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!

South East Asia has a huge amount to offer as a luxury destination and visiting Indochina will make for a memorable holiday. Traditional luxury destinations such as Thailand’s Islands or Singapore are still great but my current pick is Indochina, one of my favourite parts of Asia with an enormous amount to offer as a luxury destination.

Indochina is the colonial name for what is now Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Their colonial legacy saw Indochina, suffer through decades of war and repression during and after WWII In the last ten years though the region is finally, after decades of destruction followed by more years of neglect,is finally emerging as a luxury destination for the more adventurous holiday-maker. The French weren’t very good at the boring bits of colonisation i.e. governance and infrastructure but they did leave behind two wonderful legacies: architecture and food. The French who visit Vietnam claim that the baguettes ubiquitously available for breakfast throughout the country are better than the those available in France today, probably because they are not mass-produced.

For the luxury traveller options are developing rapidly in all three countries. Old hotels are being renovated beautifully and new luxurious one’s being built by overseas investors. Prices tend to be quoted in US$, to which many of the local currencies are pegged. This is not only handy because you don’t have to keep your kip/dong/bhat straight - but if your investments are in other than US$ you know what good value you will be getting.

South East Asia’s gateway cities are generally: Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. You arrive and depart by some of the world’s newest and best designed airports and get the option of flying in the lap of luxury with airlines such as Singapore Airlines which is currently of course offering the new A380 offering effectively private cabins in first class. The flight time to the main destinations of Indochina from any of these cities varies from 30 minutes (Bangkok to Luang Prabang, Laos) to nearly 2 hours (Singapore to Hanoi)

One of the things with Indochina is that thanks to the Americans the road and surface transport infrastructure is completely stuffed,or as the tourist brochures will have it: undeveloped. Vietnam is a long narrow country which you will know if you have visited New Zealand can be difficult to maintain a decent infrastructure even with a good economy. Vietnam hasn’t yet had time to fix their infrastructure. Cambodia and Laos have have even worse roads : both were more heavily bombed than Vietnam during, what is known locally as the American war, so are only now starting to develop a real roading system. However Laos, Cambodia and southern Vietnam share a wonderful alternative: the Mekong River. The compact distances make flying an excellent option with frequent flights connecting Hanoi, Danang (central Vietnam for Hue and Hoi An), Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) as well as Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), Phnom Penh, Laos’ gem Luang Prabang and its capital Vientiane.

Indochina’s Top Luxury Destinations

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

The huge city/temple complex is probably the number one reason why most visitors come to Cambodia. To even briefly explore the ruins takes at least three days: an air conditioned taxi and guide are both essential. The complex is best seen from the air: it’s so huge and to date still mainly un-excavated so that it is impossible to understand the scale of the area from the sky. Close up though you will marvel at the skill of the artisans. Unfortunately the whole complex bankrupted the visionary King Suryavarman II who had it built in the early 12th century. The complex was lost to the jungle for centuries which explains its remarkably well-preserved carvings. There is even a huge ancient swimming pool, unfortunately still under renovation!

A word to the wise :Angkor Wat is the only site worth seeing in town (its actually a few kilometres out of town). Siem Reap is rapidly turning into a typical cheap, tacky Thai resort town, where you are more likely to find bad food than anywhere else in Cambodia. Choose one of the excellent first class hotels available in the area and give Siem Reap itself a miss.

Luang Prahbang, Laos

Laos, the self- proclaimed “land of a million elephants” has the dubious distinction of being the most bombed country on earth. And Laos wasn’t even involved in the Vietnam conflict. America had agreed with the Thai authorities for bomber not to return with unused ordinance after their “reconnaissance” missions over Vietnam. Unfortunately southern Laos was in their flight path. Luckily for the tourist industry though Luang Prahbang is in the northern part of the country was not. Luang Prahbang is the former royal capital which is a completely preserved, but still living town which alternates gorgeous temples with French colonial architecture in a way that works incredibly well. The monks still walk through town at dawn every day to receive the offerings from the locals, and tourists, which is their only food for the day. It it not at all surprising that the entire town is a UNESCO World Heritage listed. What is more surprising is that you will find some of the very finest French restaurants in Asia here as well. Within walking distance of the nightly markets where the local hill tribes sell their handicrafts. Luang Prahbang sounds like a made in Disney tourist experience but it is actually authentic – just a little off the beaten track: just not over-run, yet.

Luxury River Cruising.

River travel never stopped being a day-to-day option in this part of the world and now a new generation of purpose built luxury craft are starting to run on the Mekong and her tributaries. Luangsay Cruises offers a luxury cruises at both ends of the country. From/to northern Thailand’s Houey Xay to Luang Prahbang is a 2 day journey (boats don’t travel at night because of river hazards) with an overnight stop which will allow you to continue on to the Golden Triangle area of northern Thailand. The same company offers a new trip in southern Laos from Champassak to the 4,000 Islands area very near the Cambodian border. All through the southern part of Laos the Mekong is the border between Thailand and Laos. It is very odd to sit on the Laos side and see the bright lights of Thailand. Laos is still a poor country with limited infrastructure outside of Vientiane and Luang Prahbang but the people are charming and friendly and option of cruising is a very comfortable alternative. The Mekong river is not particularly wide so you’ll get a great view of both countries as you cruise by.

It is also possible to take a luxury cruise all the way from the Mekong Delta near Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) all the way to Siem Reap near Angkor Wat in western Cambodia via Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh on the way. Pandaw River Cruises offer luxury Mekong River cruises on their purpose built fleet of luxury boats. It’s an eight day leisury cruise from Angkor to Saigon: you will want at least 3 days at each end as well so its not a short trip: but an amazing way to see some truly remote and interesting country in luxury. In comparison the fight is less than two hours!

Angkor aerial view photo credit: All other photos: vacation tips