PREMIUM PRODUCTS
THE POINTY END
As airlines continue to invest in a greater variety of premium cabin products, is more choice always a good thing?
By Lauren Arena (published 23 May 2024)
In the realm of business travel, choice is often a luxury – especially in the post-pandemic context. And even as an increasing number of corporates seek to reduce their emissions related to business travel, airline investment in premium cabins – and the range of products available – continues to gain traction.
“Airlines are working to enhance every aspect of the business and premium customer experience,” says Maria Agudo, EMEA air practice lead at American Express Global Business Travel, who noted an increase in both supply and demand for premium economy cabins.
“Shifting cabins from first or business class to premium economy is a lever [used by corporates] to reduce both CO2 emissions and cost,” she says. “Over the last year, we’ve seen increased demand for both premium and business class travel, with growth in premium economy outpacing the business class cabin.”
On the supply side, carriers like British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, Emirates and Singapore Airlines are all rolling out more premium economy products. Meanwhile, airlines like United Airlines and Delta Air Lines are updating business cabins and opening new lounges to 'transform' the ground experience.
Lufthansa (pictured) is particularly invested in offering business travellers more choice. The German carrier in May introduced its new Allegris business class cabins on Airbus A350 flights to Toronto and Vancouver with, surprisingly, five different seat options.
“We designed the cabin in the best way for the company and also for the customer,” says Kai Peters, head of customer experience design at Lufthansa. “The layout [of the Allegris business cabin] makes it possible to fit maximum capacity and at the same time create spaces for different customer needs,” he adds.
Naturally, there’s also a commercial element. Beyond the ‘classic’ Allegris business class seat, the four additional seat types come with ‘added comforts’ – such as an extra-long bed (up to 2.2 metres), privacy seat (closest to the window), extra space seat and the business class suite (with a sliding door, personal wardrobe and minibar) – and each incurs an additional charge for an advanced seat reservation.
However, Peters insists the classic seat is still “a very good seat among our competitors” and all seating options include the same functionalities: wireless charging, a two-metre-long flat bed and individual seat cooling and heating.
Speaking to BTN Europe, Peters said the carrier will unveil its pricing structure and privileges for members of its Miles & More loyalty programme “in late summer” once the “introductory phase” of the Allegris rollout is complete.
He said travellers can use miles to pay for advanced seat reservation – “business travellers are usually frequent travellers and have [membership of] the mileage programme” – while those with top-tier Senator and HON Circle status will be granted access to certain seat types at no additional cost. “So, there are options. You don’t have to pay,” says Peters. “You can use other functionalities or logic to access these seats.”
This may in fact be the only way travel managers will be able to keep a handle on spend, even if a cabin ‘upsell’ using personal miles means a unified experience across the travelling cohort cannot not be guaranteed. It may also necessitate changes to travel policy.
Lufthansa, which first unveiled details of the €2.5 billion long-haul upgrade last year, plans to extend the Allegris rollout this summer to destinations such as Chicago, Montreal, San Francisco and Shanghai, alternating on different routes.
From June, the carrier expects to receive one newly refitted Airbus A350 every month for the duration of 2024. This will then increase to two aircraft per month in 2025, with the introduction of newly fitted Boeing 789 aircraft. The latter will feature three Allegris cabins (business, premium economy and economy), while the Airbus A350 also includes the new First Class Suite Plus which, due to manufacturing delays, will be rolled out in late 2024.
Despite reporting a Q1 operating loss with plans to “reduce operating costs [and] stop new projects”, Peters says all plans related to the Allegris rollout are going ahead “with full force”.
Investment in the Allegris product has also been confirmed for sister airline Swiss, which will feature the new cabins on retrofitted Airbus A330s and Boeing 777-300s as well as on new Airbus A350 aircraft from late 2025. The carrier said the new A350s will include a “substantially larger” premium economy cabin than those on its existing long-haul aircraft types, with 38 seats instead of 24.
Meanwhile, Air France’s new-look business class (pictured) and premium economy cabins, unveiled in 2022, are appearing on more long-haul routes. Following an initial rollout on routes from Paris Charles de Gaulle to New York, Rio de Janeiro and Dakar, this summer the new cabins will be added on Boeing 777-300 and Airbus A350-900 flights to Toronto, Chicago, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Papeete (Tahiti), Mexico and Tokyo Narita.
The new seat design converts into a flatbed that’s almost two metres long and includes a new sliding door for added privacy. Speaking to BTN Europe, the carrier also confirmed its Boeing 777s no longer feature angled seats following the refurbishment of several aircraft, 13 of which also include its new La Première first class suite.
The latter features ‘the longest cabin on the market’ with a modular configuration that can be arranged as a seat, sofa or bed. The cabin is currently available on ‘select flights’ to New York JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Washington DC with a further rollout expected towards the end of the year.
KLM (pictured) is also pushing ahead with the introduction of its new World Business Class cabin, which offers more space and more privacy (again, with a sliding door) on refitted Boeing 777 aircraft. Seats also include wireless charging and a massage option, while the updated 1-2-1 configuration means all travellers have direct aisle access.
