Singapore Airlines A380: My new favourite Business Class (as a parent, anyway)

I remember how I used to stare in disbelief at people who told me that their favourite Singapore Airlines Business Class seat was the 2009 Regional Business Class, found on the Airbus A330-300s, Boeing 777-200s and 777-300s.

“Why?!” I would say incredulously. “This is, without a doubt, the worst Business Class seat that Singapore Airlines has to offer. It doesn’t have aisle access for every passenger. It doesn’t become a flat bed. You can feel yourself sliding off the seat when reclined. The inflight entertainment screen is terrible quality. There’s no storage space. There’s no privacy.”

“Well,” they’d reply, after wiping my spittle off their face, “It makes it easy to keep tabs on the little ones”.

As a blissfully single man back then, I could only roll my eyes at such wanton foolishness. But joke’s on me, because I now get this completely.

While the 2009 Regional Business Class may no longer be around — it quietly bowed out in October 2020 when 9V-SYJ was retired amidst the global pandemic — the idea it encapsulates of a more social Business Class experience is particularly important to parents, as I discovered on a recent trip.

The problem with modern Business Class

When your child passes the two-year mark, some arbitrary rule decides that they’re old enough to require their own seat, even if they’re more likely to spend the majority of the flight curled up in yours.

This creates a problem, particularly in Business Class (and First Class too I suppose, but slow down Richie Rich). The same characteristics that make a Business Class seat great for solo travellers make it terrible for parents. A sliding door, high walls and massive side consoles for storage are fantastic when travelling alone, but frustrating when your three-year-old is sitting in the adjacent seat and is about to have a meltdown because they can’t open a snack packet.

The issue stems from the fact that modern Business Class seats are just too darn private. With no direct line of sight, it’s hard for parents to see, reach, communicate with or assist their child without having to leave their seat — which is impossible during taxi, take-off, landing and turbulence anyway. The physical separation also makes it challenging to control their sugar intake or screen time. I don’t know about you, but I’m somewhat uncomfortable with my child chugging Coca Cola while watching baby heroin (otherwise known as Cocomelon).

So does this mean parents should give up on the idea of Business Class altogether? Well, it depends on what type of seat you’ll be flying…

What the Singapore Airlines A380 does differently

I’ve said before that I find it hard to justify redeeming a Business Class seat for a child (not until she can drink more champagne than me, anyway), but I decided to break that rule for a recent family holiday to Tasmania, via Sydney.

How I rationalised the decision was:

• The Singapore to Sydney leg was a red-eye (SQ221)
• I had expiring miles to burn
• I was able to find three Saver awards at the pre-devaluation rate of 68,500 miles

But the biggest reason by far was that the flight was operated by the Airbus A380-800, equipped with the 2017 Business Class seat.

Review: Singapore Airlines A380 Business Class (SIN-JFK)

This cabin product is exclusive to the A380, and its most distinctive feature is that passengers in the middle seats can actually see their companion. That’s because the privacy divider between the seats can be fully lowered, and the headrest has no privacy wing. It’s great for couples, yes, but it’s even better for parents.

There’s just no equal to this in the Singapore Airlines fleet. With the 2013 Business Class seat on the A350-900LH/ULR and B777-300ER, it’s hard to see each other unless you both lean forward — and if your kid is able to move that far forward, it probably means they’re not strapped in properly. The large console between the two seats also makes it impossible to simply reach across to help. You’ll need to get up from your seat and cross over at the front or rear of the cabin, which can’t be done during certain phases of the flight.

It’s slightly better on the B787-10, but even the “honeymoon” seats have eye-level privacy wings which keep the other passenger out of view, and the center divider only lowers enough for you to awkwardly “cowboy step” over. Besides, these are only for regional flights of up to 6 or 7 hours, so if your flight is longer than this, you will either have the 2013 or 2017 Business Class seat.

That’s why the A380 Business Class seat is such a game-changer for parents.

