But it has not reached that is offering this new service. It is Singapore Airlines.
It will be great to have the best business class seat on the longest flight. But I’m skeptical there will be award availability - I guess time will tell. On Singapore Airlines’ other routes with the same seat (in A380 and 77W aircraft) the routinely block the business and first class seats from awards, other than by using their Kris Flyer program and even then requiring double miles. On paid tickets they apply hefty surcharges.
While there is an increase in business class seats with the reconfiguration, it is not a lot of extra seats for them to sell. Given the existing business class on the nonstop regularly sells out I guess there won’t be a need for them to add extra award seats.
Where it might make a difference is freeing up a few seats on the flights that do stop. So JFK-FRA-SIN for the Newark non-stop, and LAX-TPE-SIN and LAX-NRT-SIN for the Los Angeles non-stop. There might be a few more business class seats available on those flights.
It’s actually not clear to me that “If ever there’s a flight where you really want to be in business class, it’s this one.” The premium economy class is IMHO more bearable than, for example, the transit experience of JFK-FRA-SIN in business class. And for some of us, “business” looks worse than “economy” on an expense report.
For a such a long flight and for the amount of business travelers between North America and Singapore it really makes sense. Singapore will continue to grow and to be a magnet for foreign investment. I’m sure there will be plenty of business people interested in flying comfortably not minding the extra cost.