By June, 16 Boeing 777-300 aircraft will feature the new cabin, with an additional 15 Boeing 777-200 set to re-enter service by November on long-haul routes to the US, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, Osaka and Cape Town, among others.
Alongside its business class revamp, the carrier’s new premium economy cabin, known as Premium Comfort, is also gradually being rolled out.
British Airways in March revealed details of its £7 billion transformation plan, including a new First class suite for its A380 aircraft, which will likely make its debut in late 2025, and new short-haul seats (pictured) and interiors on Airbus A320neos and A321neos, to be introduced from May. The short-haul revamp will see its business class ‘Club Europe’ seats separated by a leather tray and, like the new Euro traveller economy seats, fitted with USB-A and USB-C power points.
Finnair’s new business class seating and updated premium economy cabin is now available on more long-haul routes to Asia and the US. The cabins, first introduced in 2022, are included on flights from Helsinki to Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York JFK and Seattle.
The Nordic carrier is also renewing cabins in its short-haul Embraer aircraft (which include 12 business class seats) in line with its redesigned Airbus wide-body aircraft, with the first new-look aircraft expected to re-enter the fleet at the end of 2024.
American Airlines is gearing up this summer to roll out its new Flagship Suite seat (pictured) on Boeing 787-9, B777-300 and Airbus A321XLR aircraft. The lie-flat seats will include a wireless charging station, Bluetooth capability, multiple storage spaces and a sliding door for privacy.
The carrier expects premium seating on its long-haul fleet to grow by more than 45 per cent by 2026 and, like its competitor Delta Air Lines, has updated its premium economy seats to feature wireless charging, additional storage space and privacy headrest wings. Delta, which debuted its premium seat in 2022, expanded the rollout in January to select Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
The first of the carrier’s modified A350-900s are also expected to enter into service this summer with eight additional lie-flat suites, bringing the total to 40 per plane.
United Airlines, meanwhile, continues the rollout of its new domestic first-class seat, which includes a wireless charging station in each arm rest on its Boeing 737 aircraft. The carrier expects the new seat to be on 200 domestic planes by 2026, including Boeing 737NG, Airbus A321neo and Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
Emirates, a premium economy frontrunner in the Middle East, recently expanded its premium product (pictured) to 14 destinations across its network – including on A380 flights to London Heathrow, Sydney, Singapore, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Tokyo Narita and Mumbai.
The airline’s multi-billion-dollar retrofit programme will see its premium economy cabin added to 67 A380s and 53 Boeing 777 aircraft by 2025.
Ongoing fleet expansion will also see the carrier’s business and premium economy cabins (with 32 and 21 seats, respectively) fitted on new A350s, with 10 aircraft expected to enter into service by March 2025, the first of which will debut later this year on routes around the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
Cathay Pacific in April unveiled its new premium economy cabin, which will be available in retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER aircraft later this year.
The new seats include a leather headrest and customised seat cushions, privacy wings with a reading light, a 15.6-inch 4K ultra-high-definition screen and Bluetooth audio streaming, along with storage spaces for personal devices. In addition, the Hong Kong-based carrier said new toilets in the premium economy cabin will have touch-free features “to ensure minimal contact”.
Singapore Airlines, meanwhile, in March introduced a new amenity kit and expanded menu options in its premium economy cabin, which now includes food service on custom-made porcelain service ware. The move marks the first “comprehensive revamp” of the carrier’s premium economy offer since it was first introduced in 2015.
FROM THE GROUND UP
As well as revamping the inflight offer, several carriers are also investing in new tech and premium spaces to improve travellers’ experience on the ground. “This is part of a broader strategy to attract premium travellers, both business and leisure,” says Amex GBT’s Agudo.
The oneworld airline alliance earlier this year opened its first branded lounge in Europe at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The new 473-sqm lounge opened just weeks after the alliance debuted its lounge concept at Seoul’s Incheon Airport and features spaces for working and relaxing – including semi-private study nooks, a bar, mood lighting throughout and furnishings ‘that pay homage to life in the Netherlands’.
The new lounge is open to oneworld Emerald and Sapphire customers departing from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport outside of the Schengen area, as well as first and business class customers travelling with oneworld member airlines.
In the US, Delta recently opened an expanded Sky Club at New York's LaGuardia Airport – spanning more than 3,200 sqm, it’s now the largest in the carrier’s network – and plans to open additional lounges at New York JFK, Los Angeles and Boston Airports before the year is up.
Meanwhile, United opened two lounges at Denver International Airport last September, each with free high-speed wifi, self-scan entry, ‘Agent on Demand’ kiosks and wellness rooms.
In April, Spanish flag carrier Iberia rolled out a facial recognition boarding service for flights between Madrid and Barcelona. The new biometric boarding service, available at six gates at Madrid-Barajas airport and one at Barcelona-El Prat airport, allows travellers to pass through both security control and the boarding gate “without having to show the necessary documents”.
While the service is available to all adult travellers regardless of cabin class, it could be a sign of where future investment in next-gen premium offerings are headed.
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