All photos in this article from Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand has today (29 June) revealed their new cabin products that will take flight on 787-9 Dreamliners to be delivered from 2024. Compared to their current cabin product, this represents a nose-to-tail transformation. There’s new seats in all cabin classes, plus a new Business Premier Luxe and, most innovatively, a new Skynest for Economy. Air New Zealand have been working on the Skynest for several years and first announced it in 2020, so it’s great to finally get a look at the finished product.
The new products will first be available on the new 787 deliveries in 2024, and will also be retrofitted to existing 787s starting also in 2024. Notably, the 777s will not retrofitted.
From an initial look at the photos, I must say the Business Premier seats look quite nice, and the Skynest is really intriguing. I do have some comments about overall design which I’ll discuss in further down.
Let’s run through the new seats and I’ll share my thoughts on them along the way.
Business Premier Luxe
First up is the new Business Premier Luxe. Think of it as an upsized Business Premier seat, with a door for privacy. Air New Zealand describes it as a “new offering is for customers looking for the ultimate space and privacy. A luxury experience with all the features of Business Premier, but with a fully closing door and space for two to dine.” The increased space over the standard Business Premier means no need to slide into a footwell when in lie-flat mode. Apart from the extra space, I’d expect the seat to have plenty of storage and all the modern bells-and-whistles expected of a premium seat.
With this new product, Air New Zealand have decided to follow the lead of some other carriers by offering a seat that’s better than Business, but without having to invest in a true First Class product. Malaysia Airlines have also trodden this path by marketing what was originally their A350 First Class as Business Suites. It’ll be interesting to see how Air New Zealand will decide to sell this. Will it be a separate fare class or make it available to Business Premier passengers for selection at extra cost?
Business Premier
The new Business Premier will be configured in a 1-2-1 configuration, unlike the current 1-1-1 layout. Air New Zealand mentions that the middle pair is designed is such a way to allow customers to “share their experience”. Presumably, this will be somewhat similar to Qatar Airways’ latest Business Class on its 787-9s.
Interestingly, it seems being able to seat face-to-face with a companion will only be possible with the Luxe, unlike the current Business Premier seat which has a an ottoman that doubles as a buddy seat.
My biggest gripe with the seat is at least for the window seats, Air New Zealand has persisted with an inward-facing herringbone layout. Admittedly they have made the angle less sharp compared to the existing product. I’d still much rather face the window than the aisle. I would prefer not to have the distraction of people walking along the aisle when eating, watching the IFE, and especially when sleeping. If the standard Business Premier had a door like the Luxe, I would see it less of an issue.
Premium Economy
Premium Economy will get new seats as well. The new seat is a fixed shell type, as Air New Zealand touts being able to “recline at leisure without interrupting the person behind.”. Of course that also means the person in front of you won’t be reclining into your space. The new seat also offers more privacy with large, fixed privacy ‘wings’.
Premium Economy will retain the current 2-3-2 layout.
Economy
The main upgrades to the Economy seat itself is a 50% larger IFE screen, Bluetooth audio pairing and ability to pair personal devices for use as a remote or second screen.
The Skycouch first launched in 2011 makes a return as well. For those unfamiliar, the Skycouch are special economy seats with a footrest that can be raised to form a flat sleeping surface.
Air New Zealand will also introduce Economy Stretch on the 787. These are regular Economy seats, but with extra legroom.
The Economy Skynest
Arguably this is the most exciting innovation unveiled. Air New Zealand will introduce sleep pods for Economy Class passengers on it’s longest routes (presumably Chicago, New York, possibly Houston). Economy passengers will now get to enjoy a few hours worth of lie-flat comfort if they so choose to.
The Skynest consists of six bunks stacked three-high. Here’s what else is known about this new product:
- Strict limit of one passenger per bunk
- Each bunk can be reserved for a four-hour block. Crew will clean and refresh the bedding between bookings
- Skynest bunks can be reserved in advance by Premium Economy and Economy passengers
- Obviously Skynest can’t be occupied during taxi, takeoff and landing
Air New Zealand pioneered lie-flat economy with Skycouch over a decade ago, and they’re now kicking it up a notch with the Skynest. The key here, as always, will be the pricing. For context, the Skynest takes up approximately the space of two rows of Economy in the middle column of seats. In a sense Air New Zealand have traded six Economy seats for six sleeping bunks. Given the four-hour blocks, plus half hour cleaning in between, in theory Air New Zealand could sell each bunk three times on an ultra-long-haul. I can’t see them charging and getting 1/3 the cost of an Economy fare for this though.
From a cursory search of Economy fares between Auckland and New York, Air New Zealand is charging anywhere between SGD1,900 to SGD4,500 with most dates in the low SGD2,000 range. Based on that, I could see Air New Zealand charging maybe SGD300-500 for each four-hour block. Personally, I’m not sure how many Economy passengers would be willing to part with that amount…
Nonetheless, it’s great to see some genuine innovation in Economy class. Hopefully Air New Zealand will price this at an accessible and realistic level.
Overall thoughts
On a whole, the new products look good. In all classes, it’s certainly a step up from what’s currently offered. Unfortunately, we’re still about couple of years away from actually seeing these products in service.
As mentioned earlier, my main issue is with the herringbone layout for the window seats in Business Premier. I realise this may be more of a personal preference, but I feel Air New Zealand should have gone for a hybrid herringbone with the window seats in a reverse herringbone, window-facing direction. Even Virgin Atlantic, who pioneered the herringbone layout, and Air New Zealand subsequently licensed, have switched to a hybrid herringbone for the A350s.
My only prior experience with Air New Zealand was travelling in the current Premium Economy seat on their 787 first flight across the Tasman back in 2014. I did get a few minutes in the Business Premier seat thanks to a generous fellow passenger I met in the lounge, and even then I already thought the seat was outdated. The new Business Premier seat will certainly make Air New Zealand more competitive in premium cabins.
Sadly, trying to get award space on Air New Zealand through other Star Alliance programmes is near-impossible. Their cash fares also tend to be on the higher side. Much as I’d love to try the new products in 2024, I feel this will be a tough challenge. Still, at least I’ve got two years to figure out a strategy for that.
Anyone else looking forward to the new Air New Zealand cabin products in 2024? Let me know your thoughts on the seats in the comments!