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British Airways unveils new business class seat with focus on privacy

British Airways has unveiled a new business class seat known as ‘Club Suite’, which is designed to provide greater privacy for its customers.

The seat comes with a suite door and luxurious flat-bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration and offers direct-aisle access to passengers.

Club Suite is set to make its debut on the airline’s new fleet of A350 aircraft, which will be operational in July.

With the addition of the door, British Airways becomes the third major international airline after Delta Air Lines and Qatar Airways to offer a fully enclosed seat in business class, reported Forbes.

With 40% more storage, the seat includes a vanity unit and mirror, 18.5in in-flight entertainment screens and high-definition gate-to-gate programming.

Passengers in the class will also have access to Wi-Fi and PC / USB power.

The A350 aircraft will feature a new 56-seat Club World cabin and a premium economy class cabin, which will have the same number of seats and feature new furnishings, amenity kits and improved dining experience.

Each aircraft will also have an economy class cabin with 219 seats.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure every aspect of the Club World experience from the lounges we’ve refreshed.”

British Airways chairman and CEO Alex Cruz said: “The arrival of our first A350 featuring our new Club Suite is one of the most exciting developments in our £6.5bn investment programme.

“Each new suite has direct aisle access and comes with a personal door, design features, which were incorporated as a direct result of the feedback we’ve had from our customers.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure every aspect of the Club World experience from the lounges we’ve refreshed, to the new gourmet menus from Do&Co on flights from Heathrow, and the luxurious bedding we’ve introduced from The White Company exudes the very British style and quality customers expect from us.”

The carrier plans to roll out the new suites over three phases in an effort to minimise ‘disruption’ to customers.

The first phase will see the first A350 aircraft flying on short-haul routes to allow the airline’s teams to familiarise cabin crew with the aircraft layout.

Phase two will begin on 1 October and will see the aircraft start long-haul flights.

The company will add three additional A350 aircraft to its fleet in this phase. The airline will also retrofit two Boeing 777 aircraft with the new cabin.

The third phase will be effective at the start of next year. During this phase, British Airways will expand the rollout of its Club Suite to further long-haul aircraft across the network.

Details

  • Waterside HQ, Speedbird Way, Harmondsworth, West Drayton UB7 0GB, UK
  • British Airways

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