Slick leather seats bound in the same plush suede-look fabric used in Lamborghinis, cinematic screens and a cosseting lie-flat bed with retractable arm rests are just some of the boastworthy features of Singapore Airlines’ new regional business class.

The new cabin products debuted in the airline’s first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, which returned home to an exciting ceremony at Changi airport this morning.

READ: Singapore takes delivery of the first Boeing 787-10.

The first-ever ‘dash 10’ is the first of 49 on order by Singapore Airlines. The newest member of the Dreamliner family will begin servicing the Perth-Singapore and Perth-Osaka routes in May.

Business class in the 787-10 cabin is a private and luxurious affair, with 26in-wide seats set in the popular 1-2-1 configuration, all forward facing.

Each seat converts into a 76in fully-flat bed and has a handy console, with a power point and two USB ports. There is also a pull-out vanity mirror and in a big improvement on the 777, a touchscreen monitor with intuitive remote.

Given Singapore Airlines’ existing business class seats are sofa-sized behemoths that can easily fit two people seated side by side, it’s impossible not to be struck by the narrower new ones.

But they are a very clever use of space, and feel surprisingly spacious when flattened out (they’re also particularly cosy when you wrap yourself in the soft faux-mink rug and brush up against tactile brown microfibre fabric made by Alcantara — the same suedette used in sports cars and luxury yachts).

They’re obviously not made for long-haul flights and perfectly suit the dine and nap nature of the medium haul regional flight.

That said, they provided a rather effective lullaby for passengers on board the 20+ hour delivery flight (this reporter managed to squeeze in a very impressive nine-hour snooze).

In the upright position, the seats are the very epitome of business class in that they provide a brilliant situation for working travellers: the big tray table is more than able to hold a laptop while the smaller table in the console area could easily hold a meal and drinks — or vice versa. This means no awkward scrambling when service begins.

The crystal-clear screen is almost 18-inches wide  and enormous selection of movies (this reporter has now just about seen every winner from the recent Academy Awards) and the ability to log on with your KrisWorld number to save your spot or create favourites, significantly enhance the inflight experience.

In economy class, the new cabin has a 3-3-3 configuration, with firm and supportive racing car-style Recaro seats with a 32in pitch. Each seat features a six-way adjustable headrest with wings for head and neck support, plus storage space and a charger port.

And Cabin altitude is kept at what Jeff Haber, regional director of product marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said is an “optimal” 6000ft during cruise to stave off headaches and fatigue.

Cynical journalists are always pretty keen to avoid falling for the hype but the almost 24-hour journey from Charleston to Changi via Osaka did not end with the usual cracked lips, arid sinus and pressure headache. Flight attendants also claim the humidified air is saving their skin.

Mr Haber said the “game changer” of an aircraft boasted several improvements: a combination of “things you can see and things you can feel”.

Among the things you can see is plentiful overhead storage — “so people can be near their stuff”.

The Dreamliner’s huge dimmable windows are also a big drawcard. “When you’re on a Dreamliner, every seat is a window seat,” he said. “Every seat is connected to the sky”.

The 787-10 is effectively a stretched version of its predecessor, with the extra 18ft boosting capacity to 337 seats. Vitally, there is also 13 per cent more cargo space.

It was assembled at Boeing’s Charleston, South Carolina facility using parts manufactured around the world — including trailing edge wing flaps from Fishermans Bend in Melbourne.

The airline has invested $US350million on installing the new regional cabin products in the first 20 of its 787-10s.

Amanda Keenan traveled to the US as a guest of Singapore Airlines.

Singapore Airlines will invest $US350 million to fit next-generation regional cabin products on its new Boeing 787-10 aircraft in a move it says will redefine medium-haul travel.

Singapore is the launch customer for the B787-10 and its first aircraft arrived in Singapore Wednesday sporting its flagship regional business class seat.

It has ordered 49 of the biggest B787s and the $350 million investment will cover the first 20. The investment is in addition to $US850 million the airline is spending on refurbishing its Airbus A380 fleet.

READ Singapore Airlines’ striking A380 upgrade.

The two-class aircraft, which offers 36 business class seats and 301 in economy, will be used on medium-haul routes of eight hours or less..

The new business class seats, manufactured by Stelia Aerospace, are arranged in a forward-facing 1-2-1 configuration that offers all passengers direct aisle access.

The 26-inch wide seats (with the retractable arm rests lowered)  recline into a 76-inch fully flat beds and come with an 18-inch high definition touch screen powered by Panasonic’s eX3 system.

READ: Singapore Airlines wins major awards.

Adjustable dividers allow passengers to customize their privacy and there is space for laptops and other belongings.

The 301 RECARO economy seats feature an ergonomically designed backrest and a six-way adjustable headrest.

