy passengers to bypass economy.

As for lounges, the answer is usually ‘not unless you’re willing to pay for it’. While high-status frequent flyer cardholders are permitted access, of course, most airlines don’t grant premium economy passengers entry. A few do offer a buy-your-way-in program, but even taking the most generous valuation of an airport lounge’s services, these are rarely a good deal.

None of the big three Gulf carriers offer premium economy… yet

It would be remiss to discuss premium economy without talking about the three airlines that have yet to adopt it: Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad.

None have announced plans to install it, even though their “comfort canyons” between economy and business are among the greatest in the world, and despite their business classes being able to command a premium in many markets (deservedly so in the case of Etihad and Qatar, less so given Emirates’ widespread use of angled lie-flat seats on its 777 fleet, and even less so with its plans to install short six-foot beds in a 2-3-2 layout on future 777-300ER deliveries).

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al Baker continues to insist that his airline’s economy class – among the narrowest in the world with nine-abreast seating on the 787 and ten-abreast on the 777 – is so comfortable that the carrier doesn’t need to implement premium economy. Yet al Baker is infamous for insisting on one thing up until the very minute that he announces the complete opposite, And Emirates may be about to break ranks with the other two Gulf carriers with president Tim Clark indicating premium economy is now under consideration.

“Clearly, there is a business case for looking seriously at premium economy. That’s not to say we’re going to do it but we’re looking at it,” Clark was quoted as saying in Gulf News in May.

The future is either slightly evolutionary or totally revolutionary

With premium economy very much stagnant in terms of hard product, the options are open for future developments. As the angled lie-flat sleeper seat disappears from business class cabins in favour of fully flat beds with direct aisle access, is there a market here for a smart airline to offer, say, a relatively narrow but fully featured premium economy sleeper pitched at 55in or so in a 2-3-2 layout on a 787 or A330 cross-section? Elsewhere, Formation Design’s three-dimensional concept of a future premium cabin where a single first class style suite is elevated on a plinth above a more dense configuration of older generation business class flat beds caused something of a stir at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. Would a 1-2-1 ultra-premium super-business class seat above a set of 2-4-2 more premium economy, business-minus seats make sense? Speaking to the designer at the Crystal Cabin Awards (the Oscars of the seat industry), there shouldn’t be much difficulty in reducing the pitch to make these seats an angled lie-flat sleeper seat either.

Within the current pitch and layout confines, though, there are two interesting developments. One is the Stelia Celeste seat, where the entire seat surface reclines, somewhat in the style of the iconic Le Corbusier chaise longue. It is one of the most comfortable seats around in its class, beating many business class seats for sit-down mode comfort. With a recent sale to an unnamed South American airline for short-haul narrowbody business class, the time is ripe for truly premium premium economy.

On the other scale of being inspired by modernist design, Acro’s premium economy seat gets the structure out of the way of the passenger, resembling the Eames chair in philosophy (if not, unlike the old Swiss first class, in style). The focus of this seat is core functionality over swooshy mouldings, and the sense of space generated by there being less seat rather than more is almost palpable.

The time is ripe for truly premium premium economy.

In the near term, there’s more, and more spacious, premium economy coming.

With a refitted premium economy cabin coming online from Virgin Australia, Delta’s premium economy product being unveiled within the next twelve months, plus the arrival and retrofit of American Airlines’ new and existing aircraft with premium economy, it’s up to passengers to keep themselves abreast of which airline will be offering what, when, and on what aircraft.

Whether or not international carriers – the Gulf Carriers, for certain, but also the growing Chinese airlines continuing their expansion into Australasia – join the premium economy trend seems to be more of a “when” than an “if”.

It would be quite surprising if Chinese carriers, seeing the success that the long-haul, ultra-low-cost carriers have had with a recliner product in similar aircraft to their own on similar routes, did not make the hard product investment to tap into that market.

Until then, expect a growing number of carriers worldwide to continue bridging the “comfort canyon”.

Inflight catering matters

As much as it has been the butt of jokes for more than three decades, airline food is still a vital part of the inflight service for airlines offering premium economy, and it sticks in passengers’ memories. Think back: what did you eat on your last flight? Now, think back to last Tuesday. What did you have for lunch? Australian Nikos Loukas, the founder of airline catering website InflightFeed, explains that, food-wise, “premium economy is generally a lot nicer than economy class, but of course doesn’t out-do business class. It means more crockery and less of those aluminium foil containers that one usually receives in economy class. Portions are generally bigger in premium economy, meal trays are usually bigger, and choices more abundant. ” When considering the upper range of premium economy food offerings, Loukas notes, “business class goes that little bit further with additional choices of meals as well as the drink range. Service in business should be at a level much higher than, say, premium economy, and definitely economy class, but of course this isn’t always the case. ” “Legacy airlines like Qantas, British Airways, Cathay Pacific et al definitely do offer a more substantial premium economy experience than their low-cost carrier counterparts, that’s for sure, and that in my mind is certainly a more true premium economy experience,” Loukas says. “Most airlines will offer a more enhanced meal tray service in premium economy when compared to economy class. But there’s still a big difference between premium economy and business. ” As an example of the differentiation between business and premium economy, Loukas uses the example of Turkey’s national carrier, even though that airline is reducing its premium economy offering.

“For example, Turkish Airlines crew will use a lot of the crockery from business class in premium economy. Meal trays in premium economy on Turkish Airlines are much bigger than economy class meal trays. Yet there are no fancy tray cloths in premium economy. ” “Singapore Airlines offers their book the cook service in premium economy, which really does give it an edge. There are nine choices from Sydney, and they even offer a Seafood Thermidor dish with saffron rice. It won’t be exactly the same as what you receive in Suites or business class, but knowing Singapore Airlines it will be executed well. That’s not something that you see on the menu quite often in premium economy cabins, so well done to them for upping the standards,” Loukas says.

The long-haul low-cost carriers, too, are pushing the envelope, though Loukas notes that much of the innovation is window dressing on their existing economy product. Scoot, for example, includes a regular meal, beverage and sweet with its ScootBiz product, Loukas highlights, “and Vistara in India do what Scoot do too. Economy class passengers on Vistara receive boxed meals, whilst premium economy passengers receive the same meal but served on a tray in an aluminium foil container instead. Same same, but different packaging. ” Elsewhere, “Norwegian premium economy meals are served in a lovely well designed box, but it houses the exact same hot meal as economy class! The choices are slightly different in premium economy on Norwegian, and the concept is a little more well thought out and designed, but it’s the exact same thing. Premium economy desserts and salads are slightly different (hand made desserts in premium economy vs packaged factory made desserts in economy class). Economy class on Norwegian have no meal trays — instead the contents are served to you on a disposable plastic tray,” Loukas says. ” It helps, Loukas continues, that airlines in the Asia Pacific region tend to be above the global average on food even in economy class. “Qantas and their Select on Q-Eat program in economy is quite amazing. I love the fact that even in economy I can order my meal prior to my flight, and have access to some meals that wouldn’t normally be offered on the inflight menu. Options have even included things like Wagyu beef in economy class! It’s normally unheard of to offer such things. ” “On the other end of the spectrum,” Loukas notes, “Jetstar will let me preorder a meal up to four hours before my flight, which is one of the shortest lead times in the region!” “It’s great to see that airlines in the region are working with local brands,” Loukas says in particular. “I distinctly remember sampling a chocolate mousse that was made in Brunswick, Melbourne onboard a Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Narita a few months back. ”