British Airways’ Concorde Room at Terminal 5, London Heathrow on 07 November 2017 (Picture by Nick Morrish/British Airways)
BA has undertaken, to use its lexicon, a “refresh” of its Concorde Room at London Heathrow Terminal 5.
There are no structural changes to the lounge as such. The basic layout and services in the lounge remain the same. The main changes are the reulphostering of furniture and changes to the layout of the terrace area with the addition of new sofas, day loungers and cabanas. And duck feet lamps.
A set of press images and video is below.
To quote those well known Australian cultural commentators Kath & Kim: “It’s nice. It’s different. It’s unusual.”
On related news, London Heathrow Terminal 5 has gained its second paid-for access lounge with the opening of a Plaza Premium lounge.The lounge is next to Gate A7 in the main terminal. The lounge is open from 05:00 to 22:00 daily. It promises views of the runway, showers, and a full bar and fresh food. No press pictures are available but Plaza Premium has built up a highly regarded portfolio of lounges at London Heathrow so it should impress. Continue reading “BA “refreshes” its London Heathrow Concorde Room”
It was 20 years ago this week British Airways launched what is commonly thought as one of the greatest marketing disasters of all time.
As part of a company wide rebranding exercise, the company planned to replace its long standing “Landor” aircraft livery with approximately 50 different tailfins featuring designs representing the many nations served by BA, such as tartan for Scotland and calligraphy for China.
British Airways “Project Utopia” World Tailfin DesignsBritish Airways “Project Utopia” World Tailfin DesignsBritish Airways Boeing 767 Aircraft, Project Utopia Livery, Golden Khokhloma (Image Credit: British Airways)Loganair Scotland Islander Peter MacDonald “Mountain Of The Birds” Project Utopia Livery (Image Credit: British Airways)Comair Boeing 737 Aircraft Matazo Kayama “Waves And Cranes” Project Utopia Livery (Image Credit: British Airways)
The exercise was carried out with the best of intentions. At the time BA was the self-styled “World’s Favourite Airline”. This was because it carried more international airlines than any other airline. 60% of its passengers originated from outside the UK. The plan was to present BA to the world as a modern, warm and caring airline.
This seemed fitting with the times. Tony Blair had secured a landside victory for New Labour in a General Election and there was a confidence in the UK’s contemporary culture, exemplified by the rise of Britpop.
Whilst the designs we well received by BA’s international passengers, they were not so well receive back in the UK. The label “ethnic tailfins” stuck. The former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously took exception to the sight of a model BA aircraft at the 1997 Conservative Party conference and covered its tailfin with a handkerchief. “Maggie Puts BA Into A Tailspin” was the front page of the Daily Mail the following day. This was the death knell for the rebranding exercise. Virgin Atlantic, which at the time always seized the opportunity to joke at BA’s expense, painted the Union Jack and the decal “Britain’s Flag Carrier” on its aircraft. Continue reading “British Airways “World Images” Tailfins: 20 Years On”
Today, the airline has provided further information of what, and what isn’t, happening with the planned development of the terminal which is to be completed over the next two years.
BA has confirmed that the development will include redeveloped general check-in areas, a new premium check-in area, a new food court post security, redeveloped First and Club World lounges and pre-flight dining facilities, and refurbished gate areas.
Passengers of other airlines which also use JFK Terminal 7, such as ANA, Icelandair, and Qantas, will also benefit from many of these improvements.
The Concorde Room which is for use by passengers travelling in First Class and Concorde Room Cardholders will receive, to use BA lexicon, a “refresh” after being refurbished a few years ago.
The airline has today issued images of the planned check-in and post security areas, but not the new lounges. A cynic might wonder whether BA has rushed out this announcement in order to maintain momentum after a recent PR event for its new London Gatwick lounges and First Wing at London Heathrow Terminal 5.
There is also no mention of redeveloping the immigration hall which can become extremely congested and is ill-suited to manage queues for both self-service kiosks and manned immigration desks.
