British Airways is scheduled to undergo a total makeover with its new set of planes that will replace its 747 fleets and is planning to elevate their first and business seats to compete with the quality offered by the Middle Eastern airlines.
The airplane company is reluctant to give all details of their upgrade, releasing only some detail shots earlier this week. According to sources, the new seats were made by Rockwell Collins who manufactured the very popular B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seat equipped the Westjet's new Dreamliner fleet, Virgin Austria's "the Business" and Air China's new Airbus A350.
British Airway, however, hinted that they will choose a different direction with their premium category design. The company posted photos of the new seats that look similar to the concept of the "Waterfront Business Class Seat" that is designed by Formulation Design for Rockwell Collins.
According to reports, the seat is a fully enclosed suite with a privacy screen. The passengers can use a large table/space by the window side and each seat has aisle access. The seats can still lie flat and its seats are movable downwards to make it wider.
The suite has an entertainment screen which is confirmed to be a 24-inch Panasonic 4K display. Reports said that the seat is 12 percent lighter than the previous business class designs which are great in saving fuel.
According to reports, the Waterfront seat is designed for transformation where it seamlessly transitions between comfortable living, productive working, dining, entertainment, and sleeping. Several more unique features were showcased when the seat was featured at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany. The seat also includes a selfie camera which was first used onboard Singapore planes. The cameras can be used for a quick photo.
Passengers can also pair their smartphones to the screen and use it as a remote via Bluetooth. It will allow passengers to control the display of the screen and the seat. They can also resume content of what they are watching when reboarding the plane.
The seat also features a hidden tray that slides out from underneath the display that might serve as a table or a place to place their things. Passengers can also control accent lights with their phones. The screen changes from soft green to light yellow. The seat also has a wireless charging feature for the passengers' personal devices as well as a wake-sleep control where passengers can set time for a crew to wake them up or set a time when they shouldn't be disturbed.
