Singapore Airlines » Business

Voted Best Business Class product at the Business Traveller Awards 2011

Singapore Airlines has several different types of business class. On the Boeing 747- 400 and 777- 200ER fleet, the seat reclines to an angle of eight degrees from horizontal. When the armrests are lowered, it also provides extra space to allow you more freedom to work, relax or sleep.

The seats are forward facing and fitted with adjustable screen dividers, which means improved privacy and personal space when working, relaxing, or sleeping. If you wish to work onboard, every seat has its own AC laptop power supply.

SIA's new fully-flat business class seat was introduced on its B777-300ER aircraft in spring 2007, and is now standard on its A380 fleet. The configuration is 1-2-1.

SIA has created a pretty innovative seat, which is incredibly wide at 34 inches. It certainly gives the passenger a feeling of space, but in reality it has been created with the sleeping position in mind. SIA has effectively reduced the length to get more rows in, but created a very wide seat which, when stretched out flat, connects with a ledge in one corner and creates a fully-flat bed 76 inches in length along the diagonal.

SIA has gone back to basics in terms of the mechanics of the seating. It reclines electronically, but there are no massage or lumbar support options, and it converts manually to a bed by flipping over the seat back to connect with the ledge. As with Virgin's business class product, this means you have to get out of the bed to convert it, but this really isn't an issue.

Krisworld, SIA's in-flight entertainment system, has an impressive range of on-demand movies, TV and music options. There is also the option to plug in a memory stick and work on documents compatible with Word, Excel and Powerpoint through the 15.4-inch TV screen. The TV is controlled by a wired handset (no TV touchscreen control), and is embedded into the back of the seat in front. Noise-cancelling headphones can be plugged into sockets on either the right or left of the headrest, and there are also reading lights on either side, plus one above your head.

To the left of the TV is another small storage space, as well as the power point, and two USB sockets, while to the right is a flip-down vanity mirror and a drinks shelf.

Other features of the seat include a good-size sturdy table which pops up from the armrest, and which can be moved from side to side, forward and back, and even up and down depending on what you are doing. There is a space under the seat in front for shoes or bags, a couple of small in-arm storage spaces, and a magazine rack.