British Airways has welcomed its first Airbus A350 at Heathrow featuring the airline’s new Club Suite business-class seat.
The aircraft touched down at the airport over the weekend and the airline is due to take delivery of 18 A350s, with four joining its fleet before the end of 2019.
Passengers will see the first A350 start to enter service on the Heathrow-Madrid route this August, which BA says will allow its crew to familiarise themselves with the new cabin lay-out. Then from September, the aircraft will begin long-haul flights to Dubai, followed by services to Toronto, Tel Aviv and Bangalore later this year.
The newly-branded Club Suite is making its debut on the A350, with each seat offering direct aisle access owing to the 1-2-1 configuration. The seat offers 40 per cent more storage than the previous business-class product, and also includes a vanity unit and mirror, wifi, 18.5-inch in-flight entertainment screen with high-definition gate-to-gate programming and PC/USB power.
Following the introduction of three further A350s this year, BA will retrofit two Boeing 777s with the new cabin.
Carolina Martinoli, director of brand and customer experience at BA, commented: “We are delighted to welcome the first of our A350s to the fleet. This aircraft marks a significant and exciting milestone in our £6.5 billion investment programme and is even more special as it comes with our new Club Suite. The A350 is a fantastic aircraft and an excellent showpiece for British engineering. Our customers are going to love the space, light and comfort on board.”
ba.com