For those of us who travel in the cheap seats, flying long-haul is not a pleasant experience. If you bury yourself in a book or the in-flight entertainment, daytime flights can be just about bearable.
But in the cramped conditions that prevail in economy, getting any decent kip overnight is highly unlikely.
Which explains why an announcement last month from Air New Zealand has caused such a stir.
Breathe in: Comfort is not always a given when flying economy
The airline is promising to transform long-haul economy flying with the introduction of a "Skycouch" - a lie-flat area converted from a row of three economy seats. The armrests fold away, and cushioned footrests come out from under the seats to extend them to the back of the row in front, to create a space big enough for two adults to lie down next to each other. See the evidence on www.futuretakingflight.com.
I should point out that you"ll need to be happy to get up close and personal with your travelling companion. The Skycouch is about 2ft 6in wide - the same as a narrow single bed - and it"s 5ft 1in long, so you may need to tuck up your legs to fit in.
Even so, compared with trying to get some sleep sitting upright, the couch still looks a pretty appealing option, and importantly it appears that its cost will be very reasonable.
Air New Zealand says that for two adults, the charge for the Skycouch will be two standard economy fares, plus approximately half an additional standard fare for the third, unoccupied seat.
Based on the airline"s current lead-in standard economy fare of 919 return flying London-Auckland, the third seat would therefore cost around 460. So each passenger would be paying just 230 more for the Skycouch than a normal economy seat - a bargain, given the extra space, privacy and comfort for 48 hours of flying.
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