Singapore Airlines Unveils a Massive First-Class Suite to Compete with Gulf Rivals
Photo Credit: Singapore Airlines has unveiled a new suite for its 19 Airbus A380s. It will be on all superjumbos by 2020. Singapore Airlines
Skift Take
We expect Singapore's new first-class suites will be considered among the world's best products. But the airline still faces intense competition from Gulf and Asian airlines. It's not clear how much this cabin update will help on that front.
When Singapore Airlines introduced its first suite in 2007, coinciding with the inaugural Airbus A380 passenger flight, it was a big deal. No airline had ever put a double bed on an airplane, and the product, with its opulent leather compartments, was so novel journalists asked if the airline would bar passengers from having sex on board.
A decade later, Singapore Airlines still delights long-haul passengers with that suite, and that makes for an impressively long run in an industry in which even the most advanced products become obsolete within five years. But it’s no longer the world’s most opulent product, having been eclipsed a couple of years ago by Etihad Airways and its first class “apartment.”
On its A380s, Etihad put two suites on each side of the upper-deck aisle, while Singapore’s decade-old configuration has four on the wider lower deck.
On Thursday, Singapore tried to catch up, introducing a massive new suite for 19 Airbus A380s, including five new
