which airline

[Flying Senior]

My wife will be flying to London alone later this year. She is in her 70's -recently recovered from cancer and although she has flown a number of times before is nervous about flying on her own. She would prefer to be in a comfortable 2 seat configuration. We are wondering which economy seated airline has this configuration or at a real stretch which premium economy seated airline has this configuration. She would also prefer to have only 1 stop with a relatively short layover both outbound & inbound. She also can now only eat certain foods although this is not a real problem as she can take snacks with her. Any suggestions/help would be really appreciated. Thanks

 

[TomVexille]

Pretty much every airline offering Premium Economy will have pairs of seats.

As for economy, look for A330s and A340s as those are almost always configured as 2-4-2 in Y (with the exception of a few very cheap LCCs). Also the airlines with Y on the upper deck of their A380s will have pairs of seats.

SQ out of BNE may work if you can get her on the upper deck of the A380 on the SIN-LHR leg. Other than that I'm struggling to think of an airline that suits without going PE. I'm sure there will be another option or two.

Hope that sets you on the right path.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Have you got any frequent flyer points to burn?

You could maybe just fly economy between BNE & SIN during the day on SQ or QF then overnight at the SIN Airport transit hotel to get a good nights sleep.

A lot of airlines have quite reasonable business class fares ex SIN to Europe and back starting from about AUD2,000.00 return including taxes. If you do book the trip that way I would definitely overnight in SIN both for comfort plus to allow if the outbound flight is delayed so you won't miss the next flight.

 

[Flying Senior]

Thanks Tom really appreciate your help.

 

[Flying Senior]

Thanks Oz for your really helpful suggestions. Will check out costs.

 

[Mattg]

While not quite 1 stop, I would suggest booking a return ticket to Singapore on Singapore Airlines or Qantas - if you choose an A330 flight there will be just 2 seats together by each window. And as ozbeachbabe alluded to, you can book business class on Sri Lankan Airlines from Singapore to London for a surprisingly low amount of money. (Around $2,500 return, which for business class is very good.) That would unfortunately involve flying via Colombo, but there are relatively short connections available.

 

[TomVexille]

While not quite 1 stop, I would suggest booking a return ticket to Singapore on Singapore Airlines or Qantas - if you choose an A330 flight there will be just 2 seats together by each window. And as ozbeachbabe alluded to, you can book business class on Sri Lankan Airlines from Singapore to London for a surprisingly low amount of money. (Around $2,500 return, which for business class is very good.) That would unfortunately involve flying via Colombo, but there are relatively short connections available.

I would agree that it's definitely something to consider, but loses the simplicity of the one-stop factor.

 

[Flying Senior]

Thanks for all the help.Am trying to get her on an A380 upstairs. Fingers crossed.

 

[dajop]

If upstairs on the A380 doesn't work out - then the second best would be trying to get an aisle seat in the centre bank downstairs, whilst it is 4 across, an aisle seat there is no different to an aisle seat in a 2 across configuration - you only have one person next to you as the other 2 people in the row use the aisle on the other side of the aircraft. Of course it may be difficult to convince your wife of that, and obviously if she wants a window seat, downstairs is not good as it has 3 across on window side.

 

[Flying Senior]

If upstairs on the A380 doesn't work out - then the second best would be trying to get an aisle seat in the centre bank downstairs, whilst it is 4 across, an aisle seat there is no different to an aisle seat in a 2 across configuration - you only have one person next to you as the other 2 people in the row use the aisle on the other side of the aircraft. Of course it may be difficult to convince your wife of that, and obviously if she wants a window seat, downstairs is not good as it has 3 across on window side.

Thanks dajop - will certainly check all those seats out. Your advice much appreciated