Business travellers flying long haul with Bmi can now benefit from the airline's new fully-flat business class product and generous premium economy seats.
Both of Bmi's long-haul A330s, which ply the routes between Manchester and Chicago, Las Vegas and the Caribbean will offer 18 fully-flat seats in business class and 30 new seats in the premium economy cabin.
The airline's third A330, which flies from London Heathrow to Saudi Arabia's Riyadh and Jeddah, will offer a two-class product in line with the high demand for business class seats on that particular route, with 42 business class seats and 156 in economy.
While the new products have been available on one of the A330s ex-Manchester since September 26th, Business Traveller went behind the scenes yesterday to test the seats on another of the Manchester planes, before it launches to Las Vegas today [Thursday]. Passengers flying out of Heathrow to Saudi Arabia will have to wait a few more weeks for the new offering.
The new business class cabin has 18 seats in a staggered 2-2-2 configuration. This is less than the previous offering of 24 seats because the seats are now fully-flat with a seat pitch of 78-80 inches and have a 26-inch width (six inches more than BA's Club World, and United and Saudi's business class offerings).
The electronic brown and beige leather seats are fully adjustable with three pre-set seat positions as well as buttons for finer tuning. There are blue blankets and pillows and a new amenity kit in a stylish brown case including products by Clarins, a photo wallet and a mirror. The in-flight entertainment has also been upgraded (although is still not AVOD) and business class passengers now have a 15-inch seat-back screen with noise-cancelling headphones. The remote is in the right hand armrest and the fold-out table is in the left. There are power points for phones and laptops also in the seat.
Perhaps taking the lead in the premium economy offering, premium economy passengers have their own cabin with 30 of the old Bmi business class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration. The upholstery is dark and pale blue and it's a generous offering with a 49-inch seat pitch, 50 degree recline and 21-inch seat width, as well as electronic leg rest and lumbar support. The in-flight entertainment is the same offering as in business class but with a 9-inch screen from the armrest.
So what about the Bmed fleet which Bmi will operate from October 28? Will the new product be on offer on those routes in the future? Tim Bye, deputy chief executive said: "I'd like to say we will see it on flights to Beirut, Tehran, Amman and so on, but the decision has not been made yet. We need to see how the integration works and then maybe put an A330 on those routes."
Bmi is launching its new flight to Cairo on November 4, but the mid-haul route will not have the new business class seating.
For prices and more information see flybmi.com.
Report by Felicity
Cousins
