Economy bunk beds to be installed on Air New Zealand long-haul flights

Lie-flat beds coming to economy passengers.

 

The world’s first lie-flat bunk bed-style sleeping pods are coming to the Air New Zealand economy cabin.

 

According to the airline, premium and regular economy class passengers will still be sold traditional seats that do not recline into a bed.

 

However, these passengers will be able to book four-hour sessions in lie-flat sleeping pods – which the airline has named “Skynest” – at an additional cost.

 

The pod sheets will be changed by cabin crew after each booking – and will be stacked on top of each other to take advantage of the height of the cabin.

 

The SkyNest concept has been in development for the past five years, with its arrival scheduled for 2024.

 

“It’s been 170,000 hours of design, constant evolutions of small and large design developments, tweaks and engineering feats to get to where we are,” says Leanne Geraghty, the airline’s chief customer and sales officer, who says that the final product reflected loads of customer feedback.

 

“They weren’t shy to tell us what the pain points were, what worked well and where we could improve.”

 

The additional cost of the SkyNest seat has yet to be determined, but it has been revealed that pricing will be the same regardless of whether a passenger is flying economy or premium economy.

 

Passengers will only be able to book one session in a pod per flight, as demand from the more than 200 seats across the economy cabin is expected to be strong.

 

Greg Foran, Air New Zealand’s chief executive, said the bunk-style beds will be “a real game-changer for the economy travel experience”.

 

“New Zealand’s location puts us in a unique position to lead on the ultra-long-haul travel experience. We have zeroed in on sleep, comfort and wellness because we know how important it is for our customers to arrive well-rested,” Foran said.

 

“Whether they are heading straight into a meeting, or to their first holiday hotspot – they want to hit the ground running.”

 

Five economy seats will be removed to make space to install six of the Skynest pods across eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.