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The Ultimate Guide to Air New Zealand's New 'SkyCouch' Seats

The official Air New Zealand shot of two yuppies on the SkyCouch

We’ve been eagerly anticipating the Stateside unveiling of Air New Zealand’s new SkyCouch for months now since the Kiwis got a first look way back in January, and last night, we got the chance to check out the divine divans for ourselves at the company’s headquarters by LAX.

Born out of a desire to “revolutionize the way people at the back of the plane experience their journey,” Air New Zealand has taken the typical three-seat row and turned it into a couch so that economy travelers can stretch out and practically lie flat—albeit in still slightly cramped quarters.

So can two regular people fit on the SkyCouch, and what's the deal with the new premium economy seats? Find out, after the jump!

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Will Fatties Fit On Air New Zealand's New 'SkyCouch?'

So yesterday in the land of the Kiwis, Air New Zealand unveiled their "revolutionary, Kiwi designed lie-flat economy and ground breaking premium economy seats," and initially we were thrilled at the promise of lie-flat seats in economy...until we saw the pictures.

That's it above, their "lie-flat" design, which depicts your pretty typical airline seats, but now with footrests that can raise to create a larger flat surface for stretching out. It's called the "SkyCouch," and although the light of heaven seems to be shining down upon the young, beautiful couple, we're skeptical.

Our concerns and a video after the jump.

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Air New Zealand Wants To Sell Us A Coach-Middle-Seat-Bed Thing

We might be a little premature in declaring a new travel trend, but it appears that selling empty middle seats is the new checked baggage fee. WestJet recently shed a little light on plans to make passengers a little more comfy while cashing in at the same time. Now Air New Zealand, the airline that loves wacky stuff like in-flight dating and body paint, is looking to do the same thing.

As part of a total makeover of the airline—they’re looking to change up their livery and uniforms among other things—they want to sell empty middle seats to coach passengers. If the seat next to you is empty it will be yours as long as you are willing to part with $150. You’ll even be allowed to fully stretch out, as apparently the two seats will slide forward to make some sort of economy bed. They are still hush hush about all the details, and they want to wait until next year before revealing all the secrets about the new seating configurations.

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