Air New Zealand will be introducing what’s arguably the biggest innovation we’ve ever seen in economy, even if only very few passengers will be able to enjoy this. The airline will be introducing bunk beds in economy, which is something we’ve never seen before.
While Air New Zealand first confirmed it would introduce this back in 2022, the actual process of rolling this out has been delayed massively. So there’s finally an exciting update, as the airline has revealed when this product will launch, how much it will cost, and what the experience will be like.
In this post:
Air New Zealand’s Skynest economy beds
Air New Zealand plans to introduce bunk beds in economy — you read that right! With Air New Zealand’s new Skynest concept, there will be a total of six full length lie-flat sleep pods, in a “V” shape. That means there will be three levels of bunk beds.
The beds will be 80″ long and 23″ wide, so they should be pretty comfortable for most passengers. There will of course be a limit of one person per bunk.
The bunks will come with bedding, including pillows, sheets, blankets, and privacy curtains. Then there will be a “Nestcessities” amenity kit, with an eye mask, socks, ear plugs, a dental kit, and skincare from Aotea. Each bunk will also have a USB outlet, a reading light, a ventilation outlet, and a storage pocket.
This is very similar to the bunks that airline crews have, so essentially Air New Zealand is making this concept available to passengers as well. That’s pretty cool. Based on the pictures, I’ve gotta say, this does look like a pretty snug setup, and I’m not sure I’d want to be in the bottom bunk.
Where will Air New Zealand Skynests be located?
Skynests will be installed on Air New Zealand’s Boeing 787-9s, so where will they be located? Well, they’ll be installed between the premium economy and economy cabin. Specifically, they’ll take up the space of two center rows in economy, meaning that six bunks are being installed in the space that would otherwise be allocated to six economy class seats.
As you can see, Air New Zealand’s upcoming Boeing 787-9s are in a very premium configuration.
When is Air New Zealand introducing Skynest?
Air New Zealand plans to put the Skynest on sale for bookings as of May 18, 2026, and for travel as of November 2026. Specifically, the expectation is that this will be available on the next newly delivered Boeing 787-9, and that’s expected to operate the route between Auckland (AKL) and New York (JFK).
Air New Zealand’s plan is also to eventually reconfigure existing 787s with Skynests, though the timeline on that remains to be seen. Furthermore, there’s no plan to reconfigure 777s. This process has been really drawn out, and that’s due to delays with 787 deliveries.
How will Air New Zealand sell economy beds?
These bunks can’t be occupied for takeoff and landing, so you can’t directly book one of these bunks for the entire flight. Rather the intent is that this will be offered as a buy-up for those traveling in economy or premium economy.
Passengers will be able to reserve the bunk beds for four hour periods (at the end of each session, lights will gently come on, to remind passengers that their time is up). This means that on Air New Zealand’s longest flights, these could each be sold up to three times, though initially they’ll only be sold two times. There will be a 30-minute turnaround time between each session, so that the crew can change sheets and prepare the Skynest for the next passenger.
Air New Zealand claims that sessions will start at $495. In other words, you’re paying around $125 per hour for the bunk bed setup. This will be an interesting experiment when it comes to pricing, as I’m curious if the airline can get economy and premium economy travelers to shell out that much for a bit of time in a flat bed, especially when you consider the other pathways for upgrading.
In theory you’d think the airline would try to generate at least as much revenue as it’s losing from the six economy seats that are being removed, and ideally more than that. But the margins are actually better than you’d initially assume — in reality the opportunity cost is limited, because it’s rare that every single economy class seat would otherwise be occupied.
Air New Zealand also has the Skycouch concept
While the new Skynest is a huge innovation to economy class, it’s worth noting that Air New Zealand also came up with the Skycouch concept years ago. With this, a row of economy seats can essentially be turned into a couch. This is great for couples, or those traveling with families.
The biggest shortcoming of the Skycouch is the size — it’s only 49″ long, which is 4ft1in. Unless you’re on the shorter side, it’s not exactly a long enough surface on which to properly sleep. United is introducing a similar concept soon, which will be branded as the United Relax Row.
