Singapore Air Introduces new non stop service

[eltib 54]

Don't know if I'll use it, unless the price matches EVA Air

 

 

Longest Flight In the World Set to Take Off

Singapore Air Tweaks Menus, Adds Movies to Help Fliers Bear 18-Hour-Plus

Haul From L.A.

 

The Wall Street Journal   10/15/03

author: Andy Pasztor

(Copyright © 2003, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

 

 

 

 

Singapore Airlines is set to launch the longest nonstop commercial flight in

the world: 18½ bone-weary hours from Los Angeles to Singapore.

 

 

That's a stunning testament to how safe and reliable engines and other

systems on jetliners have become. But it also creates a challenge -- how to

make sitting in an aluminum tube high above the earth for three-quarters of

a day an enjoyable experience.

 

 

To make the flight less grueling, Singapore wants to take some of the

amenities already enjoyed by first-class and business-class passengers, and

offer them to everyone. Instead of the knee-bruising seat layout typically

found in the back of the plane, passengers will get extra legroom, a huge

increase in the number of on-demand videos and an endless supply of

munchies. The new service, which is expected to be announced Wednesday in

Singapore, will offer only two classes: business class, and a new, hybrid

"executive economy" class with the extra perks.

 

 

It's the latest effort by airlines to keep passengers comfortable as

long-haul flights get longer and longer. In recent years, as new flight

paths over Russia and the polar regions have been opened to carriers,

so-called ultra long nonstop flights (the ones lasting 14 hours or more)

have mushroomed. The current record-holding flights include: Continental

Airlines' Newark-Hong Kong flight, and the Qantas and United Airlines

Sydney-Los Angeles routes, all of which can stay aloft up to 15 hours.

 

 

Given the vast improvements in aircraft efficiency and safety, nonstop trips

lasting up to 22 hours are on the horizon, says Stuart Matthews, president

of the Flight Safety Foundation. One stumbling block is figuring out how

passengers can cope with such a long flight. LONG-HAUL UPGRADE * Singapore

Air's new "executive economy" has wider armrests, more on-demand movies, and

all-you-can-eat munchies. * Planes can fly longer nonstop routes because of

better engines and fuel efficiency. * Other long-haul carriers include

Emirates, British Airways and Qantas

 

 

Improvements in engine reliability, fuel efficiency and onboard navigational

equipment have played an important role in allowing carriers to fly longer

nonstop routes. But so have regulators and pilots, who for years have been

studying ways to enhance fire-suppression systems, beef up requirements for

reserve fuel, and upgrade rest areas for crews.

 

 

Singapore Air's new flight is a risky gambit in the current market. Both

Asian airlines and big U.S. carriers that ply the trans-Pacific route have

been hit by a decline in business and leisure travel, a trend compounded by

the severe acute respiratory syndrome scare. Poor economic conditions

prompted Singapore to lay off employees for the first time in two decades.

 

 

The airline is also making a break from the traditional sardine-can approach

that airlines use to make sure they make money flying these expensive,

long-haul flights. Its new executive economy class -- there will be no

traditional economy seats -- is somewhat less plush than regular business

class. But it will have about 20% fewer seats than in traditional Airbus

A340s, providing more legroom. The airline plans to charge a few hundred

dollars above Wednesday's full-price, unrestricted economy ticket of up to

$3,400 on the route, which now includes a stopover.

 

 

Singapore's strategy is also likely to heighten the race to grab passengers

among the big players in the world of long-haul flights. Emirates, Virgin

Atlantic, British Airways, AMR's American Airlines and UAL's United Airlines

have all been upgrading cabins, aggressively tailoring fares and adjusting

marketing strategies to take into account the changed economic climate.

 

 

Singapore sees its direct-to-the-U.S. flight as critical because it is the

only real way it can grab a bigger slice of the U.S. market. Currently,

competitors siphon off business with flights to various Asian hubs, from

which passengers can fly onward to Singapore. But with the L.A.-Singapore

flight, travelers can save up to two hours or more on one leg of their trip

in part by avoiding layovers, the airline says.

 

 

But its marketing concept of a comfier-but-pricier coach hasn't really been

tested on international flights yet. A few domestic airlines , including

United, have inched in that direction by increasing legroom in a select few

coach seats -- then saving those seats for preferred customers.

 

 

As recently as the 1960s, even routine flights from the West Coast to Europe

were interrupted by refueling breaks in Greenland or Iceland. The drive

toward ever-longer routes picked up steam in the late 1990s, when escalating

demands from businessmen for nonstop service combined with new airplane

models boasting more powerful engines and increased range. A major milestone

was the U.S. government's approval about four years ago of new nonstop

routes in the Northern Pacific for the latest generation of Boeing

twin-engine aircraft. Twin-engine planes that operate over extended

stretches of ocean are subject to more-stringent maintenance standards, and

are held to higher performance standards than the three- and four-engine

jets that ply the same routes.

