A First Look At the New Singapore Airlines 777 Economy Seat

Last week I shared a first look at Singapore’s new 777 first class cabin and then I followed up with the new 777 business class cabin as well.

I was fortunate to attend the delivery of Singapore’s first 777 with their new interior at Boeing’s Everett Delivery Center and to roam around the aircraft taking photos.

I didn’t get to take pictures of everything, the lavatories were closed off for instance and since the plane was literally just delivered Singapore hadn’t done the full upload of its entertainment system yet.

There are (8) 777 aircraft on order with this new interior. They haven’t announced anything about retrofitting existing 777s, but they have announced it as the product for Singapore’s new Airbus A350s on order.

This first aircraft is being sent to fly Singapore – London. Additional routes for future aircraft haven’t been announced, but there were suggestions that San Francisco or Houston (both currently served by 777s) could get the new interiors.

I have to say — even economy looks pretty good. To be clear, I hope not to actually fly to Singapore in economy. But if the choice for flying economy to Southeast Asia or any of their other destinations is one between flying Singapore Airlines and another carrier, Singapore will certainly rank up towards the top.

I’m not going to make a more definitive claim than that because I have not sampled the world’s variety of economy offerings to be able to offer a more definitive opinion on which is “the best” but certainly Singapore’s economy product is very good as far as such things go.

Here’s the exit row with gobs of legroom. There’s definitely going to be more foot traffic, so less peaceful for sleeping, but it’s also a tradeoff I would make in an instant because it’s also far less claustrophobic.

But the legroom in standard economy isn’t bad as far as economy seating goes.

Here’s the seat’s recline which includes a slide forward.

The seat features comfortable padded headrest.

There’s a large television monitor, pop out cup holder, remote control, and multiple electronic jacks.

To me these felt like they gave real control over the in-seat experience, and little attention to details made the seat feel more ‘human’ for someone about to embark on a long transpacific journey.

The only thing that was missing, really, was a bit of extra elbow room and a foot rest you might find in premium economy rather than economy (there’s a small foot rest underneath the seat in front of you to use, something not many airlines offer, but I found it awkward) — but even the armrest was made of a comfortable material.

I only sat in the seat for a couple of minutes which I enjoyed (and would be happy flying this seat short haul), no doubt I would be much worse for wear than when I fly Singapore Airlines up front. Still, high praise to Singapore for paying attention to details in the back of the plane and not just in front.

Full disclosure: while these sorts of events often cover expenses for media, I paid for my own airline ticket, hotel, and meals. I ate a sandwich in Boeing’s conference room. They ran a shuttle bus from the hotel I stayed in (Westin Seattle) to the Everett Delivery Center, and provided a shared van back to the airport. If I had been taking freebies, I would have asked them for a case of Dom Perignon and one of Krug, as well as a lifetime supply of prawn and chicken laksa.


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About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. I flew SQ’s older 777-300ER economy product a few years ago and still to this day wonder why other airlines have not adopted the cup holder. Its a very simple thing, but makes a huge difference, especially in economy, when you don’t want to have your tray table down the entire time.

  2. @Trevor

    agreed, this is such a simple solution especially during turbulence… not sure why others don’t have it.

  3. I disagree with the footrest. It’s a nuisance, and takes away very valuable space, for tall people. Tall people are punished already enough in economy…

  4. @Gary – is it 9 or 10 seats across?

    +1 @ ralf. Those foot rests only serve to bump my shins. I have a 7 hr flight coming up this week and will have to contend with one.

  5. I like foot rest, it would make you feel comfortable for a long journey. Because you can put ur legs higher

  6. +1 as for hating the foot rests.

    Also, I’d take EVA Y with the 33″ seat pitch any day over SQ Y with 32″, even with the difference in soft product…

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