The best business class seats for the solo traveller?

They’re a favourite business class seat of many frequent flyers, and often the first pick once passengers can select their seat in advance – so much so that some airlines charge extra for them.

These are the throne seats available on a handful of airlines due to a unique seating layout, where instead of two seats side-by-side there's just one seat flanked by a pair of high benches.

This makes them not only exceptionally private but also vastly increases your personal space.

Swiss charges business class passengers around $300 extra to book these highly sought-after throne seats.

Thrones are ideal for spreading out your work during a flight, keeping laptops and tablets and smaller knick-knacks within reach, and even watching a video on your laptop during dinner.

Swiss helped popularise business class throne seats on its long-range international fleet.

Business class throne seats are understandably prized by solo travellers – so much so that Swiss and soon Lufthansa will charge a ‘premium seat selection fee’ for thrones, unless passengers are top-tier frequent flyers in the airline's Miles & More loyalty program. 

Which airlines have business class throne seats?

Only a relatively small number of airlines offer throne seats in their business class cabins, and something they all have in common is their business class cabins were outfitted by Thompson Aero Seating, an innovative premium airline seating specialist based in Northern Ireland.

The ‘throne’ is unique to Thompson’s Vantage platform, in which these solo seats are placed between rows of paired seats.

The business class throne is a unique attribute of Thomson Aero Seating's Vantage platform.

All of the seats lie fully-flat, of course, but the thrones are positioned in the ‘middle’ and their bed extends into the shelf between the two business class seats in front.

The business class throne is a unique attribute of Thomson Aero Seating's Vantage platform.

Another throne bonus: you have direct to access to the aisle and a window view, whereas other passengers in the business class cabin have to choose one or the other.

JetBlue popularised the original Vantage seat as its game-changing Mint Suites on domestic US flights.

One of the two throne seats in Singapore Airlines' Boeing 737 MAX business class cabin.

It’s since taken wing with Aer Lingus, Malaysia Airlines and most recently Singapore Airlines, which adopted the Vantage for its Boeing 737 MAX jets, as well as some older Airbus A330s on Finnair and TAP Air Portugal.

Lufthansa's new Allegris business class makes throne seats part of the mix.

Thompson also had a hand in development of the new Allegris business class for Lufthansa and Swiss, which adds a throne seat to the business class cabin’s mix of private suites, cuddle-class ‘double suites’ and extra-long beds.

A mock-up of Lufthansa's new Allegris business class throne seat.

The disadvantages of business class throne seats

More room for yourself, more privacy – what’s not to like about a business class throne seat?

There are in fact two downsides, both of which become more noticeable during overnight flights.

Firstly, when your seat drops down to become a lie-flat bed, the benches on either side of the seat can become uncomfortably confining walls when it's time to sleep.

Secondly, the cubby which your feet tuck into tends to be smaller than those of regular business class seats – something not to be recommended if you have larger than average feet.