Featuring slimmer charcoal-grey leather seating, the design will allow BA to add extra seats in its Euro Traveller economy cabin.
As Business Traveller reported last year (see news, December 2013), the slimline seats are manufactured by B/E Aerospace, indicating the likelihood that BA will reduce the seat pitch in Club Europe (business) from 34 to 30 inches, the same legroom as in economy.
Club Europe: The "central console" table that will be fitted in seats B and E in business class
Business class middle seats B and E will remain unoccupied and will be bridged with a "central console" table, providing Club customers with improved functional space. This table provides inlaid leather mats for drinks, snacks and personal devices, freeing up the main table for work or a meal.
BA begins fitting-out work on the first of its 95 Airbus short-haul aircraft that will feature the new interior this week. The fleet upgrade will take 12 months, the airline said.
The redesign also features an eye-level seatback tablet-holder and a four-way moveable headrest. BA executive chairman Keith Williams said: "The short-haul landscape has changed enormously in recent years. To stay competitive and keep offering customers choice, great fares and great service, we are giving our cabins a radical makeover. "There will be a new look, but the traditional British Airways comfort, elegance and value will remain."
Earlier this month, BA announced that its passengers on European flights could soon have access to broadband in the sky (see news, June 6).
http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/100578/ba-unveils-new-short-haul-cabin-interior
