Features

Special report: business class on Asian airlines

22 Jan 2010 by Alex McWhirter

Contributors to Business Traveller have recently criticised Asian airlines’ business classes. In the main, this criticism has been directed not at the premium products and fine service found, by and large, between Asia and Europe, but rather on the airlines' regional product.

The complaints centre round three airlines: Singapore Airlines (SIA), Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways. Previously all three prided themselves on product consistency but nowadays the picture is clouded by their diverse fleets. 

In particular our readers are asking why SIA passengers flying from Europe to Australia can encounter up to four different business classes (each with differing standards) on a return trip or why Thai Airways can get away with offering a premium product which might be three generations behind its rivals.

It never used to be like this. When I wrote about Asian business classes in the early 1990s I marvelled at how Asian airlines consistently provided business class passengers with long-haul comfort on regional flights. These Asian carriers have no small planes in their fleets, so executives enjoyed spacious seating and posh food on hops like Kuala Lumpur-Singapore or short stages like Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur. For a comparison, consider that these services are similar in length to London-Paris or London-Vienna and on these routes business class passengers at that time had to tolerate economy class standards of comfort.

But as business class changed beyond all recognition over the past 20 years this happy situation within Asia could not last.

Consider that in the early 1990s a business class passenger could expect seven across (2-3-2) seating on the B747’s lower deck with 40 to 45 ins of pitch. Seats boasted a reasonable, rather than a steep, angle of recline.  Fast forward to today and we find that the latest business classes have improved hugely, and now provide 60 to 80 ins of pitch, four across seating (1-2-1) on a wide-bodied plane like the B777 or A380 superjumbo and seats which recline to the horizontal.

All of this is good news for travellers, but what it meant was that Asian carriers found it impractical and economically unsustainable to offer passengers the same business class seat on, say, a two hour flight between Hong Kong and Manila as they would do on a 13 hour Hong Kong-London service. As a result they developed more practical seating for regional or medium-haul routes. So within the region you now find less spacious seating and a denser cabin layout. The seating may resemble an older design but, for the airlines, it is more economical because they can fit more passengers into their premium cabins.

All this sounds eminently sensible until readers discovered that this inferior product is popping up on routes which many travellers would consider long- rather than short-haul.

Sinagpore Airlines

SIA has rostered planes with its so-called regional or medium-haul product on routes like Singapore-Sydney which, at 3,900 miles in length, is actually 20 per cent farther than London-New York or London-Dubai.

It is a letdown for SIA passengers who have, thanks to spacious four across (1-2-1) seating on the A380 or B777-300ER, been in their own little world on the 12-hour flight from London and might now find themselves “downgraded” for the final 7hr 40 mins leg on to Sydney.

As reader Mark Roberts discovered when he boarded his Sydney flight in Singapore.  “I travelled on the refurbished but noisy B777-300 with angled seats (2-2-2 layout) and no privacy,” he writes, “you hear everyone from rows ahead and behind as there are no sound breaks. There are large gaps between the cushions and the seat shell. Staff were using serving tongs to fish out items which passengers had dropped [into the gap].

Most other B777-300s have not yet been refurbished so feature even denser seven across 2-3-2 recliner seats. They normally ply routes within SE Asia but, strangely, they appear on SIA’s 13 hr, 5,125 mile service linking Singapore with Cairo via Dubai.

The B777-300s are also substituted for more modern planes when the need arises. Travellers report that when the cream of SIA’s fleet was stranded at European airports during the January snow, these B777-300s were pressed into service on routes like Singapore-Auckland (9hrs 40 mins) and Singapore-Tokyo (6 hrs 55 mins).

Most complaints centre around the B777-300s whose refurbishment programme is running late. Says Nicholas Ionides, SIA’s VP of public affairs, “We have experienced a delay but we are confident things will be back on track soon. To date we have fitted one B777-300 with the newer seating and this plane operates the Singapore-Sydney route. Six more planes are due to follow.”

The picture is further confused as SIA mixes and matches plane types on routes both within the region and to Australasia. So passengers can experience the superior A380 or B777-300ER planes alongside different aircraft with different seating. And yet the fare you pay, A380 flights excepted, remains the same.

Says Singapore reader Arthur Lim, “SIA has two flights on the Auckland route but the morning flight uses the B777-200 while the evening flight is operated by the B777-300ER.  If you are on the evening flight then good for you.  But if you take the morning flight, the B777-200 has just the normal seat with no lie-flat function.”

“Guess what?” continues Arthur Lim, “if you fly to Hong Kong you will find that two of the flights are operated by an A380 and a B777-300ER all with the latest seats. And it’s only a 3hr 45 minutes flight.”