There’s an 11.6-inch HD touch screen as well as storage for small personal items, a coat hook, USB port and in-seat power.

The new planes come with the latest version of the airline’s Krisworld in-flight entertainment system and will feature in-flight WiFi.

“The introduction of the new cabin products on our Boeing 787-10 fleet reinforces our unwavering commitment to product leadership, one of the key pillars of our brand promise,” SIA chief executive  Goh Choon Phong said.

“The new products were the result of a series of consultations with customers, and from working closely with our seat designers and manufacturers.

“We are confident that the new regional cabin products, with full-flat beds in Business Class and the many new features in Economy Class, will offer our customers a more comfortable in-flight experience even on the shortest flights.”

Osaka and Perth will be the first scheduled destinations to be served by the new planes from May.

Prior to the launch of these regular services, the aircraft will be operated on selected flights to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur for crew training purposes.

Air New Zealand will move into America’s heartland from November as launches its first service to Chicago O’Hare International Airport and deepens its alliance with United Airlines.

The new route, part of the Kiwi carrier’s push to extend its international services, comes as United announced it would extend its seasonal San Francisco service to year-round from April 2019.

United will operate will operate a three times weekly service that will complement Air New Zealand’s daily service. It will use a Boeing 777-300ER featuring its Polaris business class between November and March and B777-200ER between April and October.

Air New Zealand will operate the new ultra-long-haul route, which will take about 15 hours northbound and just over 16 hours southbound, three times weekly with newly configured Boeing 787-9 aircraft.

Read Air New Zealand’s 10th Dreamliner is built for comfort.

Chicago is United’s home base and will Air New Zealand passengers access to about 100 code share destinations across the US.

Air New Zealand chief executive has long been of the option that there is an undeveloped tourism potential in the US and the new route will also allow the carrier to offer a new market to New Zealanders and Australians.

“We expect the addition of Chicago to our network to be an attractive option for Kiwis wanting to explore the city or head on to other North American destinations,” Luxon said in the announcement.

“As well as being great for travelers, this new route is good news for New Zealand, as we expect it to contribute around $NZ70 million annually to our economy and we know that more than 50 percent of spending by US visitors to New Zealand is done outside of the main centers.

“We’ll be working along side our colleagues at United Airlines to grow the route and visitor numbers in both directions.”

United international network vice president Patrick Quayle said the increased San Francisco service and the new Air NZ route would offer US passengers more ways to get to New Zealand.

“Today’s announcements are great examples of the customer benefits that result from the strong, strategic alliance and partnership between United Airlines and Air New Zealand,” he said.

Air NZ is pursuing a strategy to increase its services around the Pacific Rim and in February announced it would start non-stop flights to Tapei from November.

Read Air NZ expects its second-highest annual profit as it heads to Tapei.

It said at that time it expected international capacity growth in the second half of its financial year, which ends June 30, would be about 5 per cent.

If there was a time to drum out the cliche “you get what you pay for”, it was after the first Qantas Perth to London 17hr 20 minute non-stop flight on Saturday, March 24.

The difference between a business suite or premium economy and economy on Qantas’ nonstop 787 Dreamliner route could be the difference between arriving ready to hit the sightseeing and sinking straight into a hotel room bed.

Yet if like most of us, your funds only stretch to the back of the bus, there are ways you can better your chances of being bright-eyed when you stroll through Heathrow Airport’s arrivals gate (or if you’re coming the other way to Perth).

Choose your seat early

Checking in online is the only way to go for this flight.

A window seat will give you the side of the plane to rest your head against when it’s lights out but there are other tricks too.

Exit rows are obviously the best for extra leg room (which I found an issue on this flight) and if you get a seat at either end of the middle trio of chairs you may get lucky like me and find the seat in the centre vacant – I’m told it’s considered one of the least desirable seats on the plane.

Start with a movie

While the who’s who in business class will enjoy being wined and dined from take-off, in economy class, it might take a few hours (in my case, until 10 pm Perth time) to get your first taste of food that’s not rice biscuits.

I found the first few hours of the flight the longest but, on Saturday’s inaugural flight, those who got stuck into the movies straight away said it was the best way to see off the first couple of hours and a handy distraction from the early turbulence we encountered due to a cyclone (But the rest of flight was silky as).

READ: Marathon economy flight quicker than expected. 

Limit the grog

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce may compare the first direct Perth to Britain route to Christmas Day.

If that were the case, Mr Joyce may have made himself the Christmas Grinch when he suggested to AirlineRatings.com that the best way to manage the flight was to stay off the booze.

But, there may be some truth in it.

I gave it a try myself, limiting myself to a mere one gin and tonic at the start of the flight. When you’re tired, jet-lagged and running of a diet of adrenalin and bread rolls, the last thing you want is a mini-hangover mid-air. Being hydrated surely has to help.

