Flights’ seats convert to beds

Friday, July 26, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

When Singapore Airlines inaugurates nonstop service linking Hong Kong with Las Vegas next week, its business-class passengers will be among the first of the airline's customers to use seats that can fold out into a double bed.

The Singapore-based carrier, which frequently tops international travel magazine lists for its service quality, is making a big push to market its SpaceBed, an airline seat that turns into a bed 6 feet 6 inches long and 27 inches wide. Because seat armrests have the same upholstery and recede to become part of the bed surface, side-by-side seats are like a double bed.

"It's being introduced in North America on our Las Vegas flights," said James Boyd, a spokesman for the airline. "It's a feature of our Raffles class of service on our brand-new (Boeing) 777s and it's the largest seat offered in business class."

"Raffles" is what SIA calls its business-class section and there are 30 seats in that section of the cabin of the twin-engine jumbo jet. The planes also have 255 economy-class seats.

Airline personnel will be showing off the seats in a demonstration at the Forum Shops at Caesars Aug. 3-4.

Boyd also said the aircraft making the Las Vegas run will be equipped with an audio-video-on-demand system that enables each passenger to program his or her own audio presentation and choose from among 50 movies and videos to be shown on seat-back screens. The monitors in the Raffles class have 10.4-inch screens, in economy class they're 6.25-inch screens.

While SIA is hoping the SpaceBed seats will be a selling point for its top class of service to Las Vegas, casino officials can expect those passengers to at least be well rested when the arrive. Passengers will have plenty of time to sleep when they make the trip.

The flight will leave Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok International Airport Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 11 p.m. The plane will fly east into daylight over the Pacific Ocean, cross the International Date Line and land 13 hours and 45 minutes later at McCarran International Airport at 9:45 p.m. the same day.

The return flight leaves Las Vegas Thursdays, Saturdays and Mondays at 7 a.m., arriving in Hong Kong at 1 p.m. the next day after a 15-hour trip.

The Hong Kong-Las Vegas route will be the longest on the SIA system -- at least for now. When the airline takes delivery of new four-engine Airbus A-340-500 planes in the fall, they will be capable of providing nonstop flights between Singapore and the North American West Coast, which would be longer than the Las Vegas flights.

While most of SIA's efforts have focused on promoting the flights in Asia to Las Vegas, the airline also is attempting to attract Southern Nevadans to take in the Far East. Through Wednesday, the airline is offering economy class round-trip fares of $499 to Hong Kong and $599 to Singapore for travel between Aug. 3 and Oct. 31.