Check Out Singapore Airlines' New A380 Business Class Product
In addition to its next-generation Suites product, Singapore Airlines also introduced a new business-class product that will make its debut on its upcoming refreshed A380. While the new Suites product feels like a radical change, this new business-class product feels more evolutionary.
Business class on the A380 will consist of 78 seats arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration on the aircraft's upper deck. Each seat is 25 inches wide and offers 50 inches of pitch. When fully reclined, each bed measures 78 inches, or 6'6".
The most exciting feature of this new product without a doubt is that the paired seats can be converted into a double bed. It's similar to Qatar's new Qsuite business-class product, though Singapore's biz seats don't feature sliding doors.
If you're traveling alone and don't want to use the double bed feature, there's plenty of privacy even in the middle seats thanks in large part to a sizable privacy divider.
As mentioned above, these seats don't feature doors, but their unique shells make them feel plenty private. The color scheme is pretty great, too.
Speaking of that shell, these seats are constructed primarily from carbon fiber as opposed to metal which is most commonly used. As a result, the base of the seat is much thinner, which allows for more storage space at each seat. In fact, you can fit a standard carry-on sized bag under the seat in front of you.
All seats feature a large, 18-inch IFE screen — the same size as those found in the new Delta One Suites. In addition, there's a panel that contains both USB and AC power so you'll have no trouble staying powered up on a long flight.
One glaring drawback of this seat, however, is the awkward, angled foot cubby as you can see in the picture above. If anyone's flown in business class on Singapore's A350, then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Basically, when you recline, the only place for your feet is that cubby, which is not centered, meaning you have to angle your whole body to stretch out, like you can see in this picture of TPG reclined in the seat:
There is a way to avoid this less-than-ideal situation — by snagging a seat in a bulkhead row. There are three bulkheads in business class on the new A380 so your chances are better than they would be on other aircraft. Below is what your bed will look like if you are able to score a bulkhead seat.
The first A380 with the new business-class product will be flying as of December 18, 2017 on the route between Singapore (SIN) and Sydney (SYD). After that, the carrier plans to take delivery of four more new A380s and will perform a complete retrofits of the rest of its A380s by 2020.
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