The airline maxim that “space is the most precious commodity on any plane” is as true today as it ever was. In “Stretch your legs” in our December/January issue, Jenny Southan described how a growing number of airlines were capitalising on the fact that some economy passengers were prepared to pay for extra space (see businesstraveller.com/archive/2010/december-2010-january-2011).
For instance, Singapore Airlines charges US$50 while United asks you to pay between US$9 and US$109. But this extra space is limited to preferred seats in the economy cabin, such as those located on exit rows. It also covers “quasi” premium economy products such as KLM’s Economy Comfort or United’s Economy Plus.
Yes, you can obtain a lot more comfort by upgrading to premium economy, but this superior seating costs two or three times more than an economy excursion, depending on the airline, route and date of travel.
So last year’s announcement by Air New Zealand (ANZ) of a new style of economy class seating providing lie-flat comfort aroused much interest both from our readers and, indeed, all long-haul travellers. As Jenny Southan wrote: “Skycouch has got everyone talking.”
Skycouch will appear in a month’s time. It will initially be offered on B777-300ER-operated flights NZ1 and NZ2, which fly daily between London Heathrow and Auckland via Los Angeles. The first flight leaves Auckland on April 1, returning from Heathrow the following day. Skycouch can be booked on all flight sectors.
There are 20 sets of Skycouches (each set comprises three seats) installed on ten outer rows (37-46) of the economy cabin. The middle section will be taken up with a four-across economy module. Each Skycouch is designed to accommodate either one or two adults, or two adults and one child.
While ANZ should be applauded for such an innovation, it remains unclear who the Skycouch will suit given its pricing. From my research, it seems only families will see the benefit. Yet despite that, the ANZ website will allow bookings for a single person, and the website has a picture of a man dressed in smart-casual attire reclining on the bench.
So could the Skycouch transform into a poor man’s business class with a fully flat seat? After all, if you are buying three economy seats, you might assume you would be offered a discount. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. ANZ had not decided on definitive pricing of the Skycouch at the time of launch, saying only that it would be priced at two and a half times the economy fare. In fact, my research shows that, at least initially, passengers will be paying up to three times the economy fare.
At those rates, it will offer no price saving to business people, since if one person books Skycouch over a busy period he or she may be paying more than business class. It also means there will be no saving when a family of three people (two adults and a child) travel, not least since there is no reduction offered for the child as there would be in a normal economy seat.
When asked to comment, an ANZ spokesperson told Business Traveller: “Skycouch is dynamically priced based on forecaster demand for each sector. We never promoted Skycouch as a business class replacement, even though some commentators may have suggested this. Our promotional material portrays couples and families using Skycouch.”
I pointed out to ANZ that when one person books economy class he or she is invited to upgrade to Skycouch and presented with a picture of a single traveller occupying the bench. The spokesperson replied: “The images in the booking engine are contextually relevant to the number of passengers in the customer’s booking search. When you searched for the [economy] price for one person, the website showed you an image of one person in Skycouch. When there are two or more people in the booking then the photo will display these passengers.”
Whether Skycouch is a success or not will depend on how many travellers book it at the current prices. Those who do will certainly have something new to talk about. Taller flyers should note, however, that the bench is only five-foot one-inch long, so they might find their feet and ankles protruding into the aisle space. (That’s the reason why ANZ’s promotional shot of a single traveller shows him at an angle). Note that the aisles on ANZ’s B777-300ERs will be narrower because the carrier has switched from a nine- to a ten-across layout in economy on the B777-300ER.
