On September 24th Virgin Australia presented their latest Business Class design. This new configuration will be integrated into the Australian company’s long-haul aircraft (Airbus A330’s and Boeing 777’s) from March 2015.
Dubbed "Suite" by its manufacturer B/E Aerospace, the new seat will convert, as is increasingly customary now, into a more than two metre-long horizontal bed (80 inches), and equipped with a touch screen of 40-45 centimetres (16-18 inches), together with lots of storage space and a tablet support.
For this facelift, Virgin Australia called in the London design firm Tangerine, a well known agency in the industrial design field, notably for the British Airways First Class cabin on which they worked in 2010.
The Business Class cabin will have a 1-2-1 configuration allowing its passengers direct aisle access without having to inconvenience their fellow passengers. The icing on the cake is that on the company’s Boeing 777’s, the Business Class will have a bar, such as that found on the Emirates A380 for example.
In early 2016, the entire long-haul fleet of the company, comprising twelve aircraft in total, will be equipped with the new cabin. With this move upmarket, Virgin Australia aims to become a reference for Business passengers by 2017... Stay tuned folks.
