Some years after economy plus/premium economy classes started appearing, they have grown in popularity as business class is increasingly led by airlines with fully lie flat seats. Premium economy is seen on both BA and Virgin Atlantic, SAS, Air France, JAL, ANA, Qantas and Air NZ, with United's famous Economy Plus product being economy with more legroom. Cathay Pacific has been openly discussing whether a premium economy product would be warranted, and now according to ABTN, Turkish Airlines is introducing a premium economy class on a number of long haul routes. It would appear likely that it will be seen on its new Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 aircraft. Business traveller has depictions of the cabin (and other revamped cabins) showing an apparent 2-3-2 configuration (although this would appear to be on an A330, the following economy class picture must be on a 777 with 3-3-3).
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| Turkish Airlines new premium economy |
The appearance of this is welcome, as it adds to Star Alliance premium economy offerings, which in Europe are rare since BMI has abandoned the class, with only SAS providing an offering on long haul routes. It looks similar to the seating now provided by Virgin Atlantic in premium economy. Turkish has a range of competitors, from Lufthansa to the Middle East hub carriers, most of which have no such product. As an increasing number of better off leisure travellers are preferring to avoid being crammed like sardines in economy, those airlines without premium economy may be completely ignored by them. Turkish looks like it is trying to capture a share of the market.
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