It is also has to be said that the development is less ambitious in some respects than what was originally planned for JFK Terminal 7 before the 2008 financial crisis. Gone are proposals to create a “drive through” check-in for First Class and Gold Executive Club cardholders. Continue reading “BA unveils its planned redevelopment of New York JFK Terminal 7”
British Airways First Wing London Heathrow Terminal 5 (Credit: British Airways)
Next year, BA will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the opening of London Heathrow Terminal 5. The opening itself is a day BA would rather forget.
Ever since Terminal 5 opened a perennial complaint has been the fact that in spite of the fact that three of its lounges in the South of the terminal (Galleries Club, Galleries First and The Concorde Room) are located immediately adjacent to the South security screening area, passengers are forced to take a circuitous route down a crowded escalator and past numerous shops and restaurants and back up a set of escalators to access the lounges.
The one exception is those who have access to the Concorde Room by virtue of flying First Class or holding a Concorde Room Card can enter the lounge via a special door next to the South Security screening area, which at opening was rumoured to have cost BA many millions of pounds.
All that has now changed, for some passengers at least. If you have passed through the South end of Terminal 5 over the past few months you could not have failed to have noticed a large construction area near to the Club check-in area. This is the new BA First Wing.
British Airways Lounge – London Gatwick South Terminal (Credit: British Airways)
BA held a press event yesterday for a select number of travel journalists and bloggers (though someone at The Daily Telegraph clearly did not get an invitation).
Under the curious title of “#BAInvesting4U” journalists were ferried from London Gatwick to London Heathrow via a three and a half four flight on a brand new Boeing 787-900.
The whole event was something of a rearguard action in response to negative press coverage and a narrative of cut backs and service failures.
In truth much of what was announced today is known already: BA has opened new lounges at Gatwick, a new security channel for First Class passengers and BA Executive Club Gold Cardholders at London Heathrow, it’s adding WiFi and revamping its Club World service with a new seat to come with the Airbus A350 in 2019.
You can read BA’s take on yesterday’s announcements at ba.com
One point that did catch our attention is BA’s new lounge refurbishment programme.
Qantas Boeing 787-900 Premium Economy Seat (Source: Qantas Airways)
Qantas has today unveiled its new premium economy seat which is due to operate on Qantas’ non-stop Boeing 787-900 flights between London Heathrow and Perth from March 2018.
At the time Qantas announced the launch of non-stop flights between London and Perth it kept details of its premium economy seats under wraps, whilst hailing it as revolutionary. Today Qantas has unveiled the seat and some aspects of the premium economy cabin design.
United Polaris Business Class Cabin (Image Credit: United)
United Airlines has today announced it is to introduce a new business class seat called “Polaris” on its fleet of long-haul aircraft.
The new seat is a bespoke patented design for United Airlines by London based Acumen Design Associates and PriestmanGoode and is manufactured by Zodiac Seats.
The seat offers a fully flat 6′ 6″ bed. In common with many other long-haul airlines, all seats will have direct access to the aisle in a 1-2-1 configuration. However, United will maintain the same seating density by combining inline and angled seats in the cabin.
All seats are forward-facing and each customer’s seat will feature a “Do Not Disturb” sign, mood lighting, one-touch lumbar support, storage areas, multiple surfaces for simultaneous working and dining, and a 16″ high-definition entertainment screen.
United Airlines also promises significant improvements to in-flight amenities and dining. The Polaris cabin will also feature a walk-up bar for in flight snacks.
The Polaris business class seat will be first installed in December 2016 on Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and subsequently on Boeing 787-10 and Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. It will also be retrofitted to Boeing 767-300 and Boeing 777-200 aircraft. It will not be fitted to Boeing 787-8, 787-9, Boeing 747 nor Boeing 757 aircraft (which currently operate on a number of London Heathrow flights). United is yet to specify which London Heathrow routes will operate with the Polaris cabin.
United Airlines is also rolling out nine Polaris business class lounges worldwide. These lounges will feature daybeds and pre-flight dining. A Polaris lounge will be fitted out at London Heathrow Terminal 2 in 2017.
