Air New Zealand has unveiled a ground-breaking new lie-flat prototype sleep product for economy class travellers.

The Economy Skynest is the result of three years of Air New Zealand research and development, with the input of more than 200 customers at its Hangar 22 innovation centre in Auckland.

The airline has filed patent and trademark applications for the Economy Skynest which provides six full length lie-flat sleep pods.

Air New Zealand chief marketing and customer officer, Mike Tod, said as the airline operates some of the world’s longest flights, such as the upcoming Auckland-New York service at up to 17 hours 40 minutes one way, it is committed to putting more magic back into flying.

“We have a tremendous amount of development work underway looking at product innovations we can bring across all cabins of the aircraft. 

“A clear pain point for economy travellers on long-haul flights is the inability to stretch out.

“The development of the Economy Skynest is a direct response to that challenge,” Tod added.

Air New Zealand will make a final decision on whether to operate the Economy Skynest next year after it has assessed the performance of its inaugural year of Auckland-New York operations.