CAROLE SHIFRIN WASHINGTON
With premium traffic down steeply, some carriers have already put on hold their plans to upgrade business- and first class cabins. But other are keen to stay in contention with lie-down seats and more.
Economic slowdown and the continuing erosion of business travel may have caused some carriers to pause in their plans to improve the first- and business-class cabins, but others have not been so quick to abandon their upgrades.
Cathay Pacific is at the vanguard of a handful of carriers determined to improve their premium service. The airline is proceeding with an extensive redesign of its business-class cabins on long-haul aircraft. The refit's signal feature is the installation of seats that convert to beds, an innovation pioneered by British Airways, which is widely thought to have reaped a windfall of new premium passengers with its Club World lie-flat bed. Singapore Airlines is also fitting bed-seats in its business-class cabins, and Virgin Atlantic Airways is continuing to install them throughout its fleet.
Cathay's new adjustable business-class seats convert to a 1.9m- (6ft 3in) long bed placed at a 13º incline, compared with BA's horizontal bed-seats. Cathay says that research shows that passengers actually prefer to sleep in an intermediate position.
The carrier's business-class relaunch, which was 18 months in planning, also includes a new in-flight entertainment (IFE) system as well as in-flight e-mail and Internet service from Tenzing. Other product improvements include: a cocktail bar refreshment area, a private dressing room with full-length mirror, extra stowage space and a second table at the front of the seat unit to provide additional workspace. This allows passengers to get up from their seats without having to clear away books or a laptop computer.
Additionally, a new 254mm (10in) personal television screen - double the size of the existing display - is fixed in place so it does not need to be folded away for take-off and landing. The seats have been designed in neutral tones, with colourful pillows - silk on one side and cotton on the other - used for accenting, and the 520mm-wide seats are equipped with armrest-mounted bottle-holders.
Cathay forges ahead
By the end of November, Cathay had taken delivery of four Airbus A330-300s in the new configuration and had begun converting its A340-300s and Boeing 747-400s to the new design. The new business-class service is already available at gateways including London, Frankfurt, Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto and San Francisco, although not yet on every flight. Cathay expects to have equipped more than half its long-haul fleet by August.
The carrier has also opened at Hong Kong International Airport a second premier lounge, which is capable of seating as many as 500 premium passengers. Called "The Pier", the lounge includes private suites for first-class passengers, showers, three bars and two restaurants, 60 broadband-connected computers and a wireless local area network for laptop computer connections.
Singapore is also going ahead with its new SpaceBed product in business class, although the pace of installation has slowed somewhat. Its bed-seat folds into a flat bed, but at a 7º incline. The carrier says that, at a length of 1.98m (6ft 6in) and a width of 0.69m (27in), they are longer and wider than those found in any other business class.
Singapore expects to launch SpaceBeds soon on the Singapore-London route, to be followed by flights to Australia and then its US routes. The airline is introducing a new IFE system, and, in collaboration with up-market retailer Bulgari, has produced a new first-class amenity kit.
Virgin Atlantic continues to roll out sleeper seats in its Upper Class, along with other enhancements, such as an expanded bar area, a state-of-the-art mood-lighting system, a dedicated private area for its famed mini-massages and manicures, and a what-you-want-when-you-want-it menu.
The new seats are installed in all of Virgin's Boeing 747-400s and some of its Airbus A340s, making them available on most of Virgin's transpacific routes and those between US gateways and London Heathrow. By mid-February, all flights on its Heathrow-USA routes will have the seats, an official says, adding that Virgin will not in the short term convert aircraft flying between Gatwick and Miami, and Las Vegas and Orlando.
BA too is still outfitting all its long-haul aircraft with the new Club World bed-seats during major maintenance checks. Aircraft to most Asia-Pacific destinations, including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo have been upgraded, as have flights to Johannesburg and most transatlantic services from Heathrow. Boston and Miami - the last cities to get the products - will do so by early this year, with the aircraft flying to US gateways from Gatwick next on the list.
These enhancements are expensive at a time when the industry is experiencing a dramatic drop-off in business- and first-class passengers. Like all carriers, BA's premium cabins across the Atlantic suffered huge load-factor declines. BA says bookings by business travellers began improving in November, but at a slower pace than leisure bookings.
