We expect Singapore’s new first-class suites will be considered among the world’s best products. But the airline still faces intense competition from Gulf and Asian airlines. It’s not clear how much this cabin update will help on that front.
When Singapore Airlines introduced its first suite in 2007, coinciding with the inaugural Airbus A380 passenger flight, it was a big deal. No airline had ever put a double bed on an airplane, and the product, with its opulent leather compartments, was so novel journalists asked if the airline would bar passengers from having sex on board.
A decade later, Singapore Airlines still delights long-haul passengers with that suite, and that makes for an impressively long run in an industry in which even the most advanced products become obsolete within five years. But it’s no longer the world’s most opulent product, having been eclipsed a couple of years ago by Etihad Airways and its first class “apartment.”
On its A380s, Etihad put two suites on each side of the upper-deck aisle, while Singapore’s decade-old configuration has four on the wider lower deck.
On Thursday, Singapore tried to catch up, introducing a massive new suite for 19 Airbus A380s, including five new aircraft set to arrive soon from Airbus. The first airplane with the new product will debut December 18 on the Singapore-Syndey route, though the airline does not expect every A380 to have the new update until 2020.
Singapore’s executives say the suites are 60 percent larger than what they replace, and each will have both a leather recliner and a single bed. Couples in some rows may combine suites to make an extra-large compartment complete with a double bed.
At its launch event in Singapore, the airline also introduced new business-class and economy-class products for the A380s, though neither is as innovative as the new suites. Business class does have at least one new fun feature — couples in center seats can combine seats to make a double bed. It’s similar to a new seat from Qatar Airways called the QSuite.
The announcement comes at a difficult time for Singapore. Once, it was the unabashed leader in long-haul luxury, but increasingly, other airlines have caught up, adding not only first class suites, but also over-the-top features like showers and onboard bars.
Like U.S. and European airlines, Singapore faces tough competition from the three main Gulf carriers — Etihad, Emirates and Qatar. But it also must compete for passengers with Chinese carriers, who still lag Singapore’s quality but have improved their products in recent years, while offering relatively cheap long-haul fares.
Interestingly, Singapore is spending roughly $850 million on the A380 cabins — a figure that includes research and development costs — even as it tries to pare costs elsewhere.
Last month, Singapore outlined a three-year program to make the carrier more efficient and profitable. Reports indicted Singapore was looking at more than 50 initiatives, including lowering fuel burn and offering more self-service options for passengers, as well as implementing strategies to reduce onboard food and drink waste. This announcement came several months after the airline reported its first quarterly loss in five years.
The A380 is an iconic airplane for Singapore, but it accounts for a small portion of the airline’s fleet, with many of its long-haul routes flown by Airbus A350s and Boeing 777-300ERs. Only one flight to the United States — New York to Frankfurt to Singapore — is operated by the A380. Other destinations from Singapore include Auckland, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, and Paris.
That means relatively few passengers will ever fly Singapore’s A380s. And far fewer will ever experience the airline’s Suites Class. But at Skift we love innovative airlines, so let’s look at the new products introduced Thursday.
SUITES CLASS
With its 21-inch wide leather armchair and separate 27-inch wide bed, the new suite looks more like a miniature hotel room than an aircraft cabin.
It comes with large sliding doors and adjustable blinds, offering unusual privacy, even compared to other first-class cabins. Passengers may control their suite’s lighting, just as at home. They’ll also have a 32-inch high-definition monitor to watch movies and television.
Travelers will be able to store belongings in the suite, rather than in overhead bins. Each suite will have a dedicated space for handbags, an important feature, one executive said, for female customers who didn’t like stowing their Birkin bags in a bin or on the floor.
In an interview, Singapore CEO Goh Choon Phong said the airline surveyed its best passengers and learned they wanted neither onboard showers nor a bar, so unlike Etihad and Emirates, Singapore will have neither.
“They wanted more space,” he said. “They wanted more privacy. They wanted more convenience, like in where to place things. And they wanted more comfort. This is exactly what we have given them.”
The suites cabin will be much smaller than today’s, with only six seats, compared to 12, and it’ll be upstairs rather than on the lower deck. Having a dozen suites was probably too many, since the market of potential passengers willing spend $10,000 or more on a round-trip ticket is small, said Brendan Sobie, the Singapore-based chief analyst for CAPA – Centre for Aviation.
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