I weigh less than 70kg and don't consider myself fussy, but economy is untenable even for me. Fortunately I only fly long haul about once every ten years, so that makes it easier to afford premium economy. 

Flying earlier this year I found with Air NZ herringbone you get a decent mattress and I find I can lie on my side which is good as I struggle to sleep on my back.  Singapore airline business class is more roomy but no extra mattress and I found I could only lie on my side one way.  Will be flying Emirates next year so we will see how that turns out on their A380.  Since I book business class for overnight flights I don’t find a window view adds much.

noroad:

 

I remember discovering on an Air China 747-400 Sydney - Shanghai flight in 2000 that as soon as the plane leaves Australian airspace the whole plane became the smoking section! Moved to the front of the cabin as there was less smoke and it was a free for all.

 

I was living in Dubai in the early 80's and we booked a (non smoking seat) KLM flight to Amsterdam and then onto the UK.

The flight was overbooked, but we got on.

Sat down and someone lit a cigarette. My wife complained to a stewardess and the man was told to put the cigarette out. A few minutes later another passenger did the same thing, and my wife again complained that it was no smoking. Out went the cigarette.

You know where this is going.

Yes, as soon as the flight had departed, the passengers lit up en-masse.

We had been given a seat in the smoking section.

The golden age of AirNZ was during Rob Fyfes tenure at CEO. It was in a free fall as he took over, improved massively whilst he was in charge,  and has been heading downward steadily since his departure. This is another step in line with that.

👍😊

alisam:

 

I was living in Dubai in the early 80's and we booked a (non smoking seat) KLM flight to Amsterdam and then onto the UK.

 

The flight was overbooked, but we got on.

 

Sat down and someone lit a cigarette. My wife complained to a stewardess and the man was told to put the cigarette out. A few minutes later another passenger did the same thing, and my wife again complained that it was no smoking. Out went the cigarette.

 

You know where this is going.

 

Yes, as soon as the flight had departed, the passengers lit up en-masse.

 

We had been given a seat in the smoking section.

 

I had a similar experience.  Had to transfer to a KLM flight in Singapore in the 1990s, in the days when you had to pick up a boarding pass at the transfer desk.  When I got to Singapore the only seats left on the flight were in the smoking section.  ~12 hours in the smoking section was not pleasant.

These are welcomed upgrades to the 787 fleet. But the priority should be to add more lounge capacity at Auckland International.

Asteros:

 

These are welcomed upgrades to the 787 fleet. But the priority should be to add more lounge capacity at Auckland International.

 

I was in there a week ago and it was like a high end cafeteria 

I personally don't see much difference between airlines in Economy class. I would like to be proven wrong, but the idea to fly alternative airlines based on price or timetable makes sense.

You can see from his arms that he is not comfortable and he looks like a smallish and slimish type of person. You would think that they would be looking at increasing seat size, as people are getting larger.

Japan Airlines operates the same model of plane, the 787-9. They have multiple configurations but for longer routes their Economy cabin is 2-4-2, whereas Air NZ is 3-3-3. 

noroad:

 

Asteros:

 

These are welcomed upgrades to the 787 fleet. But the priority should be to add more lounge capacity at Auckland International.

 

 

I was in there a week ago and it was like a high end cafeteria 

 

High end?

Asteros:

 

Japan Airlines operates the same model of plane, the 787-9. They have multiple configurations but for longer routes their Economy cabin is 2-4-2, whereas Air NZ is 3-3-3. 

 

Japanese also tend to be smaller and slimmer people. NZers are getting larger https://www.health.govt.nz/strategies-initiatives/programmes-and-initiatives/obesity#:~:text=New%20Zealand%20has%20the%20third,and%20one%20in%20ten%20children.   

So Air NZ wants to fit 9 seats across which JAL only fits 8. The only way that can happen is if the seats are narrower, or, the passageways are narrower, or a combination of both. So they aren't really meeting the market unless they are wanting larger people to pay more.