The Business Travel Magazine June/July 2019

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Air travel / Business class Suite SENSATIONS Airlines are upping the ante in business class. Gary Noakes examines the latest trends – including BA’s long-awaited new offering It began with the cradle seat, morphed into the flat bed, but now the airline industry's latest must-have business class feature is sliding doors. The enclosed or semi-enclosed cabin in business class is what all top airline models are sporting this season, with personal space onboard becoming the key selling point for the next few years. The most eagerly awaited new cabin is of course from British Airways. BA is dispensing with its current bewildering Club World layout in favour of a 1-2-1 format that guarantees aisle access without having to step over another passenger’s feet and, unlike the current design, all seats face forward. The new Club Suite product is fully enclosed once the door is shut and has a bigger 18.5-inch TV plus PC and USB power points and high-speed wifi. “It’s probably the largest decision I took since coming in [to the airline],” said the airline’s Chairman and CEO Alex Cruz at the recent ITM Conference. “A lot of analysis had been done but no decisions had been taken. But we took it [the decision] very early on because we know it takes a long time.” He continued: “The seat that we have announced is a very significant evolution, but it’s not just about the seat. The seat is the hardware... we have wifi, new bedding, new food onboard, the lounges... I’m pretty convinced that at the back end of next year we will begin to be referred to as having the best Club in the air.” The full reveal of the 56-seat cabin takes place when the first of BA’s Airbus A350s is delivered from July. The aircraft will initially operate between Heathrow and Madrid to familiarise crews before commencing longhaul routes from October 1. The A350 has no first class, so will not operate routes where this cabin is a big selling point, but will initially serve “selected” services to Toronto and then Dubai. This autumn will see another three A350s join the fleet and the first two Boeing 777s being refitted with the new product. The refit will be of interest to buyers, as the Club Suites will presumably take up more space than the existing Club World seats, and fewer seats may mean higher prices. In response, BA will only say that it “hasn’t yet announced the seat config for the 777 refits”. If travellers develop a liking for the enclosed BA cabin, they won’t find it on flights run by transatlantic partner American Airlines, whose seat does not feature a door at all. It’s the reverse picture with Virgin Atlantic and Delta. The latter has gone full door, while Virgin, which will also debut its new seat on an A350 this summer, has opted for a partial sliding door. A Virgin spokesperson says: “The feedback from customers was that they wanted privacy but still wanted to interact with each other and our crew.” 74 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
Business class / Air travel BRITISH AIRwAYS THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com 75
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76 June/July 2019 FLIGHT PATHS An e
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Isn’t it time you started saving
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ARRIVALS OPENING SHOTS Eye-catching
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ARRIVALS EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT..
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PARIS • BRUSSELS • AMSTERDAM
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ARRIVALS SIX OF THE BEST Six of the
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ARRIVALS EVENT REPORT ITM Conferenc
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CHAUFFEUR DRIVE Back-seat RIDERS Do
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Highest standards Convenient techno
Page 22 and 23: AWARDS The Business Travel People A
Page 24 and 25: TRAVEL POLICY Simply READ The days
Page 27 and 28: TRAVEL POLICY times the traveller
Page 29 and 30: A different view on business travel
Page 31 and 32: THE BIG PICTURE Sky high NEW YORK c
Page 33 and 34: THE CONVERSATION in brief... You've
Page 35 and 36: EVENT PREVIEW For the first time, T
Page 37 and 38: WELCOME TO A NEW LEVEL OF HOSPITALI
Page 39 and 40: TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY [ Data deploy
Page 41 and 42: GLOBAL HOTEL GROUPS Rarely recognis
Page 43 and 44: Business & leisure in equal measure
Page 45 and 46: GLOBAL HOTEL GROUPS Take a good loo
Page 47 and 48: ARRIVALS EVENT REPORT ProcureCon Tr
Page 49 and 50: TALKING TRAVEL LEVISON WOOD Levison
Page 51 and 52: THE REVIEW the Review THE NEWS & VI
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Page 55 and 56: THE REVIEW I N T H E A I R IN BRIEF
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Page 59 and 60: THE REVIEW M e e t i n g p l a c e
Page 61 and 62: EVENT REVIEW PA & EA networking eve
Page 63 and 64: IT's the largest area of travel spe
Page 65 and 66: Introduction / Air travel Our custo
Page 67 and 68: Tel Aviv is taking off Attention al
Page 69 and 70: Spend management / Air travel Many
Page 71 and 72: BECAUSE GOOD CONNECTIONS ALWAYS HEL
Page 76 and 77: Air travel / Business class JetBlue
Page 78 and 79: Air travel / Business class The A3
Page 80 and 81: Air travel / Distribution Airlines
Page 82 and 83: Air travel / Distribution NDC still
Page 84 and 85: Air travel / Consolidation Going to
Page 86 and 87: Air travel / Data price WATCH ££
Page 88 and 89: DEPARTURES New kid on the block har
Page 90 and 91: EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR NINE TO FIV
Page 92 and 93: DEPARTURES Focus on... South East A
Page 94 and 95: DEPARTURES Factfile: South East Asi
Page 96 and 97: DEPARTURES Reality check HOTEL: OCK
Page 98 and 99: DEPARTURES The final word Arranging
Page 100: The FREE event for buyers and arran
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The Business Travel Magazine June/July 2019

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