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