But travellers were flocking back to Concorde when service resumed in November, after a 15-month grounding, with a single daily roundtrip. BA, which took advantage of the grounding to redecorate the interiors of its Concorde fleet, says its London-New York supersonic service was running an average load factor in excess of 70%, and on many days 80-100%. If loads hold up and advance bookings look good, a second daily flight will begin. For early bookings, the airline had offered a sharply discounted roundtrip fare of $4,999 through January.
Drive to differentiate
Competition over product differentiation, especially designed for premium travellers, is a relatively new phenomenon. In the past, the seat was largely an undifferentiated commodity, says Craig Jenks, principal with the consultancy Airline/Aircraft Projects.
Now carriers offer seats that are wider, flatter; that provide larger and better-equipped workspace; and that offer new entertainment options. "The trend is to provide something different. People increasingly are aware that a seat is no longer just a seat," Jenks says.
The driving force behind the change was Virgin Atlantic's entry into the market in the mid-1980s and the innovations it continued to introduce, such as its Upper Class product for business-fare travellers, the amenities it provided in economy class, and its "Mid Class" product for full-fare economy passengers, which was later rebranded Premium Economy.
Although key international carriers are still committed to product differentiation, the US recession, worldwide economic slowdown and the autumn collapse in air travel have spoilt several airlines' plans. With air traffic down 20-30% in some markets, carriers have grounded aircraft, reduced capacity, cut workforces, and even suspended some of the normal amenities - like serving food on shorter flights. With many losing millions of dollars a day, the priority is to cut costs.
SAS, for instance, was in the middle of a long-haul fleet renewal plan that included a redesign of its aircraft interiors when the events of 11 September exacerbated the slump in business travel.
The carrier's relaunch still includes a new three-class configuration for its new Airbus A340s and A330s. However, it has decided to postpone the conversion of six of its Boeing 767s to the new design. The layout includes a new Economy Extra section and many additional features for business class, such as redesigned seats, larger lavatories with windows, a smorgasbord-type self-service buffet and an exercise bar.
SAS has received two of its new A340s, but is seeking a delay in deliveries. "Going from a 767 to an A340 represents a capacity increase of 35%," says SAS official Anders Bjorck. "That is not what you need these days. You want an aircraft like an accordion, so you can reduce its size," he adds.
The airline, which expects to take delivery of two more A340s in February and May, has put the new aircraft on routes to the Far East, which have not been hit as hard as its transatlantic routes. SAS has reduced its capacity to North America by 20% and postponed the start of a new daily A340 service between Copenhagen and San Francisco until the market improves.
Refurbishment review
Air France currently is reviewing its long-haul cabin interiors and may decide on a revamp towards the end of next year. The carrier, which operates supersonic service between Paris and New York five times a week, has not refurbished Concorde's interiors for some time.
Lufthansa completed its last aircraft cabin upgrade in March 2000, and had been deliberating about what to do next. "Frankly, everything's come to a halt now. At the moment there are no new product plans for first or business," says one official.
Air Canada has also postponed the improvement of its business cabins for financial reasons, delaying redesigns of its "Executive First" class on transoceanic flights and its "Executive" class on North American flights. It is, however, continuing to equip its 767 aircraft with Tenzing in-flight e-mail capability.
US carriers have not followed BA, Cathay, Singapore and Virgin in adding bed-seats in business class. But some, such as Continental Airlines, have equipped their long-haul aircraft with two classes - a combined first-/business-class product and economy.
The carrier's BusinessFirst section routinely wins awards, and rates highly in business passenger surveys. An official says the airline is always looking at improvements, recently introducing new amenity kits which include ink pens, an item passengers often request from flight attendants. "We're always watching what others are doing and we'll take the necessary steps to stay competitive," he adds. But there are no plans for bed-seats. The recent phasing out of its McDonnell Douglas DC-10s means all its long-haul aircraft - Boeing 777s and 767s - are equipped with lap-top computer power-points.
United Airlines has no plans to change its first- or business-class products; it has been installing bed-seats in its first-class cabins, except in 767s, and adding "economy plus" spacing in the economy sections of long-haul aircraft.
But one thing is clear - the trend towards product differentiation will continue. "There's almost been a paradigm shift," Jenks says. "Now, if someone successfully emulates you, you have to go do something else."
Source: Airline Business
