Yesterday saw the announcement that Virgin Atlantic is finally doing away with the original industry-changing business class seats that paved the way for the standard all-aisle-access seats that virtually all airlines now have. While there is some speculation over what will replace them, it seems the carrier is now doubling down on its premium offering.
That’s not a surprise as the airline’s business ‘Upper’ class and Premium cabins are often full, while recent events in the US has seen images of virtually empty economy cabins emerge on the internet as we continue to see depressed demand for tourism to the USA from the UK and the rest of Europe.
But what does that mean? Well firstly, we’re saying goodbye to the Upper Class seat on the 787s. Now I appreciate its seen as one of the most inferior seats in the business class game right now, just one echelon above the British Airways Yin-yang seats of old, but I do have a soft spot for them. I’ve never had better sleep or so much fun in those older cabins than on any other airline due to the convivial nature the seats, service and cabins bring.
What’s replacing them? Well, we haven’t been given details of the seats, apart from the fact they are ‘Inspired’ by the A330neo interiors. Now while the Thompson Vantage XL+ is a likely contender, something isn’t adding up for us. What we do know is the airline is opting for 44 Upper Class seats and 56 Premium seats on the 787-9s. That would mean there’s naturally going to be two cabins of Upper across 11-or-so rows in a 1 x 2 x 1 configuration.
We know that the 787s will feature 8 of the ‘Retreat Suites’ but there are only two of these on the A330, so why the jump? Well, the Retreat Suite doesn’t feature on the A330 front row window seats presumably because of the curve of the cabin near to the nose and the 787 has the same design issue, therefore, my view is that perhaps – just perhaps – they are looking for a new seat, and because of the comment about the cabins being inspired by the A330neos, my belief is that they are sticking with Thompson, but perhaps opting for the newer, somewhat nicer, Vantage NOVA and it’s front row, Vantage NOVA First.
This would make sense, and mirror the approaches that both United and American have taken with their new cabins featuring Elevate seats. The Vantage NOVA First allows for window Business Class plus seats and this would allow Virgin to brand those window seats in both cabins as Retreat Suites too.
We also know from hearsay that Richard Branson mentioned a while back he wanted to bring the bars back. My personal feedback along with other people i’ve spoken to, is that the social spaces are often dead, and there’s a clear need to bring back a social space that is used through a flight. I often would pick Virgin aircraft that weren’t the Neo or the Airbus A350 because they didn’t feature the social bar area, and I’m hoping and will be super glad if Virgin bring the bar back, especially now that it will be in the heart of the Business Class cabin.
We also know that all this will come at the sacrifice of the economy cabin, which is going to be diminished to just 128 economy seats, a huge reduction from the 184 it is currently. But with 56 Premium seats, this means that the front two sections of the aircraft will be entirely premium, with economy starting after the L3 doors.
It’s not just the 787 that’s getting the love. New A330neos will also feature larger Upper Class and Premium cabins, with a bigger emphasis on the premium business and leisure traveller demographic.
There’s also the news that the airline is opting for Starlink across its fleet to offer fast and free Wi-Fi, with a roll out expected by the end of 2027 with the first installations having been completed by this time next year. CEO Shai Weiss suggested that the complimentary access for passengers would likely be tied to commercial partnerships with “cool partners on the content side.”
It seems the updates to Virgin don’t just stop at the cabins though. Lounge refreshes at Heathrow and JFK have been announced too, which comes at the right time, as the look and feel of the Clubhouses are becoming a little more tired as of late. Virgin Atlantic also last night announced a new app with a closer connection to Virgin Atlantic Holidays, which should be launched at the end of this year.
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