Singapore Airlines unveils S$2 billion premium cabin overhaul with double beds and sofas

A premium push after losing ground

Singapore Airlines plans to spend more than S$2 billion ($1.6 billion) renovating its long-haul aircraft, including sofas in first class. The company is betting that travellers will keep splurging on flights despite high ticket prices. It showed the new products in Singapore on Friday, 6 November. Skytrax named Singapore the world's best overall airline this year, yet the carrier has lost ground in premium travel to rivals that invested heavily in cabin upgrades. Long-haul airlines now also court a newer type of wealthy holidaymaker who books the front of the plane, not only corporate travellers. Flights have become far more expensive than they used to be, but airlines still invest in comfortable business and first class seats, which remain in strong demand.

What the new cabins offer

The first class bed spans two adjoining seats and measures 203cm (80 inches) long and 152cm (60 inches) wide across both. Cabin crew make it up with a mattress topper from the German bedding specialist Paradies, a duvet and a choice of pillows. Emirates and Etihad both offer first class beds 82 inches long, so Singapore's is shorter, though its combined width is greater than the Gulf offerings.

Singapore Airlines80

Emirates82

Etihad82

Singapore Airlines

80 inches

Emirates

82 inches

Etihad

82 inches

Data from the article text

The Financial Times reports four first class seats on Singapore's Airbus A350 flights and six on its Boeing 777 aircraft.

Airbus A350 (FT)4

Boeing 777 (FT)6

Airbus A350 (FT)

4 seats

Boeing 777 (FT)

6 seats

Data from the article text

In business class, some seats can also be converted into a double bed, and sliding doors add privacy. Passengers also get high-resolution screens and a wine list featuring Château Ducru-Beaucaillou and Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. Handelsblatt says the standard A350-900 will not receive a new first class at all.

Development, delays and design

Lee Hsin, the airline's chief commercial officer, presented the cabin in Singapore and said it gives customers more comfort and more control on board, whether they work, eat, relax or rest. Development of the business class seat alone took more than seven years, and it was developed in the middle of the pandemic. The airline had planned to unveil the seat in June, but certification stalled. According to industry circles, regulators needed clarification on how the mandatory three-point seatbelt attaches to the seat for the Airbus A350. Lufthansa and other airlines have faced similar certification problems, and Singapore Airlines declined to comment on the details.

Recaro chief Mark Hiller says the airline received strong government support during the crisis and kept investing in the seats. Recaro produces the business class seats in Schwäbisch Hall. BMW Designworks, the design unit of the Munich carmaker which has owned it since the 1990s, shaped the look. Studio director Julia de Bono said the team applied its car design thinking to the cabin, aiming to bring control, focus and accessibility to the business traveller. The table unfolds at the push of a button, the smartphone charges by induction, and the seat converts into a flat bed behind a sliding door.

Timing and the Boeing dependency

The new cabins enter the market gradually from the second half of 2027. Their first class debut depends on Boeing starting deliveries of the 777-9, whose delivery Wirtschafts Woche says has been delayed by around seven years. Lufthansa is expected to be the first airline to operate the new first class, which would bring it to Frankfurt in the medium term. The business class could arrive earlier on converted A350-900 aircraft at Frankfurt or Munich, although the timetable remains uncertain.

Industry context

Brendan Sobie, an independent aviation analyst and consultant, said the rivals have moved faster and more aggressively at the top end of the market.

“Singapore Airlines' rivals have been faster in terms of the upgrades to their products and more aggressive in positioning themselves at the top end of the market.”

Qatar Airways has been named best airline for business class by Skytrax in seven of the past ten years, largely because of its Qsuites, which offer sliding doors and flat beds. Singapore's revamp is meant to win back the lead in luxury travel.