Flying Business Class should definitely be one of the best experiences while traveling. However, it doesn't simply end there. Every airline has a unique product to offer premium passengers, and selecting them is a privilege for passengers traveling on a premium product.
Usually, Asian carriers such as Korean Air, Thai Airways and Japan Airlines are considered one of the best airlines to fly business, while American carriers are not much desired when it comes to the overall experience. However, there is one other airline that you might like to avoid, and that airline is Air New Zealand, based in New Zealand in Oceania. Today we will be looking at why this business class leaves much to be desired.
An Aging Hard Product
First impressions are very important, and for a business class experience the hard product (mostly the seats) make up over 90% of that. Unfortunately for Air New Zealand, this is where they will lose the most points, right from the start. What is important is that this is their flagship product that they have to offer.
Air New Zealand uses herringbone seats for their business class products. These kind of seats were first introduced by Virgin Atlantic back in 2003, and it was at the time a significant breakthrough from all the angled lie flat seats and recliners. Soon a lot of airlines such as Air Canada started introducing similar products.
Just by looking at the photos, these seats might make it seem like a decent business class cabin. However, with close observation, it becomes pretty obvious that the seats are very narrow for a modern business class seat. This is not surprising, as the seats were designed more than two decades ago, in 2003.