Singapore Airlines has unveiled details of its forthcoming Premium Economy product. This follows news two days ago that the GDS had been updated by Singapore Airlines with schedules showing the Premium Economy product. As is often the case with product launches nowadays, Singapore Airlines has created a product website to describe the fetaures of the new product.
The Cabin
Singapore Airlines is installing a Premium Economy cabin into its Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 long haul fleet. In each case, the cabin will be arranged in a 2-4-2 layout.
On the A380, Premium Economy will be behind First Suites on the lower deck. There will be with 5 rows of the ‘2-seaters’ on each side together with 4 rows of the ‘4-seaters’ in the middle. These rows will span from rows 31 through to 35.
The Boeing 777-300ERs will have 4 rows of Premium Economy. Given the narrow body of the 777 over the A380, these seats may be narrower. There will be 3 rows of ‘2-seaters’ on each side, together with 4 rows of ‘4-seatersblocks’. These will be rows 31 to 34.
The Seat
The seat was create for Singapore Airlines by JPA Design and manufactured by seat-makers Zodiac Aerospace and ZIM, the leather-clad seats will be ‘18.5 to 19.5 inches wide’, the airline promises, with a pitch of 38 inches, compared to a 19 inch width and tighter 32 inch pitch in standard economy.
The seat itself has the following specifications:
- 38 inch seat pitch
- 18.5 – 19.5 inch seat width
- 8 inch recline
- 13.3 inch Full HD screen
- Power socket
- 2 USB ports
- Reading Light
- Calf and Foot Rests
- Cocktail Table
The Service
Singapore Airlines have added a number of premium features to Premium Economy, over and above what you would expect from and Economy offering.
On the ground, the features will include Priority Check-in counters, Priority Boarding, as well as Priority Baggage. A 35Kg baggage allowance will be provided a 5Kg increase over economy. Travelling to the Americas will still use the piece concept, with a limit to 1 piece of luggage at 23KG maximum weight, the same as Economy. The usual PPS club (100%) and Star Alliance Gold (20KG) extra baggage will still apply as normal.
Onboard, the Book The Cook service currently reserved for Business and First class will be extended to Premium Economy Class. This will be available for booking April 2015 onwards. A special Premium Economy version of the Book The Cook menu has been created.If Book the Cook is not your thing, then there will be three meal choices available. For the special touch, Champagne will be available throughout the flight.
The Routes
As per the report two days ago, Singapore Airlines will be rolling out Premium Economy over a number of months. The routes and schedules are:
- Sydney from 9 August
- Hong Kong and London Heathrow from 28 August
- Hong Kong from 31 August
- London Heathrow from 2 September
- Beijing and Shanghai from 18 September
- Frankfurt from 24 September
- Paris from 28 September
- Delhi from 13 October
- Mumbai from 21 October
- Auckland from 25 October
- Tokyo/Los Angeles from 1 December
- Munich/Manchester from 20 October
- Frankfurt/New York from 14 December
- Zurich from 27 December
- Dubai from 5 January 2016
- Seoul/San Francisco from 6 January 2016
KrisFlyer
For members of Singapore Airline’s Krisflyer program, there will be a cabin bonus of 10% on top of the 100% miles awarded to Full Economy Fares. That is, mileage will accrue at 110% of the actual mileage flown. Members hoping for the Premium economy seats to earn PPS will be disappointed to learn that earnings in Premium Economy will not count toward PPS.
Summary
Overall, the premium economy product seems to have a good range of features, and should stand up against the offerings of airlines such as Qantas and Cathay Pacific.
