Air New Zealand has had its SkyNest concept in development for the past five years. It has now announced it is ready for prime time.
for the past five years. It announced on Tuesday it is ready for prime time – in 2024. The seats are fully flat, made up with real mattresses plus cooling pillows and bedding. They are located in the back of the plane, right behind the premium economy cabin. But like everything to do with flying today, there is plenty of fine print on this announcement.First, the seats will not be included in the price of an economy ticket.
“It’s been 170,000 hours of design, constant evolutions of small and large design developments, tweaks and engineering feats to get to where we are,” said Leanne Geraghty, the airline’s chief customer and sales officer. She said the final product reflected lots of customer feedback. “They weren’t shy to tell us what the pain points were, what worked well and where we could improve.” The next phase of customer research, she said, would focus on what people are willing to pay for it.
Travellers who happen to have a row to themselves are welcome to use the SkyCouch at no extra cost. But Geraghty says SkyNests will not be made available on a complimentary basis if they are otherwise going unused. Each bed is made for just one person with no weight limit. Unlike with a SkyCouch, a parent will not be able to share a bed with their child.
But Air New Zealand is ready to do its part. Not only is it using the future SkyNest concept as a promotional chip to stoke interest in the nearer term, it is also serving up a good reminder that the airline’s SkyCouch does offer a more comfortable way to handle ultra-long trips on its 777 and 787-9 aircraft.