At an event last night, British Airways unveiled its new short to medium-haul seat.
Britisih Airways new short haul seat – image, British Airways
According to the airline, the new short-haul seats and cabin interiors will feature on the next generation of British Airways’ Airbus A320neo and A321neos, with eight aircraft set to arrive from May this year (2024).
For those in Club Europe, there is the return of the leather tray that sits between the aisle and window seat.
It’s back – Cocktail tables return – Image, British Airways
The re-designed cabins will also be fitted with extra-large bins for overhead luggage (given that it appears that British Airways is deploying the Airspace by Airbus product, we can assume this is the Airspace XL overhead product).
The XL Bin deployed. Our original coverage is here– Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
This was removed when the Airbus A320neo and A321neo were introduced with the previous seat (Collins Aerospace Pinnacle).
In terms of connectivity, all Club Europe seats will also be fitted with USB-A & USB-C power (60W) backrest-mounted charging ports, while the Euro Traveller seats will be fitted with USB-A & USB-C (15W) backrest-mounted charging ports. The mains-style outlets will not feature with these seats.
So that’s all British Airways has told us.
Time to dive deeper.
We’ve seen this before.
Given what we know about the seat, there were some hints from the launch last night where the tray table was being stored – and it was underneath the middle seat.
That points to a variant of the Collins Aerospace Meridian seat, that allows for a tray table to be stored – so when flights don’t need Club Europe seats, the tray can be stowed.
Economy Class and Beyond reached out to Collins Aerospace, who confirmed this was indeed the Meridian product.
Seat without the tray deployed – note the middle seat where the storage point of the tray table is – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
The tray table deployed — Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
The seat is a standard 3-3 layout, with storage for the cocktail table under the middle seat. This can be ejected and clipped in quickly, thus a fast swap can be carried out whilst an aircraft is turned around between segments.
The seat itself takes on a lesson from the Pinnicaale, offering a good level of comfort, with a recline option installed in it.
Maintaining Eurobusiness
European carriers have preferred convertible seating rather than a proper 2-2 layout for their business products within Europe – mainly to allow for flexibility of the cabin, with demand fluctuating per flight, thus the need for a product to adjust the cabin quickly and effectively remains.
The Collins Aerospace Meridian solves the issue of deploying that change, with the ability to install or remove a cocktail table (which can be done in under 20 seconds per unit), without consuming any cabin space to store those tables – themselves stowed under the centre seat.
The Meridian is also a proven seat, with it flying in the air – a notable customer was Aeagan who used it in their A320neo launch.
Final thoughts
I’m liking what British Airways has done to the Meridian in this design – even if it looks a little “Delta” like with the colour palette. By choosing a proven platform, it should be an easy-to-understand and maintain product.
It’s good to see USB-A and USB-C on the seat, which should cover the majority of charging situations – even being able to charge laptops in the Club Europe cabin, whilst keeping phones and tablets topped up in EuroTraveller.
The big question will be how the seats will be pitched. We’ve seen too many a good seat compromised by airlines pushing tight seat pitches.
Hopefully, from this, we’ll also see a retrofit programme which will bring some of these new products to the rest of the fleet.
Disclosures
Press Images of the new seats – British Airways
Airspace XL overhead bin – Image, Economy Class and Beyond at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2019. Economy Class and Beyond was a guest of Airbus.
Collins Aerospace Meridian Seats – Image, Economy Class and Beyond at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2023. Economy Class and Beyond was a guest of Collins Aerospace
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Let’s hope they decide to retrofit the already delivered NEOs with the new seats and cabin. Having a consistent cabin across their shorthaul network will help in the long term – improved passenger experience and quicker / easier boarding process. We’ll have to wait and see what the plan is for Gatwick, as Euroflyer are operating CEOs for the foreseeable future.
It would be great if BA got on the front foot regarding cabin baggage. They know which flights will be operating with a NEO with the new cabin (although there could be a last minute aircraft change), so take steps in the email sequence and app to educate people how to load cases into the new bins. The app could contain a mandatory must-watch video and notification prior to boarding reminding passengers.
We all hate the faff & kerfuffle involved with excessive amounts of cabin luggage. The more passengers that get it right in storing their cases, the more valuable minutes saved in getting the aircraft ready for an on-time departure.