During long flights, economy class passengers have a hard time due to the limited space between the seats and the inability to extend their legs. The New Zealand airline has set out to solve the problem by installing bunk beds on planes for tourists to sleep during the booked period, The Sun reported.
Air New Zealand is preparing to put the Skynest system into operation on its planes. These are bunk beds that economy class passengers can reserve during a 4-hour flight. The kit will include personal eye masks and headphones to facilitate falling asleep and comfortable rest. The service will be available to the airline’s customers in September of next year.
It is planned that 6 capsules with beds will be installed in airplanes on long and ultra-long flights. There will be a 1.5-hour break between every 4 hours to allow crew members to clean and prepare beds for the next residents.
Leanne Geraghty, chief customer service and sales officer at Air New Zealand, said the four-hour time slot allowed enough time for the necessary sleep. “We know that most people go through a 90-minute REM sleep cycle. Thus, a four-hour block allows for two such cycles, plus time to relax and wake up. Customers who are fast asleep will be gently woken up by the cabin crew, as we do every day on our flights when we are approaching boarding after a long flight,” she said.
Air New Zealand is the first airline to offer such a service for economy-class passengers. Accordingly, it will not be possible to stretch out and sleep comfortably on other flights. In this case, the advice of sleep expert Martin Sealy may come in handy: linger in the airport waiting area and be the last to the board to find free seats and empty benches where you can make yourself more comfortable.