BA vs. VS Long Haul Business Upgrade

In all honesty a lot has been said about VS being a better business class product, but BA was the first with lie-flat beds in business, once again they will probably be an innovator. First appears to be staying.

BA commits to £100m long-haul business-class revamp
Victoria Moores, London (15Nov05, 15:42 GMT, 310 words)

Oneworld carrier British Airways (BA) is to invest £100 million ($173 million) in a revamp of its long-haul business class product, which will be introduced from mid-2006.

BA’s long-haul aircraft operate in a four-cabin configuration, comprising the airline’s first-class product ‘First’, its ‘Club World’ business-class cabin, a premium-economy section ‘World Traveller Plus’, and economy product ‘World Traveller’.

Although BA already offers a completely lie-flat bed in its ‘Club World’ business cabin, the airline has today revealed that it plans to revamp all aspects of product, both on the ground and in the air.

New BA chief executive Willie Walsh says: “This is the first major product investment British Airways has made in five years, in part because of the success of our strategy to reduce costs during recent years.

“Our new business class cabin will be, without doubt, the best in the air.”

The product will include new lie-flat seats, which will be supplied by B/E Aerospace, and an upgrade to BA’s in-flight entertainment system across all four cabins, also to be introduced from summer 2006.

British Airways commercial director Martin George says: “British Airways revolutionised the aviation world when we pioneered the very first flat bed in business class in 2000. We must continue to lead the industry in this fiercely-competitive market.

“The introduction of a new ‘Club World’ product heralds a change for British Airways which will ensure that the airline is set apart from our major competitors to provide air travellers with the very best in business class.”

The modifications, which are yet to be fully detailed, will be rolled out across all of BA’s long-haul aircraft, according to a BA spokesman.

He adds: “More will be unveiled in the coming months, about how the cabin and product on the ground will change. This is just the initial launch of a huge investment programme for next year.”

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news