In response says Nicholas Ionides, “We are working to introduce the newer products progressively to achieve product consistency across our fleet. However, upgrading of products and services, especially seats, requires considerable time to implement and there will inevitably be periods when differing product types appear on a particular route. We deploy the A380 to Hong Kong because flights on this route operate at consistently high load factors. We recognise that passengers needs and preferences change over time and we continuously upgrade our products and services to provide them with the best travel experience.”

Thai Airways

The picture is complex at Thai Airways which has an even more varied fleet and where last-minute plane changes are not uncommon.
 
For years readers using Thai between Europe and Bangkok have complained about the variety of business class seats found on this carrier's B747-400s.  According to a Thai spokeswoman, "We operate two B747-400 versions to Europe.  One has 40 [angled lie-flat] business class seats and is utilised primarily to London, Frankfurt and Paris CDG.  But we have another B747-400 version with 50 ["recliner"] business class seats and this can also appear on these routes in some adhoc circumstances."  As for Thai's other European destinations like Rome and Copenhagen it can be a lottery as to which B747 version appears.
 
Fellow Business Traveller staff writer Jenny Southan encountered an older B747-400 when she returned from Bangkok in December. In her Tried and Tested review she writes, “The B747 that serves the London route has not yet been fitted with the new business class seating and this is quite evident – they are pretty worn and battered and the fabric on the lower section of the seat completely came away during the flight.”
 
Strangely, Thai has used a flagship A340-600 for its daily Bangkok-Zurich service for a number of years.  This plane features Thai's best business product, albeit angled lie-flat seating.  Why does Thai favour Zurich over other European cities.  Are the Swiss fussier ? Do they pay more for their tickets ?  The answer, according to Thai, is simply that there is less demand on this route (A340-600 carries 108 fewer passengers than the B747-400).
 
Thai's oldest B747-400s have seating which is three generations behind the world's best. These craft are reserved for SE Asian routes where they can appear at any time.  Says traveller Michael Shade who was flying Singapore-Bangkok, "There was a last minute plane change to an old B747-400.  I have been flying Thai for two decades and this plane had exactly the same business class seat Thai used 20 years ago. It was uncomfortable and worn out."
 
But Thai passengers can strike lucky.  Says Arthur Lim, "Service on Thai is usually very good but the airline can be a mixed bag when it comes to fleet utilisation.  Thai is supposed to use its A330s with regional seating on local routes. But I've been on a Singapore-Bangkok operated by a B777-200 with long-haul angled lie-flat seats and I've even known Thai use a modern A340-600 out of Kuala Lumpur."
 
In a recent interview with Singapore's financial journal "The Business Times",  Thai president Piyasvasti Amranand said, "The issue of seat comfort provides the biggest number of complaints that our airline receives from its customers."
 
Thai's problem area of seat comfort will take time to fix.  Says a spokeswoman, "We plan to retrofit 12 B747s and eight B777-200s. This refurbishment will take two years to complete."

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific attracted reader criticism for the regional seating on its A330s. Some of these craft had appeared on overnight flights to Australia while the rest of the fleet were being retrofitted with fully flat beds.

Says a spokeswoman, “Our entire long-haul fleet has been fitted with the new seats which are primarily designed for flights to India, the Middle East, Australasia plus Europe and North America. We try to put our flat bed seats wherever we know passengers want to sleep. On our regional flights (normally less than five hours with many around two to three hours) passengers spend most of the flight awake so here we have a different seat.”

One big difference between flying to Australia from Hong Kong instead of Singapore is that Cathay classifies that continent as a long-haul destination whereas SIA considers it medium-haul. So irrespective of whether you fly Hong Kong-Perth (7hrs 40 mins) or Hong Kong-Sydney (9hrs) with Cathay you are guaranteed a fully flat bed.

Getting the right business class seat

  • Check plane types carefully
  • Remember that although SIA classifies its Australian routes as medium-haul but that a number of its services between Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne feature A380s and B777-300ERs.  So if departing Europe, link these with  A380/B777-300ER flights (out of Europe) for the most spacious seating
  • Cathay Pacific is the only Asian carrier to provide fully flat bed seats between Europe and Australia via Hong Kong
  • Use seatplans.com to check cabin layout
  • Note that Thai’s best product ex-Europe is available from Zurich
  • When travelling from London to Sydney or Melbourne you can only be 100 per cent certain of the same product when taking a through flight with British Airways, Qantas or Virgin Atlantic

Report by Alex McWhirter

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