Virgin Australia unveiled its new interior design prototype it will trial on two Boeing 737-800s on TikTok on Thursday. After gauging passenger and employee feedback, the airline plans to roll out the fresh look, including new seats and interior features, across its entire fleet.
@virginaustraliaNew seat prototype. That’s my type. 💅 ##airline ##fyp ##avgeek ##aviation ♬ Team work (60 seconds) - TimTaj
A refresh on the cards for Virgin Australia's 737s
Virgin Australia keeps its fleet simple these days - sticking to Boeing 737-800s. Those planes carry 174 passengers, including eight passengers in business class and 168 passengers in the main cabin.
The Brisbane-based airline will reduce seat numbers slightly on their refreshed aircraft as they upgrade the existing seat type.
“We are excited to unveil our new interior prototype, which we are going to trial over the next few months,” said Paul Jones, Chief Customer and Digital Officer at Virgin Australia.
“Virgin Australia is committed to being a customer-led business, so once we receive feedback from our guests and crew, we’ll consider implementing elements of the new design as our fleet grows."
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Virgin Australia tweaks main cabin seats
The key improvement across all seats is a distinctive new horizontal rib design that provides passengers with added support and comfort when they fly. In the main cabin, the new seating will feature a seatback device holder, accommodating everything from a small smartphone to a larger tablet.
Another feature of the new main cabin seat is a second seatback stowage pocket for the safety card and menu. This removes clutter from the main seat pocket space and frees it up for passenger use.
“We’re really focussed on creating great experiences for our guests, and the design has been carefully considered to implement thoughtful features that we know will make traveling with Virgin Australia all that more enjoyable," Mr Jones says.
Improvements to Virgin Australia's business class seats
Up the front, the bête noire of many a Virgin Australia business class passenger is resolving. The new business class seats will feature customizable leg and footrests. The current Virgin Australia business class seat includes neither.
The new business class seats boast an extra recline of seven inches - up to 40% more than current seats. That extra comfort will make Virgin Australia more competitive with the Qantas 737 business class product on longer domestic flights, such as Melbourne - Darwin and Cairns - Adelaide.
Other design tweaks across the business class product include installing non-slip cocktail tables, movable tray tables with in-built device holders, a high-powered USB charging port, and additional in-seat storage cubbies for personal items.
What two planes will trial the new seating and refreshed cabin?
What two planes are the new seats being trialed on? Virgin Australia didn't say, but one well-informed contributor to an Australian Frequent Flyer forum confirmed they are VH-IWQ and VH-IJQ. Both are former Silk Air aircraft that recently arrived at Virgin Australia. The two planes are yet to start flying Virgin Australia passengers.
It's also worth noting that the relaunched Virgin Australia has yet to roll out inflight WiFi across its fleet and has still not committed to doing so. Qantas offers it across its 737 fleet, and Regional Express recently announced it would roll out WiFi across its Boeing fleet, leaving Virgin Australia in its WiFi wake.
Sticking with Virgin Australia's existing and distinctive signature design elements, purple LED interior lighting that features on Virgin Australia aircraft is staying. Further, an embossed leaf pattern design seen in most of the airline’s airport lounges has been pressed into the main cabin headrests.
“We’re looking forward to seeing how the new design will influence our fleet moving forward as we continue to expand our fleet and network as the market recovers," adds Virgin Australia's Chief Customer and Digital Officer.