AIR NEW Zealand will allow couples and parents with young children to sleep lying down in economy class through a simple innovation that converts a row of three window seats into a “Skycouch”.

A three-year project using a mock-up of an aircraft cabin in a central Auckland warehouse has also come up with a radical new premium economy seat aimed at making the centre row of a cabin more attractive to couples than the traditional window seats.

The airline looked at 30 different seating concepts, including seats that convert to bunks, after deciding there was little or no innovation in current commercial offerings.

It touts its economy class idea, unveiled in Auckland today,  as the biggest innovation for years in a cabin that is generally ignored in airline makeovers.

Ironically, it is a concept many passengers on empty flights had discovered for themselves and one that other carriers will now kick themselves for missing.

The airline has modified generally available Recaro seats to allow the arm rests to be fully recessed and a  footrest to be raised to make what is essentially a bed  between a row of three window seats.

Flexible configurations will allow a couple to lie down on the bed, a parent to lie down with small children or to sit up in the end seat while the kids stretch out on the other two.

“We wanted to ensure that , coming from a reasonably egalitarian country, that we applied at least as much thinking to how we could lift and invigorate the economy experience as we did necessarily for our business class experience, Air NZ group general manager, international airline, Ed Sims, said.

AirNZ has stopped short of describing its new Skycouch as a lie-flat bed but says it is “a very comfortable couch”.

The airline intends to sell the new concept as space rather than a seat and will have 22 of the triple seats on each of its new Boeing 777-300  planes, due to start arriving at the end of the year.

“You can imagine a parent travelling with two young kiddies,” Air NZ manager aircraft programs Kerry Reeves said. “The parent sits in the aisle, traps the kids in that flat space. They can sit their and play with toys, lie down go to sleep. It’s just much more comfortable than having to sit in a seat facing forward all the time.”
 

AirNZ has designed ways of keeping prone passengers belted up in case of turbulence and says couples will also be a core part of the market.

It intends to sell the bed for less than cost of three individual seats and expects them to be popular on its longest haul markets such as the UK .

“Effectively what this does is get away from thinking about load factors as one of the governing drivers,” said Mr Simms said. “Actually if we sell this space for three to two people it’s not significantly less valuable than selling one seat per person.

“Where pricing gets interesting is if one person wants to buy three seats. Generally, it would cheaper for them to buy a premium economy seat so where you pitch this price is quite challenging.”

The economy seats will also have a 10.6-inch touch screen, iPod and USB ports and 110v power. There will be trinket tray to store items such as iPods and glasses as well as multi-function tray table and a drink holder.

A welcome innovation for those who opt to sleep sitting up is a pillow that clips on to the winged headrest and 84cm seat pitch that gives up to 5cm more  legroom than some airlines. The pillow has the advantage of staying in place, while at the same time offering a more comfortable  place for passengers to rest their heads or support their neck.

“It’s about  giving people choice of different positions and not just restricting them by saying you’ve got head  rest but it  has to be fixed,” Mr Reeves said.

“Or that you’ve got a pillow but it’s actually useless to you because you put it on the headrest and the next thing you wake up and it’s on the floor. It’s the simple things like that that make a big difference.”

The airline’s new premium economy seats have a fixed shell and the centre seats face slightly outwards from each other. Manufacturer Boeing has already told AirNZ that it sees the Kiwi carrier’s new premium economy seats as the next generation of domestic business-class product.

The seats closest to the window are designed for privacy while the  inner seats are aimed at couples wanting more comfort and space.

The seat does not convert into a bed – AirNZ did not want to dilute its business class – but the hard  shell means passengers cannot recline into the space of the traveller behind them and the seat is angled to maximise leg room and privacy as well as offer passengers options in the way they use the space.

There will be 50 seats on each 777-300 in a six abreast configuration that give most people direct aisle access.

Footrests have been replaced a foot pouf – a beanbag designed to give passengers more flexibility in picking their own position while sleeping.

The idea for the bean bag came from watching business travellers using their briefcases as footrests rather than using the mechanical extensions found in most seats.

Individual arm rests on the inboard seats can be raised to increase privacy or to be used as a table for a shared meal or left flush with the seat so that couples can interact.

Other features include in-seat storage, PC power, USB and iPod connections and a 27cm touch screen.

The new premium economy seat will probably cost as much as twice as much as an economy seat but the airline expects the inboard seats to be popular with couples.

 AirNZ also hopes to licence its new concepts to other carriers through seat manufacturers and has heavily protected both with patents.

“We think that because (the economy seat) is such a simple mechanism, we can see a lot of airlines wanting to go down this route,” Mr Sims said.

The airline has made some improvements, such as more comfortable padding to its premier business-class seat but has left the overall design unchanged.

Steve Creedy travelled to Auckland courtesy of Air New Zealand

Source: theaustralian.com.au