 

 

Singapore's four-engine Airbus plane will hold seven seats across, instead

of eight abreast that is normal in such a wide-body. Seat cushions will be 2

inches wider, have 5 inches more legroom and provide a 3-inch-wider armrest

than Singapore's existing economy configurations.

 

 

While those are basically modest enhancements, airline officials insist they

will seem much more significant after the 9,500-mile flight. A power port

for laptops will be available for every two passengers, and travelers

eventually will be able to pick from 250 videos that can be played on 9-inch

(rather than the typical 6-inch) seatback screens.

 

 

To distract and amuse travelers as the plane speeds through multiple time

zones, both the business and the executive-economy cabins will have cozy

corner spaces where passengers can stretch their muscles, nibble on snacks

and socialize with one other.

[Scatter 2]

I wonder how long before we can get a direct flight US to BKK.

[VoxVader 1]

I wonder how long before we can get a direct flight US to BKK.

 

I just read a day or two ago--I swear I thought it was on this site!--that Thai air has orders in for long haul Airbuses that will be used to offer a direct BKK-LAX service starting in 2005.

 

I really wonder if a 18-19 hour direct flight is better than one were you get to get out of the plane after 10-12 hours and still have an extra leg.  I'm not sure I could take 18+ hours in coach.  I could probably do it in business class.

 

-Vox

[VoxVader 1]

Again, I think someone posted this already, but I'm not sure where.

 

http://www.asiatraveltips.com/travelnews03.../68Airbus.shtml

 

-Vox

[CheshireTom 1,377]

VoxVader,

 

Thai has eight A340s on order - three A340-500 and five A340-600.  Presumably the 600s are to serve west coast USA and the longer range 500s will serve the east coast non-stop to BKK.  Delivery is due in 2005 along with the new airport, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

Regards,

 

Tom

[Emil 0]

Vox,

 

I've flown Cathay Pacific and it takes a little less than 15 hours from SFO to Hong Kong, so I would guess that if the plane flew direct to Bangkok it could make it in about 17 hours.  On the return from Hong Kong to SFO it's only about 12 hours when you have the jet stream pushing you.  The trip isn't to bad if you can get some sleep and you have the personal movie screens to help pass the time.

 

Emil

[upena 2]

I don't understand the big deal.  I flew fromTokyo, Japan to Chicago non-stop over 20 years ago.  You would think that the airlines could do LAX to BKK or HNL to BKK non-stop today.  Oh well

[Emil 0]

The planes could can do it, but the problem is filling all the seats of the 747.  They can fill the seats now because many of the passengers are departing at Hong Kong or Narita to either visit there or are intransit to another country.  When the new airport is completed and it becomes a hub for other airlines hopefully we will have the non stops.

 

Emil

[VoxVader 1]

Well, if they've already ordered the planes I would hope they would be able to get the routes going.

 

I suppose 17 hours might not be too bad. Prescription sleeping pills and a few DVD's might get me through it.

 

However, I hope to be living in LOS by 2005!!

 

So will the new airport be connected to the subway that "opened" this year?  

 

-Vox

[echster 1]

Looks like I've found my new way to the LOS from LAX!  I truly hate stopping in Tokyo or Taipei and would gladly pay for the convienence of a non-stop flight.

 

If TG gets in gear and starts the service in 2005, I'll definitely book that way.  Check-in at LAX with next stop Pattaya instead of who knows where.

 

February 2004

SIN-LAX would be 16 hours

LAX-SIN would be 18.5 hours

 

August 2004

SIN-NYC-SIN would be 18 hours both ways

 

The aircraft - A340-500 - will be 2-class (Business and an Economy Plus).

 

A345 Raffles (Business) Class

 

The A345LeaderShip Raffles Class cabin will feature 64 of SIA’s renowned lie-flat SpaceBeds in a 2-2-2 seat layout, with a larger seat pitch of 64”.

 

The SpaceBed offers a bed width of 26” and a bed length of 78”, as well as an adjustable headrest, leg rest and lumbar support.   The 10.4” personal video monitor will enable customers to enjoy SIA’s comprehensive in-flight entertainment system in style, and an AC power supply outlet at every seat will be welcomed by the traveller who wishes to power up his laptop.

 

A345 Executive Economy Class

 

This new SIA class of travel will offer 117 Executive Economy Class seats in a 2-3-2 configuration, with a seat pitch of 37” and a seat-back recline of 8”. It will also feature a seat width of 20”, a leather adjustable headrest, an innovative leg rest and foot rest, and a 9” personal video monitor for in-flight entertainment. In addition, SIA has introduced AC power supply outlets in the Executive Economy cabin.

 

Personal note:  That's almost equivalent to the BR economy deluxe class.