Other locations will include Chicago O’Hare airport, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New York Newark, Washington Dulles, Tokyo Narita and Hong Kong.
This latest development does mean that all-aisle access business class seating is now becoming standard on most long-haul transatlantic airlines. The one exception being British Airways which seems intent on maintaining its primarily 8-across “yin-yang” seating in its Club World business class cabin.
Kioskafé, Paddington, London (Image Credit: London Air Travel)
Readers of Tyler Brûlé’s column in the weekend edition of the Financial Times, which for the uninitiated documents the travails of a life spent jet-setting around the globe, will know that a frequent target is the poor state of newspaper and magazine retailing in the UK.
One target has long been WH Smith. Specifically, its poorly lit and understaffed shops, the ill-targeted special offers, the self-scan check-outs and, in the case of its Heathrow branches, its parochial selection of newspapers and magazines.
Tyler Brûlé is not someone who isn’t afraid to put his money where his mouth is, nor to challenge convention.
Having long argued that print media is not dead, in 2007 Tyler Brûlé founded the magazine Monocle. As well as being a commercial and editorial success it eschews social media, does not carry out any research, charges more than the magazine cover price for a subscription and double the cover price for back issues.
Monocle has since extended its reach to shops, a cafe at 18 Chiltern Street London, and a 24 hour radio station, Monocle 24.
Tyler Brûlé is also the founder of the design agency Winkreative which designed the original brand identity of Swiss International Airlines, Porter Airlines, the cabin interior of British Airways Club World on Boeing 747-400 and 777-200 aircraft and the recently launched Union Pearson Express in Toronto.
The Kioskafe
The latest venture from Winkreative’s parent company, is the Kioskafé which opened in the past week at 31 Norfolk Place, opposite the Frontline Club and a short walk from London Paddington railway and Underground stations.
British Airways has unveiled its new eight seat First Class cabin on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. This is the smallest First Class cabin on four class long-haul aircraft, which typically have fourteen seats.
British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has today unveiled its new first class cabin on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
The eight seat cabin is an evolution of the first class cabin currently found on Boeing 747, 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft.
To date, other BA Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft have operated without a First Class cabin.
Featuring just eight seats in two rows of 1-2-1 seats, the cabin is significantly smaller than the fourteen seat configuration found on most aircraft.
British Airways 8 Seat Boeing 787-9 First Class Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)British Airways 8 Seat Boeing 787-9 First Class Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)
The seat itself is essentially the same. However, elements surrounding it have been significantly modified.
British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class Seat (Image Credit: British Airways)Centre Seat Pair, British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)
BA Boeing 787-9 First Class IFE Screen (Image Credit: British Airways)
Design modifications include a larger (and fixed) 23″ TV screen, a more accessible personal wardrobe and personal stowage, and a smartphone style seat control.
British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class Seat (Image Credit: British Airways)Side Table, British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class Seat (Image Credit: British Airways)At Seat Control, British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class Seat (Image Credit: British Airways)Wardrobe, British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class Seat (Image Credit: British Airways)
Features found on other BA first class cabins, such as the seat side personal lamp and shaded window blinds have been removed.
Some readers may be disappointed not to see more radical innovation from BA. However, we expect that a lower destiny seating configuration or items that add additional weight to the aircraft will not be pursued unless there is a clear revenue benefit to the airline.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will make its debut on selected flights to Delhi from 22 October 2015.
It will also fly to Austin, currently a Boeing 787-8 route, from February 2016. This will be followed by Abu Dhabi & Muscat from 5 November 2016, Kuala Lumpur from December 2016 and San Jose which launches 4 May 2016.
The aircraft is likely to be used to replace Boeing 777 and 747 aircraft and, as per San Jose, open up new routes.
The airline has a total of 22 Boeing 787-9 aircraft in order, in addition to 8 delivered Boeing 787-8 and 12 Boeing 787-10 aircraft.
