British Airways unveils new business class suites
British Airways’ business-class club is about to get an upgrade of its own, benefiting from the airline’s £6.5bn pound investment programme.
However, the vast majority of BA’s “Club World” passengers will not benefit this year, and the first travellers to enjoy it will be on the two-hour short hop between Heathrow and Madrid.
The “Club Suite” is a radical change to the airline’s dated “herringbone” arrangement, where passengers sit facing alternately forward and back.
It is a flat-bed seat in a 1-2-1 configuration, meaning that every passenger has access to an aisle without climbing past another traveller.
Club World is by far the most profitable cabin for British Airways. At the turn of the century BA brought in the first fully flat beds in business class. But many frequent travellers believe the airline has slipped behind the competition with a model that is both dated and designed to squeeze as many flat beds as possible into the space available.
The new cabin will first appear in the A350 aircraft that British Airways has on order from Airbus. The first is likely to be delivered in June 2019, and enter service the following month.
It shares with BA’s part owner, Qatar Airways, “a suite door for greater privacy”.
Passengers will get wifi (plus at-seat power), 18-inch screens with high-definition inflight entertainment and 40 per cent more storage space.
Alex Cruz, chairman and chief executive of British Airways, said: “The arrival of our first A350 featuring our new Club Suite is one of the most exciting developments in our £6.5bn investment programme.”
But Mr Cruz conceded: “It will take some time to make the cabin available to everybody.”
The first aircraft to be delivered will simply shuttle the 800 miles between Heathrow and Madrid. Using the A350 for a flight that involves only two hours in the air may look wasteful, but it allows a large number of pilots and cabin crew to gain experience of the aircraft.
It will enter long-haul service on 1 October between Heathrow and Toronto. As three more A350s join the fleet, they will deployed on the Heathrow-Dubai link – where British Airways faces ferocious competition from Emirates.
In addition, towards the end of the year, two Boeing 777s will be retrofitted with the new cabin.
The third phase, starting in 2020, will see the Club Suite retrofitted to other long-haul aircraft and deployed in new long-haul planes. BA has orders for Boeing 787-10 and 777-9 aircraft.
The Airbus A350 is already in service with a wide range of airlines and receives good reviews due to the higher air pressure and humidity in the cabin and low noise levels.
The Club World cabin in the A350 will be fitted with 56 suites, with the same number in World Traveller Plus – BA’s name for premium economy.
World Travel (economy) has almost twice as many seats as the two premium cabins combined: a total of 219.
