IN THE ongoing race for share of pie in the sky, Singapore Airlines has unveiled its latest slew of cabin products.
To be loaded on board the latest Airbus A380 aircraft, the sweeping changes include new looks for all cabins, new dining items, and the introduction of myKrisWorld.
More Cabin Space
The new cabin is built around the theme “Space made personal, experience the difference”. A mouthful that doesn’t inspire enough to fire the imagination.
To the airline’s credit, the cabin products are of a quality that will help it stay among the top tier of the industry.
The new kit will be installed in 19 SIA A380s, to a tune of US$850 million, and will take off from next month in five new aircraft. Retrofit work for the 14 existing A380s is expected to be completed by 2020.
The six suites in the upper deck are furnished with a full-flate bed and an adjustable swivel leather chair upholstered by Poltrona Frau.
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Business Class seats go fully flat and is surrounded by a larger black carbon fibre shell than before. The centre divider can be lowered to form double beds, which would be ideal for customers. Within reach are several must-haves for today’s travellers, including USB ports, in-seat power and stowage space.
The Premium Economy cabin has stylish seats and enhanced in-flight entertainment, while the Economy Class cabin has more space.
Sustainable Food
After four years of work, the various classes showcase elements from different designers and manufacturers. The resulting ensemble doesn’t have a sense of continuity when viewed as a whole, though is attractive on its own.
Dine on Wedgwood, Lalique and Narumi tableware, depending on class of cabin you are in.
The food onboard will feature more sustainable ingredients and fresh local produce. This practice will be filtered down from Suites to the rest of the cabins over time.
And while dining in the various cabins, customers can access myKrisWorld, a new in-flight entertainment experience that lets you have a more customised content including personalised playlists.
However, with high-speed inflight WiFi available, you may not be able to enjoy myKrisWorld if the office can reach you!
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Kannan, this is indeed amazing and the most recent iteration of the interior is also fabulous. My fundamental issue with SIA at the moment is the inconsistency of the interior product. For a (uber) premium price point, one never knows which of the configurations one will get & is often disappointed on the downside, particularly when flying within ASEAN, where most of the planes are still carrying the old/dated product which is fine, it is was priced at the right level. In Australia, the sort of advertising undertaken by SIA showing their (excellent) business product would be liable to complaints under Section 32A of the Trade Practices Act for false and misleading advertising. This requires urgent attention on the airline’s part as it is affecting their brand. The fact that we wonder what the product will be as we get on the plane is not a good sign. You cannot say that for other premium brands.
Dear George, Thank you for your comment. Let me send it to SIA and see what they have to say about it.
This is the comment from the SIA Public Affairs Duty Officer: “Due to lead times in taking delivery of new aircraft and in retrofitting existing aircraft, it is not possible to deploy our newest cabin products on all our services. However, we constantly strive to provide our customers with highly competitive and comfortable products across our network. For example, we have been adding many new aircraft in recent years with our newest products, such as the Airbus A350-900s, in addition to retrofitting Boeing 777-300ERs with new seats. In the case of the A380, the new cabins will initially be fitted on five new aircraft that we have on firm order, the first of which will operate between Singapore and Sydney from 18 December. In addition, fourteen existing A380s will be retrofitted with the new cabins progressively from late 2018, with completion targeted for 2020. Moreover, our airfares are dynamic and are based on demand and supply rather than aircraft types.”
Looks like you’ll have to cross your fingers and hope you get the new cabins on your next flight, George.