Singapore Airlines makes flying friendlier

A suite on the A380 . . . seats, cabin interiors and in-flight entertainment offerings will be revamped.

Andrew Cornell

There’s something oxymoronic about the concept of an airport business lounge. Surely you’re either doing business or lounging, not both? Although, to be fair, it’s pretty hard to do either a lot of the time in these places given the noise, the crowds and the lack of actual lounge furniture.

It’s a design challenge particularly acute for Singapore Airlines, a carrier based in one of the most business-intense locations on the planet, but the reputation of which has long relied on perfecting the service required for a decent bit of lounging around – albeit in a tin can at 30,000 feet.

“We know from our history, from our research, there are two critical elements to our offering and they are comfort and privacy,” says Tan Pee Teck, the airline’s head of product and services. “When you walk into our lounge, it should be like you are coming home – and of course, some of our customers are flying with us a lot, maybe weekly – and not like you are coming here for business. We don’t want avant-garde, high-tech for its own sake; our customers’ lifestyles are often hectic enough.”

Singapore Airlines has just completed rigorous market research, along with its usual constant communication with its customers, as it prepares to roll out new cabins in its planes and new lounges at its airports.

“It is the service culture which sets us apart and what we need to do is integrate that service culture into our design. So, for example, our cup holders in our current [business-class product] were moved after feedback from our crew they were in an awkward position for customers.”

Top design firms involved

For the latest revamp, BMW Group subsidiary DesignworksUSA and Brit-Sing firm James Park Associates designed the new cabins, to be launched in July.

Design firm ­ONGONG is in charge of the lounge concepts, with the first makeover to take place in Sydney. The airline will revamp seats and cabin interiors and in-flight entertainment offerings, starting with new Boeing 777-300ERs that will enter service this year.

Tan says the life cycle of cabin and lounge design is getting shorter, now around the average six-year age of the airline’s fleet. “In the 90s, it was nine to 10 years. Now, probably, four to five years.”

JPA delivered the airline’s current business class, considered one of the most generous space-wise with fold-down flat beds and an actual mattress. Between them, the design firms have worked on cars, private jets, luxury hotels and the Orient Express.

The process for a new product rollout for Singapore Airlines involves not just designers and customer feedback but representatives right through the business, from engineers with a view on the mechanics to maintenance crews looking at serviceability to flight staff who will spend their working lives in the spaces.

“Our most frequent travellers tell us the last thing they want is an office in the sky,” Tan says. “They want to sit down in a comfortable, peaceful, private zone, maybe have a fine meal, with just the right service from the crew.

“Our challenge is to make the cabin more friendly, less airplane-like.”

Although Singapore Airlines doesn’t comment on its rivals, it is clear it – and other Asian carriers – see opportunity with Qantas shifting its route focus from Asia to the Middle East in its Emirates venture.

What Tan will say though is the premium airline business is about hardware and software: “We need to ensure our cabin crew is visible – they are our real strength. You have to have the hardware, the wines, but is our softer skills where we excel.”

Singapore Airlines makes flying friendlier