Read

There’s nothing like a good book to make you feel like you’re on holiday. My favourite long-haul trick is to read the first 50 pages of a fresh book in the week before the flight and finish the rest on the plane.

The hours melt away when you’re deep into a good read and getting a head start pre-flight makes it much easier to pick up when you’re a little more tired than usual.

Read: Qantas to look at Perth to Paris next 

Follow the crew’s wacky schedule

The beauty of the Dreamliner is its anti-jetlag measures. Mood lighting, temperature changes and even the food are all rigged towards getting you in the correct routine on landing.

So, it’s not much use if you resort to sleeping when the food’s out and watching movies when the lights are dimmed.

I’m not saying it’s going to be easy eating bacon butties in the middle of the night or sleeping when you’re told to but trying to sync yourself with the crew will make it a whole lot easier when the lights are switched on at the end of the flight.

Walk

Look at the time right now. Now, cast your mind back to 17 hours ago. What have you done since then? Been for a run? Walked around the office? Been to the gym?

You can’t spend 17 hours on your backside if not only for your health’s sake, for your sanity’s sake too. Take a stroll down to the pointy end of the plane, do a couple of laps and try and get your steps up. It helped me and I didn’t have even a little bit of swelling when we landed.

Talk

Tiredness brings out the worst in us all and there’s nothing like a long-haul flight to make that happen. A short, friendly chat with your fellow passengers is not only a nice thing to do, it can make you a little more understanding when they’re snoring or they’re struggling to control their children later in the flight.

But don’t be “that” person and try not to bother someone with their headphones on who clearly wants their own space.

Avoid the flight map

They say a watched kettle never boils and a watched route tracker won’t budge any quicker either. You know what you’re signing up to when you book a 17-hour flight to why torture yourself by watching every minute drain by?

I tried to check it only a handful of times and every time I was pleasantly surprised to see how far we’d travelled.

Learn the seat facilities early on

This sounds painfully obvious but in an aircraft as fancy as this one, there may be something you’ve missed. The last thing you want to do is struggle to find a comfortable position for 16 hours, only to find the footrest in the final push.

Take a couple of minutes to watch Qantas’ video about your seat and see if there’s a way to make it a little more tolerable for yourself.

Consider noise-cancelling headphones

A fellow passenger on Saturday’s inaugural flight told me he was dreading telling his wife about the money he’d spent on noise-cancelling headphones at the airport.

Yet, later in the flight, he told me how he didn’t know how he’d survived long-haul flights without them.

If you’re a light sleeper, a pair will make that frustrating drone of the aircraft dissolve away. But, be warned, not even the best pair will block out the noise of a crying baby or noisy group of passengers. Otherwise, a good pair of earplugs (a step up from the foam ones Qantas provides) will come in handy.

Air Tahiti Nui’s first foray into the growing premium economy segment is now on sale ahead of the replacement of its Airbus 340-300 fleet with fuel-efficient Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

The fleet renewal, which includes enhancements to the economy and business cabins,  is scheduled to begin with the arrival of the first three-class Dreamliner in November.

The other three are expected to be in service by September 2019.

READ our ratings for Air Tahiti Nui.

The Tahitian airline’s dedicated Moana premium economy cabin offers 32 Zodiac Aerospace seats with a 38-inch (96.5cms) seat pitch, a width of 19 inches and an eight-inch recline on a 2-3-2 layout.

“We’re very excited to be introducing a new class to our airline with premium economy offering an option for those who want to experience extra comforts during their journey to and from Tahiti, while the Dreamliners new lie-flat seats will make our front-end offering more competitive and compelling for our premium guests,” Air Tahiti Nui regional manager Australia New Zealand Alan Roman said.

Zodiac is also supplying new economy class seats with a less spacious 31-inch seat pitch in a 3-3-3 configuration with a tighter 17.3-inch width.

However, the airline notes the Z300 seat has an articulating seat pan which makes it “one of the best next-generation long-range economy seats available today” and promises experienced travelers will notice the difference.

Air Tahiti Nui’s Poerava business class is getting a new Rockwell Collins Parallel Diamond fully-flat seat with plenty of storage areas and a seat pitch of 60 inches.

The 30 business seats are in a 2-2-2 configuration and will feature 16-inch hi-definition touch screens and Panasonic’s eX3 system. Travelers in premium economy will get 13-inch screens while those in economy class will measure 12-inches.

High-speed wi-fi will be available through Panasonic’s eXConnect satellite broadband during the airline’s short and long-haul flights from Tahiti to Auckland, Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo.

The aircraft interior will also be redesigned to offer “a stunning new look that is distinctly Tahitian”.