British Airways has unveiled the interior refit of its A320-family of aircraft, as part of a package of changes to make short-haul profitable.
Fitting-out starts this week on the first of the 95 A320-family aircraft, with new designs inspired by the airline’s most recent fleet entrants, the A380 and Boeing 787.
The elegant charcoal grey leather seats are slimmer and ergonomically designed to enable extra seats in the Eurotraveller cabin to allow more low fares.
The innovative design maximises personal space and comfort, with chair backs devised to provide more knee space for the customer behind. Customers can also make use of an eye-level seatback tablet-holder, which can also provide storage for magazines. A four-way moveable headrest provides comfort and support. And the seat-back table moves in and out to provide optimum positioning.
Club Europe maintains its 2:2 configuration with the middle seat free. The seats will be bridged with a new ‘central console’ table, providing Club customers with improved space.
The new seats are currently on display in the Crew Report Centre in T5.
LED lighting systems, inspired by the airline’s newest long-haul cabins, will include blue tones for boarding, a relaxing candlelit mood for the meal service and a restful gentle white for cruising and landing. Plans are also underway to install Wi-Fi on many European short-haul services.
A sale offering a million seats with prices starting at £39 each way has been launched to mark the launch.
Keith Williams, BA’s Executive Chairman, says: “In recent years, the short-haul landscape has changed enormously. To succeed in today’s environment, we need to offer customers more choice, improved flexibility and punctuality, a reinvigorated product and outstanding service.
“We also need to control our costs, improve productivity and grow revenue by offering fares at attractive prices. All these things are essential if we are to turn our short-haul business around and secure further investment from IAG.
“Talks have started with colleagues around the business to identify ways of reducing our costs through productivity improvements and economies of scale. Our short-haul business accounts for 73 per cent of operational activity and is embedded across our back-office teams, from revenue management to marketing and sales. We all need to work together to turn short-haul around and I’m confident that with the combined skills and expertise of our people, we can find the solutions.