Virgin Australia has launched its new international business, premium and economy classes on Wednesday at a ceremony at Los Angeles International Airport, along with announcing that the airline would introduce Wi-Fi on both international and domestic flights next year.
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Virgin's Boeing 777s are progressively being refitted with the new cabin layouts, with 37 business class seats, 24 premium seats and 278 in economy. The new configuration is expected to be on all five of the airline's 777s by September.
The seats will then be available on both of the airline's international routes - Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi.
The new business class, called simply "The Business" by the airline, is a major revamp of Virgin Australia's previous business class offering on the trans-Pacific route. The biggest difference is the switch from a 2-3-2 layout to a 1-2-1 layout, meaning all business class passengers will have direct access to the aisle and there is no more dreaded middle seat.
"We won't have anybody climbing over our customers or falling on top of them trying to get out of their seat," said Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti.
Virgin claims bragging rights over its rivals with the widest business class seat on US routes with 28 inches in lie-flat mode, three inches more than its nearest rival, along with the largest in-flight entertainment screen at 18 inches. The bed length in lie-flat mode is 80 inches (203cm), equivalent to the length of a queen sized bed.
Another key improvement is the business class bar, which has been transformed from a basic self-serve shelf to a more lounge-like experience, with a staff member behind the bar to serve drinks during the flight.
London design agency Tangerine created the new business class seat. Creative director Matt Round is a veteran of airline seat design, having been responsible for the design of the world's first business class lie-flat seat for British Airways.
Round said the design process took about 12 months and that while the passenger experience always comes first, any seat design is faced with "opposing tensions" such as weight (the biggest expense for any airline as the heavier an aircraft is, the more fuel it burns) and meeting the requirement of international aircraft regulators.
The revamped premium economy class has a significantly larger seat pitch, up to 41 inches from the previous 38 inches, though the seats' official name is now just "premium" without the "economy".
"We wanted to make it more of a 'business lite', rather than an 'economy plus'," Borghetti said. "The airline has also added an actual "Economy Plus" which features extra legroom in the first five rows of economy.
Borghetti's view, naturally, is that the new business class seat is the best available on routes to the US, but with the improved product there's likely to be an increase in business class fares on the route.
"Any airline that operates long-haul with a business class cabin that has a middle seat has to start discounting heavily," he said. "Because the consumer expects much more these days."
Flights to the US have become increasingly competitive in recent years, with new seats and lounges from airlines, as well as new aircraft on the route. Qantas now offers direct flights to Los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco, while American Airlines recently resumed flights from LA to Sydney after a 24-year absence. United Airlines created the world's longest Boeing 787 Dreamliner route when it began direct flights from LA to Melbourne with the new aircraft last year.
Although Virgin Australia officially announced plans to introduce in-flight Wi-Fi next year, details were not likely to be released until later in the year. Qantas has previously trialled in-flight Wi-Fi on domestic flights, while several international carriers including Emirates and Singapore Airlines currently offer Wi-Fi in-flight.
Craig Platt travelled courtesy of Virgin Australia.
