Premium airline products have come a long way, and they just keep getting better. Over the years, we’ve seen business class seats transform from being recliners, to being angled flat, to being fully flat, to having direct aisle access, to having doors. Some of today’s business class suites are better than first class was a…
Continue reading: 14 New Business Class Products On The Horizon
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JAL and ANA are past due for a new product aside from SQ. JAL just placed an additional order for 20 789s and their current product(s) just doesn't cut it anymore. And they really need a consistent configuration.
As for SQ, with practically every airline in the industry having suites with doors and much improved tech, their product is way out of date. You would think that the ULR would be the perfect a/c to showcase what they come up with.
Cathay's Aria seat is NOT Airtek. Jonny Clark had guessed so, and he was the one who started this rumor, but it turned out to be a heavily customized version of Collins Elements.
https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2023/09/cathays-business-class-seat-tease-spurs-big-interest-from-travelers/
Even Jonny Clark later admitted it's likely to be Collins.
https://thedesignair.net/2024/03/11/cathay-reveals-more-details-regarding-aria-suite-hinting-now-towards-collins-elements-product/
There are so many parts on Aria Suite shared with the Elements seat on Starlux A350. Especially the movable/extendable armrest is a unique feature of Elements.
Also, JPA's Airtek seat is intended to be an ultra-lightweight product with very basic features. It won't have a leg rest, or an armrest with a fancy kinematics like Elements. And the development of this seat is not going well.
It's likely that they both collaborated and JPA designed the product, while Collins manufactured the product. Their first generation Cirrus was designed by JPA from the ground up while Zodiac (now Safran) manufactured the product.
Are we also not awaiting a new Biz seat from Air Canada? If I recall they said a new “ warmer” palette of colours was being planned for their A321XLR and 787-10 launch.
I bet JPA just worked on the customization design of Collins Elements for Cathay.
JPA is capable of designing a new product from scratch, but they also do a lot of branding and customization of existing platforms for airlines.
I see a lot of components from Cathay's Aria Suites shared with Elements. The armrest, console area, tray table, sidewall for window seats.. Those are all crucial in commonality of a product platform.
If it really were Airtek, there's no reason to share so many elements with the Collins seat. They'd better just take the existing platform and do some customization.
It’s telling, to say the very least, that none of the airlines in this list are as tight-lipped about their upcoming premium products as SQ. With every other airline we know either the manufacturer or the name of the product, or both, and often the configuration. Goh Choon Phong and co. must be seething with anger with the big reveals that QR and TK (not to mention KE) have done over the past week. It’s sad to see just how much ground SQ has lost, and to QR in particular, while it stubbornly refuses to retrofit any of its planes with a new premium product.
And I agree with Mike O., too, in the sense that JAL and ANA show no signs of fitting their 787s with their new best premium products, either.
I’m not surprised that Emirates isn’t pushing the envelope with its new business class product, though it’s definitely an improvement over their current angled business class product. Emirates marketing creates a significant halo effect from their first class product (images of shower spas and exclusive Dom Perignon probably fill the minds of more than a few people booking in business or economy) and the fabulous excess of Dubai. Indeed, their business class product only needs to be competitive, not leading edge, because Emirates most valuable product is simply nonstop access to Dubai from a huge number of cities and one-stop connections between many unique city pairs. It’s a bit like British Airways: their most valuable offering doesn’t have to be any innovative hard product or inflight service, but merely convenient nonstop access to London Heathrow.
Lol all 7 ULRs are undergoing maintenance now and they still choose to not retrofit with the new cabin. I'm sure there's more to it but that would have been perfect timing given the 777-9 delays
Ironically QR, which is so extravagantly, outrageously extraordinary in J, has always taken EK’s just-better-than-nothing approach in F so far — but we’ll see what the new first-class product on the 777X looks like. QR is increasingly making both EK and SQ look like laughing-stocks.* Not to mention EY is right back into the action as well, with the revival of its A380, the phenomenal A350-1000 and the new 787 product.
*Passengers from Kathmandu, Dhaka and Colombo, who are subjected to ancient A330-300s more often than not, will most likely not experience any of QR’s Qsuite innovation — and the same goes for anyone who’s been swapped from a Qsuite-equipped 777 to an old recliner 777. QR has a long way to go in terms of fleet commonality and consistency.
I count on SQ to introduce a competitive hard product. Otherwise, a lot of airlines have finally realised that they have to up their game.
SQ is very much on the back foot, and a commenter on Mainly Miles, a Singaporean blog, posted (regarding QR’s Qsuite Next Gen unveil) that SQ is stubbornly hedging its hopes and hinging on an aircraft that’s no better than vapourware. Can’t say I disagree with them. ‘Welcome to World Class’ this is not!
It seems the only airlines that can do worse than SQ in terms of a new product rollout are LH Allegris and EK’s Game Changer F — and at least the former has finally seen the light of day. But Goh Choon Phong, the understated leader that he his, may finally have a problem that’s too much for him to handle (other than SQ321, that is): all while JAL, EVA and Starlux are breathing down SQ’s neck, and eve MH next door. Doesn’t look very good for the World’s Best Airline 2023, eh? No wonder QR stole back that title in 2024...
The NH B777 & JL A350 seats are too wide for 787s (same issue w/ QSuites). But agree that the industry is in need of an eye-catching product designed for the narrow 787s.
They could just stick with their staggered and herringbone product respectively and build on that. Improve their finishes to match their latest suites, tech, storage, comfort and add a door like everybody else. That's all you need really. The 787 is not their flagship a/c for them so you don't really need anything fancy. But it's definitely time to ditch their cradle seats as it was the first product for the 787 when they first took delivery more than a decade ago.
I believe EVA Air was going to announce a new business class seat that coincides with future 787-9 deliveries, but not sure if that timeline has slipped or cancelled
"You would think that the ULR would be the perfect a/c to showcase what they come up with"
How would they "showcase it," using an aircraft that only flies to 3 markets on the planet, all in the same country?
That's about the worst aircraft they can debut anything on, in terms of network visibility.
Though it may not be cutting-edge, I have always had the best sleep in the Emirates A380 biz seat with its unconstrained leg room. I hope there are no “enhancements” in the next generation that take this roominess away - such as doors that only serve to make seats narrower to provide unnecessary extra privacy.