Carry on: Singapore goes premium, Qantas sparkles on Tasman and more

Singapore introduces premium economy
Singapore Airlines will introduce its first premium economy class on the Singapore-Sydney service from August 9, joining a number of other long-haul carriers who offer this in the Asia-Pacific region. The new class will subsequently be made available to other destinations served by Airbus A380 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Premium economy will also be installed in SIA’s future fleet of Airbus A350s.

Although a newcomer to premium economy, SIA says it started on design concepts in November 2013, with seat manufacturers ZIM Flugsitz (for the A380 and 777-300ER) and Zodiac Seats (for the A350), and JPA Design. Each will offer 38in of pitch compared with 32 in standard economy and the ability to recline eight inches, plus a calf rest and foot bar. Passengers will have priority check-in and boarding, access to two USB plugs, a universal power plug and wi-fi, plus 13in high-definition monitors that come with noise-cancelling headphones.

The total investment for the new cabin class, which will initially be introduced on 19 A380s, 19 777-300ERs and the first 20 A350s, is estimated at $US80 million. Flights to Auckland, Beijing, Delhi, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, London, Mumbai, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Zurich will have premium economy in the latter part of 2015 and early 2016.

Qantas adds sparkle to transtasman run
Qantas has entered the spirit of Valentine’s Day by adding Champagne and new amenity kits in business class on its transtasman and New Caledonia flights. Jacquart Cuvee Brut Mosaique NV, Champagne Duval-Leroy Brut NV and NV Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve will be served. Business customers will also be given amenity kits designed by Kate Spade and Jack Spade on services between Australia and Auckland departing after 6pm.

Mobile app cuts in-flight paperwork
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has introduced a new mobile application for cabin crew to deliver more personalised customer service and to automate and streamline in-flight processes for cabin crew. The TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) CrewCollab Solution is a tablet-based application that replaces former paper customer service lists, flight information and crew lists.

AA’s Dreamliner goes international
American Airlines has decided its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner international routes will connect Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Beijing and Buenos Aires. The airline received its first 787 on January 23 and it will go into regular service on May 7 with flights between D/FW and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Beijing will be added on June 2 and Buenos Aires on June 4.

Cathay adds Düsseldorf to network
Cathay Pacific Airways is expanding its European network with a new four-times-weekly service to Düsseldorf in Germany’s industrial heartland from September 1 (subject to government approval). Düsseldorf will become the airline’s second destination in Germany, after Frankfurt.

Explore new languages
Emirates is adding two more languages to its in-flight entertainment system. Films are now available in the Pashto, one of Afghanistan’s two official languages, and next month Igbo – a language spoken primarily in southeastern Nigeria ¬– will also be available.  This will bring the total of languages in the film offering to 35.

Route news of the week
China Southern has further revised its planned operations to Australia and New Zealand for northern summer 2015 season, mainly on aircraft changes. The once daily Guangzhou-Auckland route will use Boeing 777-300ERs from March 29 until April 10.
This will switch to a Boeing 787-8 from April 11 to June 19. A three-weekly service using A330-200 aircraft will run from then until the daily 787 service resumes on August 1. Solomon Airlines will resume a once-weekly Honiara-Sydney service from June 1 with Airbus A320 aircraft.

Qantas will increase the frequency of its Brisbane-Tokyo Narita service to daily instead of four weekly using an A330-300. The airline has removed its proposed schedule for the Perth-Singapore service, which was to use a 737-800 on daily basis from June 13. Qantas last operated this route in July 2014 with A330-200/300 aircraft.