First of all, it makes settling into the flight a lot easier. You can reach across to strap them in, set up their toys and other distractions, unwrap the blanket, and turn off the inflight entertainment display (well, at least until they figure out how to turn it on again), all without leaving your own seat. The centre divider is also low enough that you can easily hop across aisles.

Second, when the plane takes off, the spooling of the engines and other loud noises associated with the landing gear can spook smaller kids. This layout helps a lot with that anxiety, as they can see you’re there, and you can hold their hand or comfort them.

Third, mealtimes are much more convenient, as their tray table is just next to you. It’s easy to share food, make sure it’s at the right temperature, or feed them if necessary (it’s one thing to have a messy eater on the ground, but on an aircraft…).

And when the meal is over, brushing teeth is a breeze!

The sleep experience is also unrivalled. The bulkhead rows (11, 91, 96) on the A380 can be converted into double beds, or some approximation of it (there’s a hard divider in the middle that you can’t really lie across).

Having a unified sleep surface allows you to do all the regular wind-down routines effortlessly — reading stories, last sips of water, tuck-ins. I can only imagine how difficult this would have been on an aircraft with the 2013 Business Class seat, unless you’re willing to sit uncomfortably next to them on their seat while waiting for them to fall asleep.

With the kid down for the night, you can catch up on work…

…join them eventually…

…and even do breakfast in bed.

Granted, it’s not easy to score the bulkhead seats, as they’re blocked for advance selection for PPS Club members and only opened for general selection 96 hours before departure. But even if you don’t get these, the rest of the cabin is fine too. As this photo from The Points Guy shows, while the beds in non-bulkhead rows are slightly angled away from each other, you can still see your seatmate.

Another reason why the A380 is great for kids is because the staircase at the rear (forget about the one in the front, that’s for Suites only) provides an opportunity for them to stretch their legs — supervised, of course.

The return flight to Singapore was during the day. Kids don’t take well to sitting down for hours on end, so it wasn’t long before the MileCub wanted to explore. The crew on this flight were amazing, and the MileCub took an instant liking to one of them (who, incidentally, shared the same name). This jie jie took her on a tour of the aircraft, played with her, and plied her with an endless stream of snacks.

The MileCub keeps asking when she’ll see her again, and I don’t have the heart to explain the Fight Club concept of single-serving friends.

What about the next-generation Business Class?

Singapore Airlines plans to unveil its next-generation cabin products later this year, ahead of a planned introduction in Q1 2027 (one hopes!).

Details are scarce at the moment, but the render that SIA has shared of the Business Class cabin reveals that it will be installing suites with privacy doors in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration.

Staggered seating offers two possibilities for middle seats:

• Option 1: An “all divorce” configuration, where all middle seats are separated by side tables (e.g. Japan Airlines A350-1000)
• Option 2: Alternating “honeymoon” and “divorce” seats, where some middle seats are pushed together, and others separated by the side console (e.g. Korean Air B787-10).

My money says that SIA will go with Option 2, since this offers more seating possibilities. That’s good news for parents, because as much as I love Japan Airlines’ new Business Class on the A350-1000, I can see it being a nightmare for anyone with kids.

I’d expect the middle seats to be convertible into a private double suite, with the doors helping to block out light pollution and distractions from neighbouring IFE screens. I would also hope that the privacy divider can be lowered to the level that makes it easy to cut across aisles — more like privacy on demand, rather than permanent privacy by design.

In terms of technology improvements, I’m sure many parents would welcome the ability to disable the entertainment screen for the duration of the flight (though it’ll obviously need to be activated for the safety video).

We’ll find out soon enough.

Conclusion

This might be difficult to appreciate if you’re not a parent, but having your toddler within eyeshot and arm’s reach on a plane is very, very important.

That’s obviously not a problem in Economy, but Singapore Airlines’ Business Class seats are, for the most part, designed around a solo experience. The Airbus A380 is a notable exception, with its centre seats allowing two passengers to experience the flight together. If you’ve decided to redeem a Business Class ticket for your child — as much for your own sake as theirs — try to make sure it’s on one of these aircraft. It really makes a difference!

Parents: What’s your favourite Business Class product?