‘Hotel in the sky’: Airlines’ A380s to have ‘world’s biggest business cabin’

Most established airlines have dumped the Airbus A380 or cut back their fleet of the double-decker “superjumbos” because their four engines make them too expensive to run. Not British Airways.

BA’s chief executive, Sean Doyle, has revealed that its 12 A380s, which are being refurbished and will go into service next year, will become BA’s flagship jets, akin to “luxury hotels in the sky”.

As well as the all-new First (BA’s name for first class) with vast private suites which he revealed two years ago, the refurbished planes have all-new Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy) cabins with new seats and bedding, food and wine, crockery and amenity kits.

“Every cabin will have a new look and feel and new products. It will be a completely new experience – a milestone in the future of long-haul travel on British Airways,” Doyle said.

The Irish chief executive also revealed that BA is building a new Club World lounge and Concorde Room for First passengers at the C Gates satellite at its Heathrow Terminal 5 hub. This will help to reduce overcrowding in the lounges at the A and B Gates. The drab lounges at Terminal 3 will be rebuilt. Each will open in 2028.

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BA travellers like the roominess of the superjumbo, and the airline wants “to give our customers even more reasons to love the A380″, BA’s Chief Customer Officer, Lisa Tremble, added.

The 215 World Traveller seats on the new A380 – arranged three-four-three on the lower deck – are slightly wider than those on the outgoing A380 cabins, and have larger seat-back screens. The seat pitch (the measure of legroom) is 31 inches (78 centimetres), no more generous than on the old A380s.

There are no plans to follow the lead set by many other carriers by introducing extra-legroom economy seats at the front of the economy cabin. Aviation analyst Henry Harteveldt says this “is short-sighted and will create an inconsistent passenger experience between BA and its key Oneworld alliance member airline, American Airlines”.

The 84 World Traveller Plus seats – arranged two-four-two on the lower deck – will create the largest premium-economy cabin ever – twice the size of most. The new seats have larger wing-backs at head height to offer greater privacy. They, however, lack the motorised controls, privacy screen and multi-flex head rest that Emirates has just introduced or the arm rest divider offered by Cathay Pacific to prevent elbow wars.

The seat pitch is 38 (97 centimetres), the same as on the old A380s. The new reusable amenity kit is designed as a tote bag and passengers will be encouraged to take it off when they land.

The drab grey colours of the suites in First and Club World have been replaced by deep blues, creams and red and light (faux) wood accents. The 106 Club Suites take up the entire upper deck, to create what BA says is “the world’s largest business-class cabin”. Doyle is targeting high-spending business and leisure travellers whose ranks are growing despite global economic shocks.

The Club Suites now come with a leather headrest, blue and grey check upholstery in a herring bone pattern, and faux wood panels on the door. The horizontal surfaces (side ledge and tray table) are cream, not grey, and the brushed steel trim is now matt brass. There is more stowage space and a thicker mattress. The make-up mirror has been removed, however. The pantry has been expanded and will offer more snacks, wines, including champagne, and soft drinks.

The new look is a big improvement on the dour cabins in BA’s Boeing 777 and 787 jets and its Airbus A350s but it still lags behind the latest business-class suites from Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Japan Airlines, ANA and Riyadh Air. Harteveldt also fears devoting the entire upper deck to business class will make it look like “a vast dormitory or a hostel.”

The 12 First suites, arranged one-two-one at the front of the lower deck, have 1.5-metre high walls and offer almost total privacy. The seat is 90-centimetres wide and the bed is two-metres long, with an ottoman that moves forward and backwards electronically. Doyle has chosen soft grey upholstery, cream fabrics and faux wood veneer to create a more homely feel.

Hand luggage fits underneath the ottoman, which means there is no need for overhead bins – which will make the cabin feel bigger. There’s a new First amenity kit, including powdered electrolyte supplements designed to help you to sleep or wake up, navy pyjamas and a mini bar with drinks and snacks.

BA has done away with the conventional retractable divider at waist height for customers travelling together in the centre seat pair. Instead, the entire dividing wall from the floor to the top of the suite retracts to create a shared lounge space that you can walk through from one side to the other.

It is a big improvement and puts BA first class ahead of Qatar Airways – and Emirates when it comes to the suite – but the flag carrier is still outgunned by Lufthansa’s Allegris suite, Air France, Etihad, Japan Airlines and Qantas on its new Airbus A350s. Also, BA will not copy Lufthansa and Air France by offering limousine transfers between the lounge and the aircraft.

All the A380s will be refurbished by 2028 and will come with streaming-quality, reliable – and free – Starlink Wi-Fi. The lighting will be softer and will change to encourage sleep or waking up.

Food will improve with meat and fish ordered on demand from “the grill” in First and a build-your-own-breakfast service with everything from Greek yogurt with compote, berries and nuts to a full English. A new “quick service” menu will be introduced in Club World for those who want a snack before going to sleep.

BA has not finalised the menus for World Traveller and World Traveller Plus, but executives promise a step up.

BA’s A380s will fly until around 2040 when they will finally be phased out. Airbus stopped making the jets in 2021. BA’s rivals are replacing the four-engine behemoth with smaller, more fuel-efficient twin-engine jets, but slot constraints at congested Heathrow Airport mean that the carrier needs to retain the superjumbo to maintain passenger numbers.

Early routes for the refurbished jets will include London to Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Johannesburg. The airline currently flies smaller Boeing 787 Dreamliners on its route between London and Sydney, via Singapore.

As well as the new lounge at the Heathrow T5 C gates and the refurbished lounge at T3, BA will start rebuilding its Arrivals lounge at T5 in January and it will re-open by the end of the year. Its coffee bar, work area, and 59 showers will be welcomed by regular business travellers.

A new check-in for First customers, developed in collaboration with American Airlines, will open at Heathrow Terminal 3 next year. The lounges in Newark, Geneva and San Francisco will be refurbished next year.

The First lounge, Galleries lounge and Concorde Room for first-class passengers at the main Heathrow T5 building will be rebuilt starting around 2029 after the new C Gate lounge opens.

There will be no new spas in the new lounges to replace the popular Elemis spas of old but BA executives hinted that there will be table service in all BA’s business-class lounges, bringing them up to the standard offered by other carriers.

Doyle also revealed that he hoped to resume flights from London to Riyadh and Dubai in November if there was no flare up in the conflict in the Gulf. Flights to Doha, where BA codeshares with its Oneworld partner, Qatar Airways, have already resumed.

Many passengers will welcome the A380 upgrades but will expect to see improvements in BA’s service, which many frequent flyers say falls short of that offered by its arch-rival Virgin Atlantic. BA also continues to have a poor reputation for dealing with delays, disruption and cancellations. Doyle said that staff training was improving.

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