A new Club Suite (Business) for the A380
In a surprise move, British Airways has announced three new updated seats for its A380. They’re evolutions of the current seats rather than completely new ones, but they will all be improvements over the rather dated seats you currently get on the A380. On top of that, they’ve released newly updated renders of the First seat (the one announced a while ago), which looks a little different to the original CGIs.
What has been announced?
Last year, BA announced a new First Suite, which would be installed on its A380S. All twelve planes are being revamped, and it was widely expected that they would also update the planes to the new Club Suite.
The A380 is one of the last few aircraft types that have the older Club World seat. They were groundbreaking at the time, but are now dated and lack the privacy you get from most other business seats. The A380 isn’t the only plane to feature this seat, but it has the most of them.
British Airways has announced that there will be a newer club suite installed on the A380s. The positive parts of the seat remain: the privacy door and aisle access for everyone. What’s changing versus the current Club Suite is new fabrics and colours, and what’s described as “open stowage” next to the seat. That’s effectively replacing the vanity cupboard, which could get scratched up, with an open cupboard that contains your headphones.
The current Club Suite, in my opinion, has great storage options. It is one of the better business seats, but the vanity spaces always seem a little pointless. They usually house the headphones and water bottle, and I can honestly say that I have never used the mirrors inside them. This change makes sense, although it’s not groundbreaking.
What does appear better is the colours used in the new suite. The flat tabletop next to the seat is now a paler white or grey. That will still contain the two very useful pop-up storage spaces.
The TV screen appears to be the same size, whilst they specifically mention a ten-inch control tablet. I’m not sure where this goes or what it does, as you already have a near 20-inch TV screen. And a much smaller screen down the side of the seat for seat controls and lighting.
The doors and walls of the suite appear darker, which I think looks great in contrast to the tabletops and the white windows.
(Last night BA also launched two new lounges at Heathrow T5. It was a busy night for them)
A new Club Kitchen
The snack space on the A380, usable by both the Business and First cabins, is also going to be upgraded. It looks infinitely better than the Club Kitchens on other BA planes. It also appears to have a ledge, which is not quite a bar, but could be used to stand by and have a drink. BA does describe it as a “space to socialise”, although with a lack of seating it’s not going to be somewhere you spend more than a few minutes in.
Historically, the Club Kitchens have been hit and miss on my travels. I love the concept, but what you’ll actually find when you get to them is based on luck and timing. Sometimes they will be awash with snacks, but at other times all the “high value” items have gone. Hopefully the new look space has more room for stock, and the drinks, chocolate bars and crisps are replenished more frequently.
The space should have a fridge, given that they promise fruit pots and sandwiches. Other BA planes do have a chilled area that passengers can get snacks from.
Bigger cabin, more dividers
The updated A380 will feature more business class seats than ever. Planes flying today have 97 of the older Club World seats, and after the retrofit they will have 106. That’s a lot of premium seats.
What is interesting is that the announcement says that the cabin will be split into four smaller cabins. The mini-cabin, which features on some of BA’s planes, is just where the premium seats are split into two due to the placement of bathrooms or the galley. It means you can secure a seat in a smaller space, making it feel more intimate, and a little less noisy.
On my last long-haul business class flight with Finnair, we got seating in one of the mini-cabins, with just three rows. It was a great experience.
You can see the seat map in the video that BA released. The full video is below, but I’ve included a screenshot. It suggests that the entire upper deck will be for business, meaning that First will sit on the lower deck.
There are indeed four cabins, and they’re certainly not equal. At the very rear of the plane, you have the most intimate one, which has just seven seats. There appears to be a single bathroom behind these seats.
The second-smallest cabin is right at the front, and that has two bathrooms in front of it. These also appear to. be much larger than the other bathrooms. And they sit in the same place as the Emirates A380, or Etihad, upper deck bathrooms. I don’t expect them to be quite as fancy, but they could be BA’s largest latrines.
Finally, there are two larger cabins in the middle of the deck. One is huge, with fifteen rows. I’d expect that to cost the least when you’re paying for seats. Behind that is a smaller cabin with six rows.
A new amenity kit provider
Antaome is the new partner, although it’s not clear if this is going to be exclusive to the A380 or if it’s going to be rolled out to other plane types. What we do know is that the First cabin on the A380 will not be using this brand. Instead, they will be provided by Swaine.
As with their previous tie-ins, they’ve gone with British brands, although Antaome is one that I am unfamiliar with.
What about the First cabin?
The previews of the First cabin last year were very interesting. What I liked most about it was the colour scheme, with splashes of red. At some point between then and now, things have changed. The First seat now appears darker, although the red still appears inside the storage units.
The launch video
BA chose to launch the new seats and announce the new Heathrow T5C lounge at 8pm on a Monday night. I’m not sure why that timing made sense to them, but it made for a busy evening.
Alongside the imagery and words, they also released a video which shows you all the seats across the A380.
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