Singapore Airlines revamps premium economy seat for 19 hour flights

With no economy seats on its ultra-long range Airbus A350-900ULR jets, Singapore Airlines has tweaked the design of its premium economy seats with an eye towards added comfort during those non-stop 17-19 hour flights to Los Angeles and New York.

Best of all, these long-legged A350-900s include a handful of 'solo' seats which swap that potentially chatty or snoring neighbour for a personal storage bin large enough for your laptop bag or a compact cabin bag.

Here is that seat (as snapped by The Points Guy) during production at Zodiac Aerospace's US manufacturing facility.

Singapore Airlines' appealing 'solo' premium economy seat for the A350-900ULR
JT Genter / The Points Guy

While most of the A350-900ULR's 94 premium economy seats are arrayed in a 2-4-2 grid, six seats in the last few rows – as the A350 gets slimmer towards the tail – have been set aside for what becomes a 1-4-1 layout.

Those are seats 40C, 40H, 41C, 41H, 42C and 42H – and as you can imagine, they'll be prized picks for many travellers (although 42H's proximity to the loo will make it akin to 'the worst house on the best street').

That spacious stowage compartment vastly increases their appeal: not only can you keep a carry-on bag close at hand, you can use the extra space atop the cabinet to spread out your stuff during the flight.

Singapore Airlines tells us the decision to add these six solo seats was made "in order not to compromise on the seat and aisle width. Side stowage was added to fully utilise the space available to ensure our customers have an enhanced experienced during the ultra-long flight."

If you shoot for a solo seat, however, note that this won't be a window seat: Singapore Airlines has confirmed to Australian Business Traveller that the stowage bin sits between the seat and the window, with the seat itself located next to the aisle.

Premium economy seat pitch remains the same 38" as on the rest of Singapore Airlines' fleet, but the literature pocket at the rear of each seat has been moved up to offer a little extra room around the knees.

Singapore Airlines also says it's improved the seat's padded calf rest extension, and the T-bar footrest which swings down from the seat in front of you has been made substantially larger than the airline's first-gen premium economy seat.

A few other tweaks include making the seatbelt more comfortable by removing the bulky inbuilt airbag and enlarging the shared drinks tray area on the armrest between the seats.

How much extra comfort does this deliver to travellers? We'll report back next week after spending 19 hours in  premium economy on Singapore Airlines' New York-Singapore flight (after the inaugural Singapore-New York flight, where we'll try out the business class experience).

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.