Skip to main content

Any room in first class?

  • Story Highlights
  • First class has for a long time been replaced by enhanced business class services
  • But airlines are boosting first class service in anticipation of new A380 deliveries
  • Competition is highest amongst Asian airlines for first class provision
  • Next Article in World Business »
by Emma Clarke
Decrease font Decrease font
Enlarge font Enlarge font

(CNN) -- For years it seemed as though first-class air travel was dying a slow death. As perks such as flat beds migrated from the front of the plane backwards, few were willing to pay the 20 percent premium.

art.virgin.club.jpg

You don't have to be first to be flash: Virgin Atlantic's Clubhouse bar at LHR

Virgin Atlantic didn't even bother with first class when it commenced service in 1984, opting instead for an enhanced business class. Airlines including Continental and Air New Zealand followed and British Airways removed its elite service from some routes.

But services such as "business premium", "business first" and "business elite" haven't triumphed over the $15,000 ticket just yet. There are signs that luxury services are making a glittering return.

Emirates Airlines was the first to offer fully-enclosed first class suites when it launched its North American service in 2004.

But it was Singapore Airlines that stole the show this year with the suites on board its first A380 Superjumbo.

Singapore Airlines has described its new level of service as "beyond first class", suggesting what an airline must now do to mark the premium service from business class.

Behind the sliding doors of the cabins, passengers can get a leather seat completely separate from the bed, a 23-inch widescreen LCD television as well as finest drinks and food designed by leading chefs. There are even double beds for traveling couples.

As Chew Choon Seng, Singapore Airline's CEO told CNN on the maiden voyage, "we have always believed in the romance of travel and we are trying to bring back more of that."

The biggest market for first-class is on the longer-haul flights particularly on routes between London and Hong Kong, Sydney and Los Angeles, Singapore and London.

Demand also continues apace amongst the widening upper class in areas such as the Middle East. As a result, competition at the upper end is particularly fierce amongst Asian airlines. Qatar Airways won the 2007 Skytrax Award for its first class service.

Lufthansa Airlines has continued to plough investment into its premium service. But what marks an airline out for its first class offering, says Lufthansa's spokesperson Jan Bärwalde, isn't just the quality of the champagne or caviar on board. "We have learnt that our premium customers want to make the process as easy as possible on the ground and to save as much time as possible."

In 2004 the German airline opened a separate first class terminal in Frankfurt. Here passengers are welcomed by a personal assistant, relieved of their baggage and whisked to one of the lounges.

Here passengers wait, eating fine cuisine atop crisp white linen, work in private offices or bathe in furnished suites. Passengers needn't even check the departure board. They will be picked up before take-off and chauffeur-driven in a Mercedes or Porsche directly to the aircraft.

Since Lufthansa opened its terminal in November 2004, first class ticket sales have risen by 20 percent. This August the airline opened a new first class lounge in Munich and there are further lounge projects in the pipeline in New York and Paris.

In May, Qantas Airways opened new first-class lounges in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. In an attempt to mirror the service of a five star hotel, passengers can use concierge service to book the best restaurants or seats at venues around the world. Other features include spas, chair-side waiter service, a library, shower suites and work suites.

The reason for the upgrade, says the airline, is in anticipation of its delivery of a fleet of Airbus A380s in 2008.

While it is unclear whether airlines will follow Singapore Airline's ultra deluxe lead, they will certainly have more space to play with for more first-class seats. And one way to ensure premium sales is by offering premium lounges.

Sgns are that more may be willing to escape the increasingly busy business class lounges. As one visitor to Singapore Airline's lounge at Singapore Changi Airport commented on Skytrax's lounge review site, there is a "vast difference between the business and first class lounges. One of the main things I found different was that the Business lounge was crowded and the food selection was poor. The first class lounge is much, much better."

Airlines are responding and re-vamping business-class offering on the ground as well as in the air.

Business travelers using Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class Wing that opened in November at London Heathrow Terminal 3 can move from limo to lounge in less than 10 minutes through a dedicated security channel that emerges directly at the lounge in the terminal.

Offering a high service for less was easier before sky-high fuel prices and global terrorism, says Dee Cooper, Virgin Atlantic's director of product. But to keep ticket prices down now, they have to do "clever things". This comes down to getting the right ratio of crew to passenger, and rethinking food provision.

One approach is to improve the quality of the dining experience in the lounge to entice passengers to eat on the ground instead of the air. Leaving flights for sleep instead of eating, Cooper adds, is increasingly more attractive for business passengers who want to arrive at 6am in Heathrow ready for work.

As Kieran Daly, editor, Flight Magazine told CNN, "The fact of the matter is that especially on East-bound flights people are asleep. There is really no sense in investing more in the airplane when you could use it in other ways."

Cooper admits the Singapore Airline suite is a "very good product" and the airline will "watch how the market moves" for such luxury. "But at the moment our upper class cabins are full and they are doing really well for us," she says.

And if stars such as the Spice Girls (who will be traveling on Virgin Atlantic during their forthcoming world tour) choose premium business class seats, there are signs that the demand for elite could still be on decline. After all, what's good enough for Victoria...

Some of the best first class lounges
Qatar Airways, Premium Terminal in Doha: bedrooms for transit passengers; massage sauna and Jacuzzi, restaurant dining
Cathay Pacific, The Wing, Hong Kong International Airport: day-break rooms; library, baths.
Thai Airways, Royal First class lounge at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (winner of Skytrax's 2007 best first class lounge): spa facility with gym room, foot-massage and traditional Thai massage; Spa suites and Jacuzzi.
Qantas Airways, First Lounges in Sydney and Melbourne: spa, chair-side waiter service, library; garden; showers E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

  • E-mail
  • Save
  • Print