In this post, I thought it’d be helpful to look at some low-cost airlines that operate premium cabins between East Asia and Europe. While long-haul flights on low-cost airlines aren’t usually fun, flying one in a premium cabin can sometimes represent a good opportunity to save some cash, while still getting quite a comfortable product.
I’ll preface that I’ve not flown any of these on the East Asia-Europe route before – a vast majority of my flights between East Asia and Europe have been in premium economy cabins on full-service airlines, and my experiences on these airlines have been on different routes. However, many of these airlines have similar seats to each other – they typically operate a better hard product compared to premium economy on full-service airlines, whereas the soft product is slightly worse.
What’s it like to fly a low-cost premium cabin?
On many longhaul flights, low-cost airlines will usually operate a premium cabin. While you might expect to find business class seats with direct aisle access on a full-service carrier, you’ll usually get premium economy-style recliners on a low-cost carrier, or a high-density flat bed product at best. (This doesn’t apply to all full-service carriers – for example, ZIPAIR operates reverse herringbone seats in their premium cabin.)
The hard product is generally better than what you’d find on premium economy cabins. Below is a picture of the premium cabin on Norse’s 787, which I flew from London to New York. While most full-service carriers have 38-40″ pitch in premium economy, Norse has 43″, and that’s already brought down from the configurations these planes used to operate in the past.
Norse Atlantic 787 Premium Class
Some airlines go one step further than this, and have flat beds in their premium cabin. These can usually represent excellent value, as pricing is still more similar to what you’d see in premium economy than what you’d do in business class.
AirAsia A330 Premium Cabin
However, the general level of service you’ll get is a bit lower on most carriers. Very few low-cost airlines offer any sort of lounge access (which to be fair, you don’t get in premium economy either), and you may not even get more baggage allowance than economy passengers do. You do generally get priority boarding, though.
Once onboard, expect to receive economy-style amenities, and you might even have to pay for an amenity kit. If the airline has an entertainment system you might get a scrappy pair of earphones, and the pillow and blanket is generally more similar to what you’d see in economy.
Norse 787 Premium Class Amenities
Similarly, don’t expect porcelain casseroles, a wider selection of beverages, or a thoughtful meal service – you’ll usually get the bare minimum soft drinks, and you might be able to choose one free item from the otherwise buy-on-board menu.
Scoot 787 ScootPlus Meal Service
So if the hard product is better and the soft product is worse than premium economy, where does pricing on these low-cost carriers come in? Quite cheaply. For example, Neos’ flight from Nanjing to Milan comes in at £416 one-way (HK$4,382), compared to the ~£750 (HK$7,901) average that you’ll see for a one-way premium economy segment.
Another limitation is that you also have very limited connection options if you’re not flying to one of the low-cost airlines’ destinations, and low-cost airlines usually have very limited longhaul networks. So if I was trying to fly between Hong Kong and London, for example, I might have to position on both sides – e.g. first flying to Seoul, then flying one from one of T’Way Airlines’ destinations to London on a low-cost carrier. If I’m just flying cheaply on the regional segments and not staying overnight, though, this usually still represents a significant cost-saving compared to outright flying premium economy – especially over peak season.
So, which airlines fly premium cabins between Asia and Europe?
Scoot 787 ScootPlus – Singapore to Athens and Vienna
Singapore Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary, Scoot, operates longhaul flights to Athens and Vienna. The airline mainly operates flights between Singapore and Southeast Asia/Australia, though they fly a couple of routes to Europe.
On these flights, the airline operates TIMCO 3050 Featherweight premium economy seats with a 38″ seat pitch – very similar to what you’ll get in premium economy. You’ll also be able to pre-order two complimentary meals at the time of booking.
Scoot 787 ScootPlus
Pricing for both Singapore-Athens and Singapore-Vienna is competitive, with prices hovering at around £471 one-way (HK$4,980). I’d call that a super-solid rate, considering that you get a comfortable recliner seat with a meal, and 200 MB of free WiFi (with the option to buy up to 1 GB if needed).
ScootPlus tickets don’t come with lounge access, though you do get a 30kg checked baggage allowance, priority boarding, and a complimentary blanket (though no pillow).
T’Way Air’s A330/777 – Seoul to Frankfurt, Rome, Paris, Barcelona
While most of the airlines on the list offer recliner premium economy-style seats, T’Way Air is a little different – their A330s feature lie-flat seats in business class. Lie-flat seats are a guarantee, though if you manage to score one of their 777s (currently flying to Rome and Barcelona), you’ll even get a reverse herringbone seat, or you can even pay to upgrade to an ex-Cathay Pacific first class seat.
T’Way Air A330 Business Class
Much like ScootPlus, T’Way Air also lets you choose meals from the buy-on-board economy cabin – expect disposable casseroles and plastic cutlery. However, unlike Scoot, T’Way Air doesn’t have WiFi onboard any of their aircraft.
