The competition for the “high yield”, that is profitable, business class market is red-hot out of Sydney. Not one but three airlines: Qantas, Singapore Air and Emirates are all planning to have the new A380’s flying the Singapore-Sydney route by February 2009. The game just got a whole lot harder for airlines with the worsening world economy so filling these seats are even more important to the airlines now.

Singapore Airlines A380

Qantas was actually the first airline to introduce business class: they added priority luggage collection, a private cabin with its own staff, an “exclusive” coat closet and an “ever open” free bar service back in the 1970’s. Things have come a long way since then. We have been past the lie-flat chairs (which had an annoying slope) to the true lie-flat (aka horizontal) bed. The extra-wide seats now come complete with enough controls to run the Starship Enterprise. On-demand movies, power points for the laptop and of course top chef quality food are all stand items in business class these days.

Emirates A380 Business Class Interior

The minimum to even be in the big league of business class these days is a seat width of more than 20 inches and a seat pitch (that’s the distance between seats) of at least 73 inches (185cm). Lets check out what the big three are offering on the Sydney-Singapore route. But remember that these seat specifications ONLY apply to the A380’s on this route, you need to know which aircraft type you are booking to ensure these comfort levels.

Singapore Air
Singapore Air wins hands down is top of the 2008 Business Class Survey results at flatseats.com. Why? Well not only does their cabin look spacious; it is. The business seats are 34 inches (84cm) wide and 78 inch length (you sleep diagonally). Singapore conducted market research and found out that their customers cared less about spas and mile-high showers and more about a flat bed and more personal space. Asian travellers in particular, hate having to climb over a stranger and Singapore Air offers their business class pod style with only four seats across the aircraft, no clambering. Also on offer is a big monitor, hundreds of choices on the Krisworld video-on-demand, noise-canceling headphones and conveniently located laptop power, USB ports and a headphone socket.

Emirates A380 : Interior Business Class

Emirates
Emirates, like Singapore Air, also locate their business class on the upper deck. Narrower than Singapore’s seat its still comfortably wide and the length of 79 inches (210 cm) is more than adequate. The seats are staggered so everyone gets aisle access. There is a shoe box which doubles as a foot rest (and yes it takes big-sized western shoes!). There is a place for your laptop and even your glass. You get a wireless PDA to navigate your electronic environment from the chair’s message function to the 1000 entertainment options on the 43cm LCD screen. You can access the bar and mingle with first class - but you won’t have access to their showers.

Qantas
The flying kangaroo has gone for longer rather than wider: their seats have the most generous seat pitch of 80 inches (203cm). The cabin configuration is 2-2-2 so you may have to step over the bed to exit. The LCD monitor is only 31cm, and is the only one of the three airline’s to be stowed in the arm rest. The usual facilities of on-demand video, USB, laptop power

Qantas A380 Taking off, Brisbane

The reports are that booking to and from Asia are significantly down and the travel industry is worried. The first few months of next your could be a great opportunity to grab a bargain on any of these airlines: and even Qantas’s A380 business class looks pretty darn good compared to the view in economy!

Photo Credit tripletrouble HendraLee

Three big long-haul airlines have bought the A380 in quantity: Singapore Air, Qantas and Emirates: but which is best and why?

With the Olympic spotlight on Beijing - Singapore Airlines, the first in the world to operate the A380 super jumbo, is flying A380s to Beijing to meet higher demand ahead of the Olympic Games. Singapore Air started flying A380’s back in March for their long-haul route to London and have also used them on the route to Tokyo since May. The efficient and pragmatic Singaporeans have beaten everyone else to the punch, as usual. On past record they will probably offer the cheapest deals to the get less well-heeled onto the A380 too.

Qantas is later to the party: they won’t be flying their A380’s to London until 2009 but will start using them on the Pacific route to LA from October 2008, nothing to do with the upcoming competition on that route from Virgin of course. Emirates is already flying A380’s to New York ex-Dubai, and if you want to get to New Zealand on the A380 - Emirates will be your only airline choice as the A380 will fly the Brisbane-Auckland route.

So apart from routes how do these three key A380 operating airlines compare and which is best for which type of customer:

For the Environmentally Concerned: who lets face should probably take a luxury cruise anyway . Qantas is keen to point out that:

“A380 will deliver up to 10% improvement in fuel efficiency and carbon emissions per revenue tonne kilometre than today’s largest jets”.

Now we are not sure of the meaning of that statement, or its grammatical correctness, but it is an interesting contrast to the Emirates A380 presentation which starts with

“For the first time in aviation history you can indulge in an invigorating shower at 43,000 feet. Located on the upper deck, in front of the First Class cabin are two exquisitely designed on board Showers for our First Class customers. Arrive at your destination revitalized and refreshed.”

Now this blog has already pointed out the silliness of mile-high showers ; but it says something about the respective cultures that operate Qantas and Emirates. Qantas wants to look good environmentally - Emirates wants to do drop-dead luxury - you choose!

For Those Concerned about Equality:
Qantas is offering 4 classes: First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy. The premium economy seats are on the upper level behind business, and offer better leg room the number one complaint of every customer enduring cattle class. This is a nice touch and we think this makes Qantas the winners for giving the poor people a chance to escape the huddled masses in economy.

For those who Want Luxury

Emirates doesn’t have First Class, they offer Private Suites. Yes first class isn’t a very large lay flat seat anymore - its a complete cabin - with a door - you don’t have to interact with anyone for the entire fight if that’s what you want. There is also an exclusive, first class only, lounge with mood lighting no less, if you do want to talk to humans. If you are feeling like pushing your boundaries than you can also choose to mingle with the hoi-polloi in the upper-level business class lounge

Emirates first class suites look like a mini-cruise ship cabin; complete with sliding door, a personal mini-bar, vanity table, mirror and wardrobe. Faux woodgrain features prominently in the interior design. In contrast Qantas’s First class offering is - well a bit minimal on the design front really. And its not completely private, and the TV is smaller, and there’s no shower, and there’s no exclusive 1st class on-board lounge, and - and this one is a surprising omission - there is no private mini-bar - you will have to call the help for a drink!

For Tall People:
Qantas states up front how long the first class bed is (212cm) - possibly more important for your average tall Australian? In contrast to Emirates there appears to be no wardrobe or mirror - lets face the average Australian doesn’t care that much about their appearance just give us that leg room!

For Poor People:
Along with the option of more leg room than economy in the premium economy section Qantas also offers economy passenger a self-service snack bar, along with all the normal food and drink of course an even the nice touch of a 110V outlet even in economy.

Which is nice but Singapore Air has always had a much better cabin service and much better discounts than Qantas and Emirates - Singapore Air all the way on this one!