Good but not game changing: what do we think of BA’s new First Class cabin?

On Monday, British Airways revealed its new First Class cabin (click here for our article) which it will install across its A380 fleet with a view to have it flying in mid 2026. It has called it ‘game changing’.

To recap, this will be a 1-2-1 configuration featuring:

• an ultra-wide seat (36.5 inches) with a bed length of 6’5″ or 200cm
• cocooning five foot (152cm) curved walls (and doors)
• multi-purpose ottoman facilitating buddy dining
• 32-inch 4K TV screen
• electronic window blinds
• adjustable mood lighting with scenes including ‘relax’, ‘dine’ and ‘cinema’

The seat will also be installed on the Boeing 777X fleet when those arrive, likely in 2027 depending on what goes on at Boeing. BA has 18 of the larger 777-9X variant on order and we expect to see the new First Class cabins on all of them.

What is not clear is whether this seat will eventually be retrofitted on existing aircraft. British Airways recently finished refurbishing its existing 777 fleet, many of which feature the existing First product.

The Boeing 787-9 fleet is due to be refurbished over the coming years. It would be a missed opportunity not to upgrade the First Class cabin at the same time that Club Suite is installed on those, although the new suite may simply be too big and heavy to fit.

New versus old: what’s changed?

Let’s start with a quick comparison of the new cabin versus the existing seat. Above is a photo of the new seat whilst below you’ll see the latest version of BA’s existing First Class. This was originally introduced in 2010 but updated a couple of times including the addition of a door in 2020:

The first thing to note is that BA has moved away from an angled seat to a forward-facing, full width seat.

Whilst the current First seat has always been more spacious than its herringbone business class counterparts, the lack of tessellation means the seat has widened substantially, from 21.5″ to 36.5″ (27.5″ between armrests). This should give an even greater sense of space on board and means you’ll now have a fully rectangular sleeping area.

The TV screen has also grown in size, from 24″ to 32″, although it also appears to be further away! It is smaller than the 40″+ screens we’ve seen recently from JAL and a handful of other airlines.

Buddy dining has been retained thanks to the multi-purpose ottoman. This was available on the existing A380 First Class seat but is not on the newer Boeing 787-10 fleet so it’s good to see this return.

The new seat features a LOT of storage space, including a personal wardrobe that can accommodate an entire trolley bag:

One of my favourite features is the Concorde-inspired lamp, a stunning piece of industrial design:

Visually, British Airways has ditched the cream and black colour scheme in favour of a combination of blue and beige tones. Assuming the renders are accurate, this looks very stylish and appears to take inspiration from Ozwald Boateng’s new uniforms, with the same navy and red accents.

Overall it’s a warmer, less stark design that hints at a more residential feel than the automotive-inspired previous First Class cabin. This is a trend we’re seeing across the industry, with airlines such as Cathay Pacific looking to luxury hotels for inspiration.

It’s not game-changing, but ….

In its press release, BA called it ‘game changing’. I think we can all agree it isn’t.

That’s not a bad thing. Anyone expecting a revolutionary new seat to compete with the ultra-luxury offerings from Singapore Airlines, Etihad and other Asian and Middle Eastern airlines was surely barking up the wrong tree.

Even BA seems to admit this. The biggest claim in the press release is that it is ‘the only European carrier from the UK to offer a First product across the Atlantic.’ It’s not exactly a huge comparator set, and even this claim will fall away if/when Global Airlines launches with a First Class cabin.

The new First Class seat looks like a seat and not the (arguably over-the-top) cabins from Emirates, Singapore Airlines or Etihad. You don’t get your own room here: it is still, for all intents and purposes, a seat, albeit with very high five-foot walls. It’s more in line with recent First Class cabins unveiled by Japan Airlines, ANA and others.

In that respect it is a continuation of BA’s existing First Class strategy, offering a relatively large First Class cabin of at least eight seats (versus some airline’s three or four) but at more accessible price levels.

Here’s how many seats other airlines typically install in First Class:

• Air France La Premiere: 4 seats
• ANA: 8 seats
• Cathay Pacific: 6 seats
• Emirates: 8-14 seats
• Etihad: 8-10 seats
• Japan Airlines: 6 seats
• Lufthansa Allegris: 3-4 seats
• Qatar Airways: 8 seats

British Airways, meanwhile, will install 12 seats on the A380 and is expected to have eight seats on the Boeing 777X. It will therefore offer more First Class seats than most other airlines – and, of course, this is good news for anyone who wants to fly them via an Avios redemption. Not many of the seats listed above are freely available for miles.

Can the soft product keep up?

The new seat is an excellent evolution of First Class on BA. To be fair, British Airways has always offered a comfortable seat for passengers in First.

The big unanswered question is whether BA will upgrade the soft product and service it offers to First Class passengers. With the new seat in place, there are a lot of improvements BA could make to elevate its First Class experience even further.

Let’s start with the service, which can be inconsistent. Crew can be handing out water in short-haul Euro Traveller one day and expected to advise on wine pairings in First the next. A new ‘First Service Specialists’ training programme is helping, with the four-day course training crew how to serve food, provide a turndown service and recommend wine pairings.

British Airways comes in for a lot of criticism regarding the cleanliness and maintenance of its cabins, so it’ll be interesting to see how the new seat (and in particular, the lighter seat fabrics) will age.

The John Horsfall bedding, with 400 thread count sheets, is already luxurious although I would love to see BA introduce a thick, fitted mattress topper. Virgin Atlantic offers this on its A350s and it is excellent.

Compared to other airlines, the food and drink offering is poor. Singapore Airlines recently announced it would start serving Cristal 2015 champagne to First Class passengers, although I doubt we’ll see BA follow suit!

In a little highlighted part of Brunchgate, one of my favourite parts of the First Class meal service – the canapé tray – was recently replaced with a pre-departure tray of olives, nuts and cheese straws.

On the ground at Heathrow, the First Wing is always a pleasure and the Concorde Room’s a la carte dining is acceptable. But whilst other airlines offer a lounge-to-plane private chauffeur in luxury cars, BA’s First Class passengers must hike down to the crowded transit train with everyone else – not exactly a luxury experience.

Ultimately, however, it all comes down to where British Airways wants to position the product. The current First Class seat is often priced at a fixed £1,000 more than Club during sales, substantially less than you might pay for First on competing airlines.

We asked Cirium to calculate some First pricing data for us. It showed that, compared to BA, a typical First Class seat was 14% more expensive on Etihad, 24% more on Qatar Airways (limited F network), 27% more on Luthansa, 32% more on Cathay Pacific and 33% more on Emirates.

If BA chooses to move upmarket I would expect fares to rise in parallel, although some A380 routes will struggle to sell 12 First Class seats at a true premium price.

Conclusion

Calling the new cabin ‘game changing’ is a misnomer. BA’s new First Class is not a game changer, nor does it need to be.

What the new cabin offers is a spacious and private suite that is well appointed and stylish. It is impressive just how much it packs into what is a relatively small space: oodles of storage on the inside and outside of the suite, including for jackets, trolley bags and hand bags; a 27.5″ wide bed, an ottoman with the option of buddy dining and a large 32″ screen.

In that regard, BA’s new A380 First Class seat is a more traditional First Class seat. British Airways is not trying to reinvent the wheel here. Based on what we’ve seen so far, this will be a comfortable and luxurious way to travel – assuming the rest of the onboard experience matches up.

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