‘Snoring is perfectly natural’: testing Air New Zealand’s world first sleep pods
At one point, during my attempted nap, I dig out my phone and look up the dimensions of a coffin.
A standard adult casket, it turns out, rises to 58cm. Gazing up at the whitewashed ceiling of my “nest”, I calculate it offers around 7cm more clearance than the average coffin.
This is the Skynest: touted as a world first design, it’s a set of airborne bunk beds, created by Air New Zealand to “revolutionise” budget air travel. Available from next year, they offer economy passengers the chance to unfold their limbs, extract their necks from inflatable boomerang pillows, and stretch out in luxurious, horizontal style.
A snooze in one of the six beds – stacked tightly in pairs – will set the flyer back NZ$400-$600 for a four hour session. The bunkroom represents a challenge of engineering – fitting six horizontal humans into the space of a small airline galley. In central Auckland, Air New Zealand has built a full mock-up of the design, to test on hundreds of people as market research – and show off to curious reporters who ask if they can have a go.
Air New Zealand has spent 18 months on the research stage, says its head of aircraft programmes, Kerry Reeves, dedicating months to interviews that delve into the motivations and desires of passengers. Some of the findings are recorded in large bullet-pointed lists. Passengers in the upper classes, for example, want to “indulge”, and “escape from madness”.
The needs of budget travellers – also listed next to large bullet points – are more prosaic: to “protect my own space”, “fight boredom” and “feel human”.
The Skynest glows in low-lit pink behind a black curtain. It is not an experience for the claustrophobic. Entering the bottom bunk requires you to get on your hands and knees and
Read more on theguardian.com