Bottom line
Air New Zealand will finally be rolling out a concept we’ve never seen before in economy, with the introduction of Skynest bunk beds. The airline will be adding six bunk beds to Boeing 787s, with two sets of bunks stacked three high.
These will go on sale as of May 2026, for flights as of November 2026. This project is way behind schedule due to delayed Dreamliner deliveries, but hey, better late than never!
What do you make of Air New Zealand’s Skynest, and the pricing?
I read a source that pegged it at NZ$495 (US$290).
$495 for 4 hrs in a claustrophobic space seems high. We will see ow this works out.
I think this might be NZ$495 (US$292)?
I looked into this. Many sources use the US$495 number, explicitly use US$s. Don't know for sure.
New Zealand media is reporting $495 NZD and this can be confirmed on Air NZ's website: https://www.airnewzealandnewsroom.com/press-release-2026-the-future-of-long-haul-travel-air-new-zealands-economy-skynest-on-sale-from-may-2026
Fun with math... NZ loses 6 seats of regular Y and gains 6 bunks. So, each bunk needs to replace one Y pax fare. Each bunk generates US$990 per leg based on the reported US$495 per each of two (initial rollout), four-hour periods. (I'll assume bunks sell out always.) The AKL-LAX fare is $625 to $875 each way based on a Y r/t purchase (Nov versus Jan used). So, OK, bunks pay for themselves (ignoring...
Fun with math... NZ loses 6 seats of regular Y and gains 6 bunks. So, each bunk needs to replace one Y pax fare. Each bunk generates US$990 per leg based on the reported US$495 per each of two (initial rollout), four-hour periods. (I'll assume bunks sell out always.) The AKL-LAX fare is $625 to $875 each way based on a Y r/t purchase (Nov versus Jan used). So, OK, bunks pay for themselves (ignoring differences in cost to install and operate).
But, first use is on AKL-JFK, with a $1250 each way on r/t purchase (used Jan dates). Thus, unless or until they can scale to three, four-hour rounds (at $495×3=$1485) on this >15 hour flight, they'd be losing money, iff, they could have sold the 6 removed seats at regular Y fare. Once you get three turns, it's a winner.
But, the basic math isn't crazy, since you can look at this as losing the "last 6 Y seats sold."
Yup. Plus I can see a lot of ppl choosing to fly them over another carrier bc of this option. In that sense, it’s a moneymaker.
I can see that happening too, JJ. And in the unlikely event that it's a flop, they can always replace it with seats, probably in a day.
But I wonder if there is a risk of cannibalizing J demand
I don't think J demand is at risk here, with the 4-hour time limit (even if you could reserve 2 back to back of those). I think it could be a risk to J for trans-Atlantic flights if other carriers opted to add these. I don't expect they would. They'd get just one 4-hour (or more) cycle per trip. Thus, they'd have to charge a Y fare for your seat and an equal amount for...
I don't think J demand is at risk here, with the 4-hour time limit (even if you could reserve 2 back to back of those). I think it could be a risk to J for trans-Atlantic flights if other carriers opted to add these. I don't expect they would. They'd get just one 4-hour (or more) cycle per trip. Thus, they'd have to charge a Y fare for your seat and an equal amount for the bunk. But, would pax pay 2×Y for a Y seat with 4+ hours of bunk over J for people who would buy J if no bunks existed? I'd predict a lot of yesses for TATL and very few for long-haul NZ flights (or equivalent).
Skycouch is NZD500 at the airport if available - its a much better sleep and all yours.
I would hope that silence would be enforced.
Other than the snoring and farting that happens in every cabin class, at least.
Looking at the bunk set-up, all I can think of is the Three Stooges short "A Pain in the Pullman"...
I'm curious about how turbulence would affect the actual amount of time passengers would have on a bunk bed, as well as the turnaround times between passengers.
