THE
MAKING OF THE AIRPLANE SEATS FOR THE WORLD'S LONGEST FLIGHT
Passengers booked on the world's longest flight -- a 19-hour nonstop of more
than 9,000 nautical miles between Singapore and Newark, New Jersey, set to
commence this October -- needn't worry about numb butt syndrome.
The Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 ULR (an acronym denoting that it's
modified for efficient Ultra Long Range flying) serving the marathon route
won't be subjecting its fliers to economy class.
Travelers on this premier route will instead have a choice of just two premium
classes: the 67-seat Business Class cabin, or the 94-seat cabin of Premium
Economy seats so good they could almost pass for Business Class.
Now that the aircraft are only months away from delivery, it's crunch time for
the airline and Zodiac
Aerospace, manufacturer of the seats the airline has heavily
customized.
Inside the factory
To discover just how complex it is to construct an airplane seat, let alone one
destined for the world's longest flight, CNN Travel headed behind the scenes at
Zodiac's factory in Gainesville, Texas, as the last sets of the Premium Economy
seats for the ULR aircraft came off the production line.
It's here that vacuum form-molding, plasma-cutting and skilled handiwork turn
raw materials, like reams of leather and 50-foot-long sheets of structural
aluminum, into neatly packaged feats of engineering that manage to relax,
comfort and entertain as passengers fly from one side of the Earth to the
other.
Although Singapore Airlines has been flying Premium Economy since 2015, the
incredibly lengthy routes planned for the ULR aircraft, combined with their
uniquely spacious layout, necessitated some updates, including shifting the
seat-back pocket higher for improved knee and shin space, redesigning the
bottle holders and cocktail table, and introducing a entirely new model: single
"throne" seats with side storage bins that take the place of a
seatmate.
Six of these solo seats are located at the rear of the Premium Economy cabin,
where the layout goes from 2-4-2 to 1-4-1, and are already proving popular for
bookings.
Comfort trials
There's no guarantee customers will approve of the seats, however. That is,
until it's time for "comfort trials" testing, when the airline and
Zodiac literally put butts into the seats for the first time.
"We run comfort trials with pressure maps that measure the weight
distribution of seated passengers, which help us to determine if a seat is
comfortable and for how long a seat will be comfortable," explains
Sebastiaan Does, Zodiac's sales and marketing manager for southeast Asia.
"During these comfort trials we'll have people from different genders,
ratios, weights, heights -- you name it -- and we'll let them sit in the seat
for over eight hours."
The review process then moves from the factory to Singapore, as airline
spokesperson James Boyd tells CNN Travel: "We want to make the ultra
long-haul flight as comfortable as we can, and so we have a similar testing
procedure in Singapore, whereby we invite our frequent fliers and staff to
spend the night in the seat and report back."
Amenities
Every inch has been considered and reconsidered, so that the Premium Economy
seats and their 38 inches of legroom include calf and foot rests, a cocktail
tray, over-shoulder reading lights, adjustable winged headrests, 13.3-inch
screens, and three power points per seat (two USB ports and one universal AC
outlet).
Amenities encompass noise-canceling headphones, pillows and blankets, 1,400
on-demand entertainment options, amenity kits, full-size bottles of water,
Champagne and complimentary drinks (including Singapore Sling cocktails), and
the ability to pre-order meals like seafood thermidor or Singaporean nasi lemak
from the airline's previously Business- and First-Class-only "Book the
Cook" menu.
Cradle motion
But can you really relax in the seats? One critical adjustment passengers won't
see, but will surely feel, lies in the way the seats shift positions.
"Singapore Airlines evaluated the recline and asked to consider a
different type of motion -- a cradle motion -- where the bottom moves down and
forward with the back recline," explains Bob Funk, head of sales and
marketing for Zodiac Seats US. "With a traditional recline, you basically
hit the button and [the seat] goes back and the bottom doesn't move much.
"The cradle, on the other hand, balances forces, distributes your weight,
and lets your upper body relax while at the same time managing the pressure on
the seat pan a lot better. It creates comfort that's really beneficial when
you're going to be sitting there for a long period of time."
Announced in early June 2018, the flights will initially run three times a week
from October 11, with daily operations starting October 18 after a second
Airbus A350-900 enters service. Tickets are already on sale and range from
$1,500 round-trip in Premium Economy, to $5,000 and up for Business Class...
assuming you're up for the challenge of 19 hours in one airplane seat.
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