A new aircraft and a new seat. British Airways has been eagerly hyping up the world for their brand new A350-1000 by revealing as little as possible about their business class. What we know is limited to little bits and scraps we hear from British Airways themselves. This one, however, might be worth noting.
Business class has been rapidly evolving to being as luxurious, if not more luxurious, than many first class products on the market. In recent years, we've also seen a reduction in first class. In lieu of first class, Delta Airlines introduced an upgrade to their herringbone Delta One in the form of Delta One Suites and Qatar Airways their Qsuite.
One of the trendsetters in premium cabins includes Qatar Airways. Their latest Qsuite is one of the best, if not the best, business class product out there. It may even beat a host of first class products on the market!
British Airways Current Offerings
British Airways operates plenty of first class-equipped flights. But their product leaves a lot to be desired for a first class experience. Really, first class on British Airways could pass off as a great business class hard product.
Business class on British Airways leaves A LOT to be desired.
The good news is, British Airways is introducing a new business class on their A350s. The A350s will also not include a first class cabin. For a while, it was presumed that British Airways was releasing a pretty stellar business class product. Now, it looks like that might be happening.
The New Club World
We know that the following will be true of the new Club World on British Airways:
- Increased size of the seat
- Direct aisle access for all seats
- Entertainment screens will not have to be stowed for taxi, takeoff, and landing
- More privacy
- More storage
- Will be present on A350s and a few retrofitted 777s
These are some pretty vague descriptions that could match a relatively large number of seats on the market. However, British Airways just released a new survey for naming the seat. Granted, it seems like most people surveyed won't have seen the product to be able to suggest a name.
British Airways has released three "examples" for naming the seat: Club Suite, Club World Suite, and Club World Space.
So, there are three options here.
One, British Airways is hyping up the seat too much. They could be suggesting names for the product that would appeal to a large number of people, but not deliver the suggested product in the end.
Two, British Airways is actually releasing a business class suite. This would be a huge (HUGE!) announcement that would definitely be well received. To better align their product with Qatar and remain competitive, this would be the best option that most passengers would respond well to.
Three, British Airways is releasing a product that could be considered a suite, but isn't really to the level of a suite as presented on Qatar and Delta. One example could be the Apex Suite found on a few airlines like Oman Air, Korean, and Japan Airlines.
Overall
We really don't know exactly what British Airways will release. We're still waiting, but there are a ton of options out there.
Here at Simple Flying, we'll keep you updated if we know what British Airways is releasing for their new Club World seat. Most importantly, we're hoping that British Airways is releasing something that isn't a disappointment and not just hyping up an announcement that really isn't novel (looking at you Qatar Airways).
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!