Air New Zealand Economy Skynest, a new sleeping pod concept

Whenever you fly to or from New Zealand, it doesn’t matter in which direction, you are guaranteed to spend quite a long time up in the air.

No wonder, then, that Air New Zealand takes the comfort of its passengers, even those in economy, quite seriously and is constantly looking for new ways to make ultra-long haul flying more enjoyable.

A few years ago the kiwi airline already made headlines with a rather simple, yet very innovative solution, the Skycouch, a way to allow economy class passengers to join together several economy class seats to form a couch of sorts.

The latest concept to be unveiled by the Kiwi airline: the Economy Skynest

The Economy Skynest is essentially a sleeping pod, a sort of semi-secluded bunk bed for economy class passengers to stretch and take a nap.

Apparently, Air New Zealand has filed a patent and trademark application for this concept after more than two years conducting research.

The Economy Skynest will be able to fit up to six pods per unit in a three-level bunk-style structure.

It is designed to be 58cm wide and (a rather generous) 200cm long and each pod will come with its own set of pillow, sheets and blanket.

Those that find it difficult to sleep on planes will be happy to know that there will be curtains, to provide some privacy and ambient lighting designed to help with sleep. And, of course, ear plugs.

Other features that have been touted for future addition include a separate reading light, a personal device USB outlet and ventilation.

The concept of sleeping pods is not new, several firms have been researching designs along these lines. For example you can see the sleeping pod concept I featured on this CNN article of 2017.

But they have so far failed to materialize.

And, to be fair, you can’t blame the airlines for this. Certification processes are long and costly and it is still not clear what the passenger’s reaction will be.

In this regard, Air New Zealand’s announcement does not clarify how many of these pods is it planning to install and what is going to do the underlying business model. Is this going to be some sort of temporary rest area? Are you going to pay in order to use it for a certain amount of time during the flight (this could be a nice new ancillary for the airline)? Or are you going to be able to book it for the whole flight just as you book your seat?

And most importantly: Is this time for real?

Will see…even if Air New Zealand is serious about it, the decision of whether to push ahead with the Economy Skynest or not will only be taken after the airline has properly assessed the the results of what is soon going to be the longest route in its network, the 17h 40min Auckland-New York flight.