Refreshing Business Class
As well as replacing ageing 747s slated for retirement between 2020 and 2023, the new A350s will offer British Airways’ new Business Class, the Club Suite with 56 seats set into a 1-2-1 herringbone configuration. This will offer customers direct aisle access, a tailored fully-flat bed, a personal door to create greater privacy, faster Wi-Fi and enhanced IFE with 18.5in touchscreens.
Says Martinoli: “The Club Suite which is organised in a new 1-2-1 configuration includes direct aisle access for every customer (with) a new door for the option of increased privacy – everything you see has been designed with the customer in mind and was developed and informed by the feedback they have given us. The seat will also boast 40% more storage, more personal space and comfort, Wi-Fi and high definition gate-to-gate IFE.”
The new suite follows a trend set by the likes of Qatar with its QSuite and Delta One suite where the level of equipment and comfort starts knocking on the door of a lot of first class offerings.
While the seats in first class are not being replaced, the services and products on offer are being upgraded to compete with premium cabin services offered by other airlines.
Says Martinoli of the future for BA’s First Class product: “Our First cabin offers customers a different experience to Club World with a dine-on demand service, fine wines, a larger seat, supersoft pyjamas and access to a number of exclusive lounges. We’ve been investing in First too as we’re set to deliver significant changes to the onboard product and service as part of our £6.5bn investment for customers. The new look and feel includes new luxurious bedding, amenities and menus that would not look out of place in a fivestar British hotel.”
It is no secret that BA has, in recent years, fallen behind its competitors in the lucrative premium cabin stakes and the lack of investment was beginning to show, something they are now keen to reverse. That said, Alex Cruz, Chairman and CEO says the carrier is not aiming to duplicate all the types of facilities seen on some competitors’ aircraft, it is more about service received: “We don’t believe in showers onboard, we don’t believe our customers are requesting that, particularly when you look at our network and where we fly to and the length of our flights. We do know that our customers are looking for privacy, storage space and certain types of food. We must be there to respond to a demand for luxury services, so we are very much committed to do it.”
BA Change and Development Manager Jonathan Foster concurs: “Anybody that has flown British Airways in First before will notice that everything has changed, apart from our salt and pepper.” This complete change in service, equipment and menus needs to be done seamlessly, as with a first class seat costing around £5,000 on the lucrative LHR – JFK route “It’s an expensive part of the aircraft to fly in, therefore we need to deliver to their [the passengers’] levels of expectation”.
One of the, perhaps not so noticeable, changes has been to introduce full size dinner service to in-flight catering, not something that has been the norm in the past. Says BA’s Foster: “Airline catering equipment has, in the past, been designed to fit into the small space that are the galleys. So our challenge has been, ‘how can we put full-size dinner service on board within the space that we have’, and we have done that.” With the use of this new crockery the airline is ‘Trying to bring a bit of theatre back into the cabin.’
While the A350 is at the forefront of current fleet renewal for BA, there are another new 73 aircraft on order with the new Club World suites not only being installed on all new aircraft but being retrofitted to the existing fleet during planned maintenance.
Electric vehicles
BA has been innovating since the first AT&T flight took off from a muddy field in Hounslow, from in-flight movies to supersonic transport. However, not all of the recent innovations are something the airline’s customers are likely to easily see. For example, currently being trialled around the apron are automated baggage dollies. Using GPS technology, these self-driving electric vehicles are intended to increase the speed of loading and unloading luggage.
Once ready to depart, BA aircraft are pushed back by 25 Mototok remote control electric tugs – the only airline for which these are currently in use. BA is also using a fleet of electric London taxis as part of its fleet of chauffeur-driven executive vehicles.
Looking to the future
Looking further into the future, BA commissioned a report entitled BA2119: Flight of the Future which looks at what air travel might look like in ten, 20, 50 or even 100 years into the future.
On 27 July BA was already looking to the future, as it took delivery of the first of 18 new Airbus A350-1000s, with a further three to be in service before the end of the year. BA says that new aircraft will benefit passengers with reduced noise levels, ambient lighting and higher levels of humidity, as well as offering environmental benefits with 25% lower fuel burn reducing CO² emissions.
