SINGAPORE, Nov. 11 -- Singapore Airlines (SIA) has given its premium cabins a multibillion-dollar makeover, but some travellers reckon its new Business Class seats look more suited to a dentist's surgery than a luxury flight.

The airline is defending its controversial grey-and-yellow colour scheme after its next-generation Business Class seats were compared to dental chairs, gaming chairs and even the interiors of budget airlines.

The backlash follows SIA's November 6 unveiling of a cabin overhaul costing more than S$2 billion (RM6.36 billion), covering all four travel classes.

But while the new Business Class seats boast sliding privacy doors, fully flat beds and premium leather upholstery, it is their clinical-looking aesthetic that ...