Air New Zealand has had a Skynest concept in development for the past five years and announced on 28 June that it is ready for prime time in 2024. The seats are completely flat, built with genuine mattresses and cooling pillows and bedding, and are located in the rear of the plane, just behind the premium economy cabin. But like everything with flying today, there’s a lot of fine print on this announcement.
First, the seats will not be included in the economy ticket price. The Skynests are a separate product, the bunk beds stacked three high, and are bookable in only four-hour increments—the amount of time the airline has set in addition to allow guests two sleep cycles (which is usually about 90 minutes). determined over time. Wind down and wake up. Each plane being fitted with them will have six of these “pods,” which will be rotated between “sessions” by cabin attendants, who clean and replace linens in 30-minute cleaning windows.
Additional cost of skynest lie-flat seat Not yet determined, but it will be available to anyone in economy or premium economy. Pricing will be the same regardless of ticket class, although Air New Zealand has yet to decide whether it will be fixed or dynamic based on demand or timings within the flight.
“It’s been 170,000 hours of design, the constant evolution of design developments small and large, with tweaks and engineering feats where we are,” says Leanne Geraghty, the airline’s chief customer and sales officer. customer feedback. “They weren’t shy about telling us what the pain points were, what worked well and where we could improve,” she explains. She adds that the next phase of customer research will revolve around what people are willing to pay for it.
Another bit of fine print: it’s only a true “first” if you stick to the definition of “pods”. Air New Zealand already has a lie-flat option in economy, called the SkyCouch – this allows fliers to extend a specially designed footrest from all three seats in an economy row, So that effectively widens those seats and turns the section into a makeshift bed. It is extremely popular with families, who can lie horizontally in a row booked together. But the option can also be booked for a solo traveller; Booking three economy seats from New York or Chicago to Auckland costs about $3,000, while a seat in business class costs about $5,000.
Unlike the SkyCouch, the Skynest won’t have pesky gaps and raised armrests between seats—plus the mattress will be thicker, as it’s designed to serve as a bed. But given the four-hour session, you’ll only be able to use it for a nap.
The airline hasn’t decided yet whether you can book multiple sessions back-to-back, but demand will likely not allow it; On the current configuration of Air New Zealand’s Boeing 787-9s, there are 248 seats in premium economy and economy cabins, leaving as many passengers vying for the approximately 18 available slots. (Depending on the dimensions—the beds are 80 inches long—it’s likely that six bunks will take the place of some 12 or so seats.)
While travelers who have a line to themselves are welcome to use SkyCouch at no additional cost, Geraghty says Skynest will not be made available on a complimentary basis if they are otherwise going unused. Each bed is made for just one person whose weight isn’t limited, and unlike the SkyCouch, parents won’t be able to share the bed with their child.
Skynests will go into service in 2024 on Air New Zealand’s ultralong-haul nonstop routes, such as planes serving Chicago or New York to Auckland. The direct New York routes, starting this September, will be one of the longest flights in the world, taking 17.5 hours. 15-hour flights from Chicago will begin in October.
It’s part of a bid to spark interest in traveling to New Zealand’s big, bucket list. The country is holding off on keeping its international borders open longer than almost any other and targeting more affluent and conscientious consumers as it rethinks its reliance on mass tourism. Restoring Airlift—convenient and reliable access to flights—is one of the country’s biggest challenges in doing so.
But Air New Zealand is ready to do its job. Not only is it using the futuristic Skynest concept as a promotional chip to spur interest in the near future, it’s also a good reminder that the airline’s SkyCouch is more capable of handling ultralong trips on its 777 and 787-9 planes. Provides a comfortable way.
And the carrier is also changing its cabin features completely, from business to economy, with lighter-weight designs that are meant to cut back on carbon emissions—more about fabric upholstery rather than leather seats at the front of the plane. Think, or thin dishes for food service. They may not be glamorous upgrades, but they reflect the reality of today’s aviation environment in which shrinking cost (and crucially, fuel use) inevitably outweighs all.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.