First class no longer as busy as business class

MUMBAI: Business class is the way to travel these days. Airlines are finding seats in this category being snapped up way ahead of flight departures, and are working to strengthen business class products. Singapore Airlines has recently introduced a new business class product with a 1-2-1 seating layout on its Boeing 777 aircraft.

Incidentally, for many airlines, the first class is not as busy as business class. The first class, usually 8 to 16 seats, is often built on acres of prime space in an aircraft. “Very often, the presence of a first class is for the ‘halo effect’ that slots an airline as a premium carrier,” says an airline source. The yields do not justify the amount of real estate used up for first class.

Carriers like Singapore Airlines, for instance, do not have a first class on flights operating out of Amritsar, Ahmedabad and Chennai. The space is used to put in more business and economy class seats. Internationally, new standards are set every year with airlines trying to better each other with more space for their premium cabins.

A flat bed is now de riguer in most carriers and airlines are moving on to improve their offering with live television and other bells and whistles.