Singapore Airlines’ new premium economy seat ticks all the boxes for a ‘better than economy’ product, with several thoughtful touches showing the amount of consideration that’s gone into its design.
To recap: the new seats, which begin flying from August 9th 2015 on key routes including Sydney, Hong Kong, London and Paris, see SQ entering the premium economy market in competition against Air New Zealand, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa and Qantas, among others.
Crafted by JPA Design, Singapore Airlines’ premium economy seats are 18.5 inches wide on the Boeing 777-300ER and 19.5 inches on the Airbus A380 (the seats will also be fitted to SQ’s new Airbus A350 jets from early 2016).
However, there’s also a greater degree of ‘personal space’ due to the wide armrest between the seats.
The seat pitch is 38 inches, compared to much tighter 32 inch pitch in standard economy, allowing plenty of legroom.
Note that only the premium economy seats in the first row of the cabin will sport this well-padded legrest…
… passengers in the rest of the seats must make do with a smaller T-bar footrest which swings down from below the seat in front, making that first row the one to book.
Also note: on premium economy seats next to the aisle, the side panel can slide down to make it easier for ‘mobility-challenged passengers’ to get in and out of their seat.
However, there’s no reason that any passenger can’t drop that panel to give themselves a little extra room during the flight.
Each seat has a large adjustable headrest and an 8 inch recline, but even if the person in front pushes their seat all the way back it’s still not as ‘in your face’ as in economy.
Each passenger gets a generous 13.3 inch HD touchscreen with the same slick KrisWorld interface as on Singapore Airlines’ latest Boeing 777-300ER jets.
There’s also a smaller handheld controller with its own touchscreen.
Directly beneath the HD monitor is a high-power USB socket capable of charging tablets, while a pocket below the monitor has enough space for stowing said tablet or a 13 inch laptop.
There’s also a small pocket where you can drop in your smartphone or reading glasses – just don’t forget to fetch them out at the end of your flight.
Above the armrest between the seats is a second USB socket for charging your smartphone, as well as the audio socket for the airline-supplied noise-cancelling headphones or your own pair of Bose noise-slamming cans.
The very front of each seat has its own AC power socket with a universal design that’ll take all common plug types, although it’s not the ideal location.
The tray table’s a decent size, too.
Sitting in the seats for a brief spell at Singapore Airlines’ official launch, I found the leather-clad seats to be very comfortable, with a pleasing degree of contouring and lumbar support.
The seats will be arranged in a 2-4-2 layout on Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A380.
