Virgin Atlantic: Competitive advantage takes centre stage

Boeing and Airbus are outdoing each other with latest aircraft. Airlines are doing same, acquiring not only state-of the art airplanes, but spending billions of dollars to reconfigure their upper class cabins, writes WOLE SHADARE who witnessed Virgin Atlantic’s mock-ups cabin layout at its headquarters in Crawley, London

The acquisition

Longer hull, modified wings, new Rolls-Royce Trent-XWB engines and more robust systems. They are what Airbus plan to deliver to Virgin Atlantic in the summer. The game is afoot on the trans-Atlantic with Virgin Atlantic following in the footsteps of British Airways and unveiling the new cabin to feature on its Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.

The dual unveilings set the scene for some interesting rivalry between the two British competitors, as they introduce the A350 to their fleet later this year.

Boeing, Airbus rivalry

According to the European manufacturer, the A350-1000 has what it takes to outdo the Boeing 777X. The new member of the Airbus’ wide-body family has a range of up to 7950 NM (15,000 km) and is seven meters longer than the A350-900 with 44 extra seats.

The A350 and the 787 aren’t direct competitors though. The A350 is a competitor to the 777-family of planes, particularly the new B777X launching in 2020. The passenger capacity and overall design of the A350 and 777X are meant to cater to similar customers.

It retains the distinctive, curving wingtips of the A350-900, but the A350-1000 is 23-feet longer with 4pc larger wings and an all-new, six-wheel main landing gear.

The competition between Airbus and Boeing has been characterised as a duopoly in the large jet airliner market since the 1990s. This resulted from a series of mergers within the global aerospace industry with Airbus beginning as a European consortium while the American Boeing absorbed its former arch-rival, MCDonnell Douglas in 1997.

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Duopoly

The global commercial aircraft market is dominated by two manufacturers, European conglomerate Airbus and Seattle-based aerospace giant Boeing. Their drive to secure market share is affecting everything from which aircraft you are on, to what routes you can choose from and how many passengers you share the cabin with. The rivalry between the two is shaping not just their own future but the air travel industry itself, driving innovative aircraft design, new buying patterns among airlines and expanded route maps that offer travellers more choice, flexibility and convenience.

While Airbus and Boeing are competing, undoing each order in aircraft making, airlines are using new planes as competitive edge to gain huge market share. They are deploying some of the best, newer airplanes to their route network.

Just last week, Virgin Atlantic Airways opened its doors to journalists across the globe, as it unveiled its new upper class cabin on 12 A350-1000 aircraft it had already acquired, which are to be deployed this summer.

The airline showed off mock-ups of the cabin layout pemultimate Monday at its headquarters in Crawley, south of London.

The airline has ditched its flying bar in favour of family-friendly sofas on a new fleet of Airbus SE A350 jetliners.

The loft lounge

The Loft lounge will feature a 32-inch television screen and bluetooth headphones, with passengers able to order food and drink, as they relax on the red leather seats. The long-time Virgin feature of a saloon area is gone, though, marking a departure for the airline credited with reviving the communal in-flight tipple.

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Virgin installed a cocktail counter for premium customers’ years after the concept’s 1970s heyday, and while a handful of other carriers followed its lead the bar has remained closely identified with an airline that sought to make its name by bringing back some of the glamour and excitement of flying.

Virgin’s revamped Upper Class cabin will also provide passengers with privacy screens and an 82-inch bed. The makeover comes weeks after IAG SA’s British Airways unveiled a private door for its business seats in the battle to lure well-heeled customers in a trans-Atlantic market that’s the most lucrative in the world for corporate travel.

The first of Virgin’s 12 A350-1000s is slated to link London Heathrow with New York’s John F. Kennedy International airport from August, with the rest of the fleet set for delivery through 2021.

Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will be receiving brand new A350-1000 aircraft this summer, and both have revealed new aircraft seating and cabins. Unlike British Airways, which kept their Club Suite reveal quite a modest affair, Virgin Atlantic has gone all-out in celebrating what will be a brand new cabin on their flagship aircraft.

 

Experience

I was invited to join them at The Base, their crew training facility in Crawley. They had a mock-up of the new cabin, which they will use to train crew safety and cabin service on the new aircraft and seats.

I was in “Boarding Group 3”, which meant I was one of the first people to get the tour of the new aircraft.

We were first shown a video introduced by Head of Customer Experience, Daniel Kerzner, explaining some of the design inspirations they took for the A350: Virgin has always been good at marketing itself and this video is no exception.

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This is a good marketing tactic for Virgin Atlantic, as I’m sure they’ll hope it will drive some upgrades and contribute to Virgin’s brand image.

The Loft replaces the bar area. It has a higher capacity than previously as well as allowing passengers to remain during turbulence, thanks to integrated lap belts.

The area is beautifully designed, and particular thought has been put into the lighting, which makes this feel more like a high-end hotel than a cabin bulkhead. There is even a gold-plated “chandelier”:

Lighting details also carry over into the new Upper Class Suite, which features in-seat customisable mood-lighting. This was only a crew-training model, and only two seats had some of the seat functionality that the full-product will have

I was very impressed by the textures, colours and lighting that Virgin has introduced into the new cabin. It feels a lot more like a hotel experience than a grey plastic aircraft cabin thanks to this, and is a big upgrade on current generation cabin interiors.

Last line

In all, not a few were impressed with Virgin’s new A350 cabin. From a design aesthetic, it seems to beat British Airways’ new Club Suite reveal, which seemed a bit grey and drab – although we have only seen it via VR. Of course, with Virgin’s privacy doors in Upper Class only closing half-way, it remains to be seen whether this is enough for privacy or whether it’s more of a gimmick.

 

Wole Shadare