Virgin Atlantic is set to reveal the interiors of its upcoming Airbus A330neo aircraft at a media event on Tuesday and all eyes are on whether the airline unveils a new style of Business Class seat with the possibility of a sliding privacy door making an appearance.
The Crawley-based airline ordered a total of 14 Airbus A330-900 aircraft to replace its old A330 fleet during the 2019 Paris Air Show, although first deliveries of the aircraft originally pencilled in for 2021 had to be postponed due to the pandemic.
Expect Virgin Atlantic’s signature interior mood lighting to be in abundance but there are still plenty of tricks left up the airline’s methophorical sleeve.
Along with the Business Class seat reveal, it remains to be seen whether the airline opts for an onboard bar or goes down the route of a sit-down social space like ‘The Loft’ which debuted on Virgin Atlantic’s A350-1000 aircraft.
The airline could even decide to eschew a large social space altogether and instead go down the route of its leisure-orientated A350’s which instead feature a product dubbed ‘The Booth’ – a much smaller sit down area for two people to dine together.
Virgin Atlantic opted for the Safran Seats Cirrus NG for its A350 Business Class but the slightly narrower fuselage of the A330 means a different seat might be necessary. If that is the case, the airline could opt to install closeable privacy doors, rather than the ‘privacy paritions’ on its A350 fleet.
The rest of the aircraft might not see many huge changes with the ability to accommodate between 260 to 300 passengers in a three-class configuration of Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy.
The ‘neo’ in A330neo stands for ‘new engine option’ which are Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines that quieter and far more efficient than previous generations of the A330.
Until tomorrow, however, Virgin Atlantic is giving very little away. Watch this space.
