Air New Zealand has raised the bar for long-haul flights from the southern hemisphere by offering economy class passengers access to bunk beds from 2024.
The bunk beds, known as Skynest, can be booked by passengers for four hours at a time on the 16-hour journey from Auckland to New York City, according to Bloomberg. Rental costs have not yet been disclosed.
This comes as the global travel market continues to grow as Covid-19 lockdowns are eased around the world.
While Qantas, Air New Zealand’s main competitor in the region, is introducing a route from Auckland to New York in June, in addition to investing in a multi-million dollar lounge at the city’s airport.
Both travel on Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Air New Zealand aircraft will be equipped with a total of six beds.
Air New Zealand, pictured here, will operate a Boeing 787 on its long-haul service between Auckland and New Zealand
In 2025, Qantas will fly non-stop from Sydney to London after ordering a dozen custom Airbus jets and demanding higher fares in a multi-billion dollar bet that fliers will pay a premium to save four hours on the popular route .
The flights, scheduled to depart in late 2025, will use A350-1000 aircraft specially configured with additional premium seating and reduced overall capacity to carry up to 238 passengers on a 20-hour journey – the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight .
The long-discussed breakthrough will give Qantas a marketing boost on the so-called “kangaroo route” – because all flights had to change planes and stop somewhere to refuel.
Competitors offering one-stop services include Singapore Airlines Ltd, Emirates and Qatar Airways.
The Qantas flight will include a comfort zone in which passengers can move.
Skynest beds can only be booked once by a passenger and, in addition to air conditioning, have privacy curtains and USB charging sockets.
When a passenger is finished, the crew seamlessly changes sheets before the next one boards.
In addition to the Skynest for economy passengers, Air New Zealand will offer a new Business Premier Luxe suite and a new Business Premier seat.
Business Premier Luxe seating is designed for customers seeking more space and privacy.
Air New Zealand has unveiled its eight new Dreamliners, due to take to the skies in 2024, and customers are already raving about the ‘Skynest’, which allows economy planes to lie flat on their journey
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Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran said of Skynest: “We wanted to offer our economy customers a flatbed option and that’s how Skynest was born,” he said.
“It will be a real game changer for the economy class travel experience.”
Meditative screen content Zentertainment also helps clients relax and prepare for recovery.
Foran points to the airline’s ambition to create the greatest in-flight experience and says the new cabin combined with world-leading Kiwi hospitality is the recipe for success.
“New Zealand’s location puts us in a unique position to be a leader in ultra long haul travel. We’ve focused on sleep, comfort and wellness because we know how important it is for our customers to arrive rested,” he said.
“Whether they head straight into a meeting or to their first holiday hotspot – they want to hit the ground running. It’s a proud moment to finally unveil five years of Hard Mahi in a booth of possibilities.
The airline has also added nursing stations to Premium Economy and Economy cabins to allow customers to stretch their legs, eat and drink as they please throughout the journey.
“Our new cabin experience will be world class and we know our customers will love it.”
Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran points to the airline’s ambition to create the greatest flying experience and says the new cabin combined with world-leading Kiwi hospitality is the recipe for success
For economy customers, the Skynest concept, first announced in 2020, will be a world first
The eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners arriving from 2024 and the upgraded current 787-9 fleet will have either eight or four Business Premier Luxe seats, 42 or 22 Business Premier, 52 or 33 Premium Economy, 125 or 213 economy seats have six Skynest sleeping pods on the ultra-long-haul aircraft.
Flights from Auckland to New York with Air New Zealand cost between US$1,400 and US$2,000.
Many airlines are experiencing boom times as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.
United Airlines Holdings on Tuesday forecast a at least four-fold increase in full-year profit for this year and reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates on resilient travel demand, sending its shares higher.
The Chicago-based airline is targeting adjusted earnings of $10 to $12 per share for 2023, up from $2.52 per share last year. That’s significantly higher than analysts’ estimates of $6.54 per share, according to a Refinitiv poll.
US airlines are enjoying the strongest travel demand since the start of the COVID pandemic, buoyed by the reopening of closed borders, a strong US dollar and rising business travel
US airlines are enjoying the strongest travel demand since the start of the COVID pandemic, buoyed by the reopening of closed borders, a strong US dollar and rising business travel.
While fears of recession have raised concerns about consumer spending, airlines say demand for travel remains strong, outpacing the pace of flight capacity growth, keeping ticket prices high.
According to data from Refinitiv, the company topped earnings of $2.46 per share in the fourth quarter, beating analysts’ expectations of $2.10.
During last week, Delta said the industry is expected to see tens of billions of dollars in additional demand over the next few years as the ratio of passenger revenue to global gross domestic product returns to pre-pandemic trends.
Before the pandemic, passenger revenue accounted for 1 percent of global GDP.
Industry-wide staffing and aircraft shortages are expected to limit capacity growth, underpinning airlines’ current pricing power.
The company expects total revenue per available seat mile, an indicator of pricing power, to rise 25% year over year in the current quarter.
It forecast a 50 percent year-over-year increase in first-quarter operating income, which translates to earnings of 50 cents to $1 a share. Analysts are expecting earnings of 25 cents per share for the quarter.
United will discuss the results in a call with analysts and investors on Wednesday morning.