Who doesn’t love a starry night… Hawaiian Airlines today welcomed home its first Airbus A330 aircraft featuring fully lie-flat seating in a spacious Premium Cabin that surrounds guests with modern, luxurious island-inspired designs and even a twinkling constellation paying homage to the history of Polynesian navigation.
As we announced last year, Hawaiian Airlines has introduced a new premium cabin from Optimares and design studio PaulWylde who together have brought the biggest development to the Pacific skies in many years. “Our custom-built fully lie-flat seats and our new Premium Cabin redefine the leisure travel experience to Hawaii,” said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO. “In details little and large we have crafted a new seat and a new cabin to look after our guests in unparalleled comfort accompanied by the authenticity and warmth of our in-flight Hawaiian hospitality.”
While many critics may question a 2 x 2 x 2 configuration, as travellers of Hawaiian Airlines premium cabins in the past, most travellers travel in pairs, being the popular honeymoon destination to most of Continental USA. The 18 lie-flat seats fold into 180-degree beds that are 20.5 inches wide by 76 inches long, maximizing living space and providing options for both privacy and a shared flight experience.
Travellers who aren’t lucky enough to travel with a partner, are most likely flying on business, and they too are catered for with access to multiple power ports, including two USB connections and one A/C outlet – and for those travelling alone, a centre pair of seats, with both offering aisle access.
Hawaiian collaborated with California-based consultancy PaulWylde to incorporate flowing curves evocative of the winds and ocean, while marrying organic textures and pops of bright saturated color in its Premium Cabin. Optimares, an innovative Italian seat manufacturer specializing in traveler-centric design, created an exclusive, highly-customized seat that will cradle guests in premium leather from renowned craftsmen Poltrona Frau. The airline’s island design is reflected in earth, sand and sea tones alongside natural materials: from the wave-inspired seatback shell to an adjustable privacy partition of natural reeds embedded in resin, and a ‘constellation panel’ between premium and main cabins.
The upgrade to the cabin doesn’t mean things are just as tight, infact, the airline has reduced the amount of seats available on its A330s. Currently, Hawaiian’s A330-200 aircraft seat 294 passengers, with 18 in Business/First Class, 40 in Extra Comfort and 236 in the Main Cabin. In the new configuration, the aircraft will seat 278 passengers, with 18 in the Premium Cabin, an increased 68 in Extra Comfort and a reduced 192 in the Main Cabin. All these changes don’t effect the economy seat pitch which will remain at 31 inches.
The new aircraft specifically isn’t for sale yet, as the continual rotation means Hawaiian’s new aircraft will serve a variety of destinations over the next few months. Sales for the Premium Cabin are expected to commence in Autumn, when the first dedicated routes will be revealed along with new signature service elements and a host of new amenities. Hawaiian will phase installation of additional A330 Premium Cabins across the 23 strong fleet starting this Autumn and continue through to early 2018.
The new premium seats and cabin are a massive improvement on the current offering, and we are excited to see the new seats enter the market, and it will make for a very competitive product on the lucrative West Coast to Hawaiian Island market, let alone the international routes the A330 will also be flying.
The Designair