T’Way Air charges slightly higher prices than most of the other airlines in this list, hovering around the £900-1,000 range.
AirAsia’s A330 Premium Flatbed – Kuala Lumpur to London via Bahrain
AirAsia is about to enter the Asia-Europe longhaul market, by flying from Kuala Lumpur to London Gatwick via Bahrain. While economy class on these jets is in a painful 3-3-3 layout (making for around 16.7-inch seat width for a 16-hour flight), these planes feature two rows of “Premium Flatbed” business class. The seats sound like what they are – they’re flat-bed seats in a 2-2-2 configuration, and specifically B/E Minipod seats. I know the seat might not look fully flat in the picture below, though the slight angle compensates for the nose-up angle that the plane flies at (obviously lots of the latest and greatest business class products don’t have such an angle, and I don’t notice a difference either way).
Fun fact – T’Way Air actually acquired AirAsia planes to bolster their longhaul network, so expect a near-identical hard product. Once again, the airline will offer buy-on-board economy meals on a complimentary basis in their premium cabin.
AirAsia A330 Premium Flatbed
Also, much like the T’Way Air aircraft, these planes don’t feature WiFi either – though they do feature streaming entertainment.
Prices run at a much more modest £570 one-way, though do note that there is a stop in Bahrain.
Norse’ 787 Premium – London/Manchester to Bangkok
Norse Atlantic operates their 787s from London to various longhaul destinations, though there’s only one destination in Asia – Bangkok. Norse features a premium cabin very similar to what you’ll find on Scoot, with 56 seats onboard their 787-9. The airline also operates the route from Manchester, and both routes run seasonally during the winter, from October to March.
I’ve never flown Norse to Asia, though here’s a review of their Premium class when I flew them from London to New York.
Norse Atlantic 787 Premium Class
The seat is comfortable, and you get meals served in disposable tupperware. Norse’s 787s don’t have WiFi, though, which is a big bummer especially on long daytime flights.
Norse Atlantic 787 Premium Class Meal
Pricing one-way from Bangkok to London starts from £504 (HK$5,317), and Bangkok to Manchester from £754 (HK$7,954). The fares are a bit higher on the return, since you’ll be subject to the UK APD.
Also, while the Bangkok to London flight is a typical daytime flight, the Bangkok to Manchester schedule sucks – it leaves Bangkok at 8 PM, and gets to Manchester Airport at 2:15 AM. That’s potentially the worst possible timing for an Asia-Europe flight, in terms of jetlag, that I’ve ever seen.
Neos’ 787 Premium – Milan to Nanjing and Phuket…via Bratislava
While you may have heard of many of the low-cost airlines in this list, here’s one that perhaps fewer people would’ve heard of. Neos is an Italian low-cost airline that operates various longhaul flights, mostly to the U.S..
The airline flies to one destination in Asia, excluding Oman (I’m not including airlines flying to the Middle East in this list, as those are a different market where flights are shorter). They’re about to start flights to a second.
Specifically, they’re flying between Milan and Phuket…via Brno, which will soon be rerouted to via Bratislava. They’re also about to start flights between Milan and Nanjing, China.
Out of all of the Asian ports that they could be flying direct to, why Nanjing? Well, I have no idea. And I also don’t know why they don’t operate flights from Phuket directly to Milan, since that’s easily a doable route with the 787 (the airline doesn’t have fifth-freedom rights between Phuket and Bratislava).
Speaking of which, the airline currently is operating flights via Brno, though that’s changing as of next week.
Italian airline Neos operates nonstop flights from Phuket, Thailand to…Brno, Czech Republic, though sadly they can’t operate this as a fifth-freedom route
Neos has a very similar hard product to Scoot and Norse, and the selection of meals looks very similar from reviews. There’s also lounge access – expect a Priority Pass-style contract lounge, as the airline doesn’t operate its own lounges.
While the airline does have onboard WiFi (and it’s even free for Premium passengers), sadly the WiFi only works over Europe and the U.S., so will cut out for the majority of the flight on most flights to Asia.
Neos’ 787 Premium Class
Pricing on the Nanjing route is particularly competitive, being just €510.64 (£445.51/HK$4,700) one-way from Nanjing to Milan Malpensa.
Conclusion
Flying a premium cabin on a low-cost airline can be a great way to stretch your legs on a flight between East Asia and Europe at sub-premium economy prices. The hard product is typically pretty good – you’ll at least get a nice recliner, and might even get a flat bed in some cases. The soft product tends to be a little below what you’d expect in a good premium economy product, and there’s less consistent access to amenities such as WiFi and a decent entertainment system.
From what I can count, five airlines offer a premium cabin between East Asia and Europe. These may be a great alternative to flying premium economy on a fairly long flight, and I’m hoping to see this number expand.
Have I missed any other low-cost airlines that operate premium cabins between East Asia and Europe? For those that fly these products regularly, which one is your favourite?
