Qantas has taken the lead in the premium economy stakes.

Qantas has stepped to the fore in cabin innovation for the first time since it introduced Business Class in 1979 with a new premium economy seat that is industry leading.

The next generation Premium Economy seat,will be installed on the airlines fleet of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners that are to be delivered from October. Put simply, the seat is more business class than economy and is quite possibly the optimum value in long-range travel. World's safest airlines for 2017 The new premium seat is crammed with features and places to put all the essentials for today’s air travelers. Wider and with more functional space overall, the new seat has a unique recline motion that provides a cradle type seat for sleeping. This feature also means that the seat is not as intrusive on the passenger behind when it is fully reclined. The Premium Economy seat is set in a 2-3-2 configuration with the typically unpopular middle seat 2 inches (5cm wider) and the seats have a 38 inch (96cm) seat pitch which is 7 inches (18cm) more than a typical economy configuration. Overall the Premium Economy seat is almost 10 per cent wider than the airline’s current seat and has increased recline. What will be a popular feature is an ergonomically designed headrest that can be fitted with a specially designed pillow and a reengineered footrest that significantly increases comfort when reclining. The footrest is clever and provides excellent support for the feet and back of the legs, while the seat's arm rest, adjacent to the aisle, drops down for ease of access. The high-definition Panasonic in-flight entertainment seatback screens that are about 25 per cent larger than existing offerings. The seat has five individual storage compartments and two USB charging points per seat, as well as shared AC power and a personal LED light designed to minimize disturbance of other passengers. Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said that the Boeing 787 will be flying some of the world’s longest routes such as Perth to London and airline has focused on making each cabin the most comfortable in its class. “Our Business Suite has been dubbed ‘mini First Class’ by some of our Frequent Flyers and our Economy seat for the Dreamliner has features that some reserve for Premium Economy. “This new Premium Economy seat has serious wow factor. You have to experience how well it supports you when you recline to realise it’s completely different from anything else in its class. The Qantas Premium Economy seat is based on a prototype by Thompson Aero Seating and heavily customized by leading Australian industrial designer David Caon. “We’ve made sure this seat offers genuine comfort through design elements not seen before on aircraft. There are a number of new bespoke design elements that we hope will really set the benchmark for this class,” said Mr Caon. Qantas said that it will assess updating existing Premium Economy cabins on its A380 and 747s in-line with its fleet planning and product cycles. Qantas will have 26 premium economy seats on the 787. The first of eight Dreamliners will be delivered in October this year with Qantas’ first international 787 services will take flight in December between Melbourne and Los Angeles. Flights between Perth and London, which will directly link Australia and Europe for the first time, begin in March 2018.