More Leg Room

American Airlines offers extra goodies in new premium seating option

American Airlines' new seating option offers amenities and leg room.

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

American Airlines will offer customers another seating choice with Premium Economy, a new class of service that's a step up from the main cabin. The new option will be available on American's international widebody fleet in late 2016.

In the hierarchy of seating, it fits between Business Class and Main Cabin, according to American Airlines spokesman Andrew Nocella. It'll entail a new type of seat entirely, with more legroom and wider seats.

It'll also come with priority check-in and boarding and a checked baggage allowance. Amenities at the seat include personal on-demand noise-reducing headphones; enhanced meal service; and complimentary alcoholic beverages including spirits, beer, and wine. Now we're talking.

"Premium Economy is offered today by many premier carriers around the world," Nocella said in a release. "We studied those offerings and developed a world-class product with larger seats, more legroom, improved entertainment, and upscale headphones and amenity kits, just to name a few features of this new service."

The first plane with Premium Economy seating will be American's Boeing 787-9, expected to enter service in late 2016. The 787-9 will offer Business Class; Premium Economy, three rows in a 2-3-2 configuration; Main Cabin Extra, which offers customers up to 6 inches of additional leg room; and Main Cabin.

Premium Economy will also be installed on the Airbus A350, which arrives in 2017.

American will also add Premium Economy to all Boeing 777-300ERs, 777-200ERs, 787-8s, and Airbus A330s over the next three years. The 777-300ER will feature First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy, Main Cabin Extra, and Main Cabin seating options. All other retrofitted aircrafts will continue to offer all-aisle access, lie-flat seats in Business Class, as well as Main Cabin Extra and Main Cabin seats.

The Boeing 767-300s will not be retrofitted with Premium Economy as those aircraft are scheduled for retirement in the coming years.

Airport News

Eva Air will join the runway at DFW Airport with flights to Taipei

Boeing

Eva Air

A new airline will join the runway at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport: Called EVA Air, it's a Taiwan-based airline that's expanding its service to the U.S., including adding nonstop flights from Taipei to Dallas/Fort Worth.

According to a statement from the airline, the new service will commence in late 2025. This represents the seventh route to the U.S. for EVA.

The flights are scheduled to starting November 3, 2025, with plans for five weekly flights between Taipei (TPE) and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).

"Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is ranked as the third busiest in the world by passenger traffic. With frequent business activities and convenient connections to Central and South America, the new route is expected to fulfill high passenger and cargo demands," EVA's statement said.

According to AirlineGeeks, EVA Air president Sun Chia-Ming credited the growth at DFW as well as a shift in tech companies from California.

Further details will be announced once finalized including exact schedule, aircraft, and ticket price, which are still to be determined.

According to Business Traveler, EVA currently offers U.S. flights from Taipei to Houston George Bush Intercontinental, Chicago O’Hare, New York (JFK), Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and Seattle-Tacoma.

DFW Airport has recently seen an influx of new destinations and carriers planning to offer service, including

Air India, which will offer nonstop flights between DFW and New Delhi
Cathay Pacific, which will launch a new nonstop route between DFW and its hub in Hong Kong beginning in April 2025
Fiji Airways, which will launch its new direct flights from DFW to Fiji on December 10, operating three times per week: every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with flights also going to New Zealand and Australia.

Speaking of Australia, American Airlines added a new direct nonstop to Brisbane in February 2024.

The airport also just broke ground on Terminal F, its long-awaited sixth passenger terminal, which is expected to open in 2027. If all that's not enough, it was also recently awarded the honor of being home to the No. 1 best airport bar in the U.S.

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