Do you mean you think the crew would make ppl get up and go back to their seats for turbulence? I can see that being a pretty big downside (get woken up after an hour, then can’t fall asleep again in your little coffin bunk).
The sky couch has a specialized "belt" to use while sleeping that avoids the "fasten seatbelt" issue. A quick look at the photos suggests there is an equivalent here. I'm guessing something like what they use for people in stretchers, but less "aggressive" in appearance and restriction.
The have special restraints on the sky couch to avoid that. Look at the photos, they seem to have some here, too. So my guess is you stay during turbulence.
Wouldn’t never fly with Air NZ, they are ultra woke.
Instead of worrying about woke airlines you should focus on your grammar. Who the f says “Wouldn’t never”
So you WOULD fly them?
I admire NZ for innovating in Y which no other airline do outside of improved tech. This seems like it could work especially at that point in the flight in long haul Y where you just desperately want to lay down for a little bit and 4 hours sound like enough time to take a solid nap. Pricing seems reasonable too.
Their mistake is to put a 5'2'' 110 lbs. model in the marketing pictures.
They really need to put Maori sized models to show how this won't work.
Typical NZ racism.
Go fornicate yourself you racist pig.
Nobody’s buying it at that price/ time period.
While people pay $200 for an extra 4 inch for 12 hours that's equal to paying $4000 for 80 inch this is offering.
According to you,
People are either just dumb to pay for extra 4" or just dumb at math.
So, I think you'll sound like a "the internet is a fad" guy.
hmm, call me poor but I rather save $495 for 2 or 3 decent hotel nights so I can actually sleep during my trip :)
Call me rich but I rather save 2 or 3 decent productive days for $495 so I don't actually need extra sleep during my trip ;)
I am with you, Eskimo
You guys are poor, I would rather spend 3K on Biz class, so I get all flight of sleep, plus no poor people around me.
Can you book more than one block? 8 uninterrupted hours could easily be worth an extra $1000. Especially when you compare it to the buy up to business class.
But you wouldn’t get 8 uninterrupted hours because all the lights come on and the crew changes all the linens every 4-hours. The only this would work is if all 6 passengers booked 8-hours also.
LOL ! as an older guy...4 hours of uninterrupted sleep sailed years ago !
Good point. For some reason I imagined everyone was on a staggered schedule and the crew reset the beds one at a time. But yeah, your way makes way more sense
If they could solve the take off and landing safety issues, I like the space math. Six Y seats turn into 6 full-sized bunks. I'd happily fly 14 plus hours in a bunk like that than in a typical Y seat (I think). Or sell me and a companion one seat and one bunk for the entire flight, and we can switch as we like (and I mean switch, not share).
My concern would...
If they could solve the take off and landing safety issues, I like the space math. Six Y seats turn into 6 full-sized bunks. I'd happily fly 14 plus hours in a bunk like that than in a typical Y seat (I think). Or sell me and a companion one seat and one bunk for the entire flight, and we can switch as we like (and I mean switch, not share).
My concern would be the inconsiderate in the enclosed space (e. g., tablet without headphones, laughing, stinky etc.) and those who aren't inconsiderate, but annoying (e. g., snorers).
If in the middle, why in V shape? It will only make heads closer, snores will be heard louder. Could do it in parallel. When they first announced V shape, I imagined it is in the very back of the cabin converting otherwise dead space into beds.
The bunks are 80″ long, so I imagine there's a space factor at play to avoid removing more seats than necessary
I wonder if they staged the pillows that way so they could get the picture. Seems like it would make a lot more sense for ppls’ heads to be as far away as possible. The only issue I can think of is potential noise from the cabin, but you’ve got earplugs.
Even if they do intend to use it this way, I don’t see why you couldn’t just sleep facing the other way.
And smell bad breath
Nope to the Nest. Four hours would only give me a headache and I don't want to smell farts. Being a small person, the couch might be a better choice, but only if there was nothing else.
Business Class for poor people. Lol. Must suck to not have money to fly like a human.
