Features

Snapshot: British Airways Club World

27 Aug 2015 by Michelle Harbi
2000 - British Airways goes fully flat in Club World. Michelle Harbi recalls the launch of BA’s ‘yin-yang’ seating concept 15 years ago It’s now a decade and a half since British Airways kick-started the fully-flat revolution in business class. In the late 1990s, BA’s cradle-style recliner seat in business was the best in the sky. But demand for the premium cabin was weak and competition was fierce. The airline needed a new way to differentiate itself, and enlisted design company Tangerine to help. BA\\'s first generation Club World seat BA's first generation Club World seat Tangerine\\'s original "lounge in the sky" design Tangerine's original "lounge in the sky" design The challenge was to create a new kind of seat that didn’t take up more valuable space in the cabin. Tangerine’s answer, the forward-backward facing “yin-yang” concept that is now familiar to so many of us, allowed the airline to offer fully-flat beds in an eight-across configuration. The seat entered service on the New York JFK route early in 2000, with a revamped version introduced in late 2006. Late last year, the airline told us it would “probably” offer a new Club World seat on its A350, due in 2017. Whether it will keep the “yin-yang” layout is not known, but it will be interesting to see how BA will again look to stand out from its rivals.
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