British Airways working on a new business class seat design

British Airways is presently working on a new business class seat design, which could show a new twist to the airline’s usual Club World seats. Media reports recently said that the new layouts for the airline’s Boeing 787, Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircrafts have been cited in the documentation when an application was filed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in February 2015.

According to the reports, the new design portrays angled business class seats neatly arranged in three-across and four-across layouts aimed at providing each customer direct and unhindered access to the aisle. The new design also doesn’t have alternating forward/backward pattern or any close-quarters pairing of seats, which are presently found on the airline’s Club World business class seats.

The new business class seat is in fact angled in a similar fishbone pattern as currently reflected in the international business class cabins of Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand, as well as Cathay Pacific Airways’ older and now-defunct ‘cubicle class’.

The brain behind the concept of the new Club World business class seat is the renowned UK-based design house Tangerine, which had earlier created the present Club World seats in their original iteration from 2000 as well as a 2013 revamp for the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787. It is notable that even Martin Darbyshire, CEO of Tangerine, has been named ‘inventor’ on the U.S. patent application.

The new Club World business class seats would be able to be converted into a flat 1.9 metre bed by either having the rear of the seat flip over to form part of the bed or fully reclining, while a large flat-screen monitor has been built into each shell.