Last week, we brought you the news about Qantas’ fancy new premium economy seats. The redesigned for the 787 Dreamliner are 10 per cent wider than the existing premium economy cabin on its Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 superjumbo, and also boast a deeper recline. Here are more details.
CEO Alan Joyce say he’s proud of every cabin on the aircraft but believes the new Premium Economy is a quantum leap.
“It’s a design that no other airline has access to,” he told us at a media briefing. “It’s been re-engineered to give our customers more personal space. A more comfortable recline. Better lighting. And storage for mobile devices.”
He says he’s confident the seat will set the gold standard for the industry.
Key features of premium economy on the Qantas Dreamliner:
- A separate cabin of 28 seats, configured in a two-three-two layout to improve aisle access for middle passengers.
- A seat that is almost 10% wider than Qantas’ existing Premium Economy as well as increased recline.
- An ergonomically designed headrest that can be fitted with a specially designed pillow and a re-engineered footrest that significantly increases comfort when reclining.
- High-definition Panasonic inflight entertainment seatback screens that are 25% larger.
- Five individual storage compartments and two USB charging points per seat, as well as shared AC power and a personal LED light designed to minimise disturbance of other passengers.
The new Premium Economy seat is based on a prototype by Thompson Aero Seating and heavily customised by leading Australian industrial designer David Caon
“Developing a new seat comes with its own set of challenges and opportunities. Working with Thompson and Qantas, I think we’ve created a new standard for Premium Economy,” says Caon.
“We’ve made sure this seat offers genuine comfort through design elements not seen before on aircraft. There are a number of new bespoke design elements that we hope will really set the benchmark for this class.”
Qantas introduced Premium Economy with its A380 aircraft in 2008 and later rolled it out onto the Boeing 747. Qantas will assess updating existing Premium Economy cabins in-line with its fleet planning and product cycles.
The first of eight Dreamliners will be delivered in October this year with Qantas’ first international 787 services in December between Melbourne and Los Angeles.
Flights between Perth and London, which will directly link Australia and Europe for the first time, begin in March 2018.
Here’s more detail on the new Premium Economy seat:
Comments
3 responses to “Here’s A Closer Look At Qantas’ New Premium Economy Seats For The 787 Dreamliner”
Those seats look very close together.
Where do the passengers’ legs go?
Do their legs go?
When you compare the price of Qantas’ Premium Economy to that of North American airline companies like Delta, it looks ridiculous.
I hope they only look shitty. As a very tall person, I’m usually forced to buy these premium economy seats to ensure I have enough room to actually sit down. Looking at these seats, I’m not filled with confidence that I will actually fit in there…