I assume poor people aren’t flying to NZ at all.
That's very cool to see this coming to life! Pricing is a little steep, but if I can't get a business class seat with points or an upgrade, and i really have no other option than doing the flight in economy, then I think I'd happily pay for that, especially if I can get 4 hours in the middle of the flight as a break from the economy seat.
Pretty coo!
30 min turn around time... unless someone wets the bed. :-0
I love the idea, but I feel like 4 hours is a bit low IMO. IIRC, 4 hours is generally the minimum time to get through the first nighttime sleep cycle, so really it means no real time to fall asleep.
5-6 would likely be much better, IMO, although NZ may not have felt they could charge enough to only have 3 turns on the JFK flight.
Yeah -- I feel like the value here is on an ultra-long flight, trying to actually get something like a real night's length rest, which 4 hours is not. Pricing seems crazy to me when you could, presumably, get an extra legroom seat in economy for like $200 for the whole flight. (Perhaps it's more?)
Looked it up. Go from 31" to 35" in Y for NZ$179 each way (US$105). On a NZ$2700 (US$1600) r/t, who wouldn't pay the extra? [AKL-JFK n/s in October]
Outside of a few insufferable “influencers” at product launch, nobody is going to pay that. Maybe if it covered the entire flight.
Your guess... etc.
But, I'd speculate they'll be fully reserved initially (duh). This is going on a 787 with 246 Y and PE seats now. Remove 6 seats for 6 bunks, and you have a potential (Y/PE) pax to bunk ratio of 240:6. Thus, only 1 of 40 (on a full flight) can be in a bunk at a time. Thus, 1 in 20 for two "shifts." And, 1 in 13 when there are three shifts. I think those ratios work well for the demand side. No expert I am.
That's really creative. Wish more airlines would try new things, especially to make things more comfortable in Economy. Air NZ flies some seriously LONG-haul flights, like AKL-JFK, so good to see.
The flying public has no one to blame but themselves.
Assuming 1990 is your birth year, you probably wouldn't remember most of this, but from Deregulation (1978) through the early 2000s, airlines actually experimented a lot with different coach configurations/offerings. The most famous was probably American's "More Room Throughout Coach."
But the consistent outcome, was that every time one deviated from the "pack as many seats as possible" model, they LOST TONS OF MONEY doing...
The flying public has no one to blame but themselves.
Assuming 1990 is your birth year, you probably wouldn't remember most of this, but from Deregulation (1978) through the early 2000s, airlines actually experimented a lot with different coach configurations/offerings. The most famous was probably American's "More Room Throughout Coach."
But the consistent outcome, was that every time one deviated from the "pack as many seats as possible" model, they LOST TONS OF MONEY doing it. So they simply quit doing anything else.
The flying public taught the airlines, through its purchase actions, that no matter how much it whines/cries/farts/yells/screams about the conditions of economy class: lower prices will always rule the day.
Speaking of creative seating configurations, I recall the 2-5-2 on DC-10, MD-11, which was ‘fun’ to be stuck in the middle-middle
@ImmortalSynn. It is nice to see someone who has figured out WE (traveling public, not just us here) are cause of low-pitch and the like. AA experiment is the prime example. It is encouraging to note that carriers have found PE as a growing market. But, the market must be frustrating. XX will pull 10% of the seats out of their planes. Pax avoid them because they want $195 in airfare while others charge $180....
@ImmortalSynn. It is nice to see someone who has figured out WE (traveling public, not just us here) are cause of low-pitch and the like. AA experiment is the prime example. It is encouraging to note that carriers have found PE as a growing market. But, the market must be frustrating. XX will pull 10% of the seats out of their planes. Pax avoid them because they want $195 in airfare while others charge $180. [No, I didn't goof up the math. I'd have to charge $200 with 90% of the seats if planes had 100% load capacity and there were no savings in weight. Neither are expected to hold.]
Kudos to NZ for being innovative. Really, hats off.
I wonder whether one would be able to book it twice, one after another.