British Airways' First Class raises the bar
The British carries has spent £100m for the upgrade of its First Class that went into effect last year
Over the past few years, I have travelled first class on a number of long-haul flights. I happened to travel with British Airways too in June last year, and with hindsight I can say my only regret is that it was before they introduced the new First Class service on its Dubai-London sector.
The regret was inevitable when I was shown the upgrades British Airways had made in its First Class at the Business Travel Show held in Dubai in November. Especially when Paolo De Renzis, British Airways area commercial manager Middle East, told me they had spent upwards of £100m for the upgrade that went into effect last year. "We now have this upgrade in all the Middle East sectors like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, Muscat and Kuwait. In our winter schedule, Dubai has flights twice a week to London with the new service."
Generally, the vast majority of first class products are usually a slightly larger personal space than business class, with some enhancements to the cabin services. However, British Airways' new first class has not only very comfortable seats ("60 per cent more space," says De Renzis), but also an entirely new cabin environment.
Privacy appears to be the key word here. In fact, each seat is designed like a mini suite that balances privacy with the option of the passenger being able to move around the cabin and interact with other travellers if they so wish, without being in the direct eye-line of other passengers.
The suite, at 78.7cm across, is 30.5cm wider than before when the 2m bed is fully flat. The bed also uses the latest technology for greater comfort, with a spring diaphragm rather than the traditional layer of foam on a metal base.
Most First Class airline seats, while comfortable and spacious, are a ‘straight line design', meaning the seat space is from head to toe with minimal elbow room and space to keep items in your reach, but out of the way.
The spatial area surrounding the new British Airways First Class seats leaves enough space by the passenger's feet to place a bag without impeding the personal space or comfort.
The suite control unit makes moving the bed smooth and simple, with pre-defined positions - fully upright; taxi; take-off and landing; and fully flat. The base of the unit glows green when the seat is in the correct upright position for take-off and landing. This also enables the cabin crew to make an easy visual check of the cabin.
There are other nice touches, like an area light with a glass lampshade and a large foldaway tray table that sits tucked away inside a side table. They've even added a personal touch - a personal closet. Normally in business class and first class, a flight attendant takes care of your jacket (which you then have to wait get back upon landing), while the shoes had to be tucked away under the seat. Here, you can hang and retrieve your jacket yourself anytime you want. The shoe area, which can also accommodate a laptop and iPad, as well as the shoes, is a really neat touch.
The television screen is large as well. At 38cm, each suite offers a USB charging point and RCA jack. So you can watch movies from your MP3 player on the big screen.
So, what next? Nothing... except to fly on it.
