As flight times continue to climb with more advanced long haul aircraft and routes being introduced, Air New Zealand has decided to take a gamble with a revolutionary product for Economy Class.
Called Skynest, the airline has unveiled the prototype of a new lie-flat sleep product for Economy Class. Based on what was revealed, there are a total of six sleeping pods in stacks of three arranged in a v-shaped configuration. Based on specifications, it seems that “each” Skynest will hold six sleeping pods, meaning that there might be more than one Skynest onboard each aircraft. The exact positioning of these pods has yet to be determined, but the airline has mentioned that they will be located within the Economy Class cabin.
The overall length of each pod is in excess of 200cm, with a width of at least 58cm at the shoulders.
Other features incorporated into the pods include pillow and sheets, a blanket, privacy curtains, and potentially a reading light and USB port.
While these details have been revealed, Air New Zealand has not yet disclosed how they’ll be selling these products. I would think that these products could appear as “add-ons” in the booking process, where customers can select to use them in time-blocks during the flight. Obviously, unless many Skynests are fitted onboard each aircraft, not everyone will get to use them, and they’ll be assigned on a first-come-first-served basis. Or perhaps, elite tier passengers may get priority access to booking the Skynest ahead of everyone else. All these questions remain unanswered at the moment, and we’ll have to see whether Air New Zealand will decide to go ahead with this idea after a full and comprehensive evaluation.
More information can be found here.