British Airways has said that its new business class (Club World) seats would be installed mostly on its Airbus A350 aircrafts. The airline has stated that the new seats would not be retrofitted on its other long haul aircrafts.
Alex Cruz, newly appointed Chief Executive of British Airways, said, “The new business class seats will debut only on Airbus A350 aircrafts and would not be retrofitted on the remaining long haul fleet because the seats don’t seem to be quite revolutionary.”
Media reports said that the news would greatly disappoint the customers who have been regularly traveling on British Airways’ Club World. It may be recalled that the UK’s national carrier had first introduced the business class seats in the year 2000. Ever since, the premium seats have seen several upgrades. However, the airline still seems to be lagging behind its rivals on this front.
American Airlines’ business class cabins on its Boeing 777 aircrafts are in a 1-2-1 configuration (4-across). However, the business class cabins of British Airways on its Boeing 777 fleet are completely different with a 2-4-2 configuration (8-across).
Andrew Crawley, British Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, said, “The current configuration of the business class seat would remain the same. In fact, the yin yang configuration was patented on the premise that it was a smart innovation and effective use of space, which allowed the seat to recline into a fully flat bed while simultaneously allowing the relatively high density of seats in the business class cabin. And, the customers have also never complained about the unease.”
British Airways CEO Alex Cruz remarked that after having seen the new business class seats being fitted on Airbus A350 aircrafts it was felt that these were not “ultra-revolutionary”, and therefore could not be retrofitted on other long haul fleet. There should be something that provides a great seating experience to the business class customers on other fleets.
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