Virgin Hired an Apple Alum to Redesign Its Planes—The Result Is the New A350
by MARK ELLWOOD
April 9, 2019
Say hello to roomier seats, but farewell to that signature bar.
On Monday, Virgin Atlantic transformed its global HQ in Crawley, just south of London, into a full-blown replica of its in-flight experience. Cabin crew doled out glasses of champagne to visitors, who were then ushered into a designated departure lounge. From there, they headed onto the ultimate short-haul hop: A 20-minute journey in one of Virgin’s training modules, installed in the space to teach its crew how to handle the interiors of its newest plane, the A350.
The splashy bash was a coming-out—or rather, a taking-off—party for the four-year long project, which was trailed last year by a minor economy cabin refresh—the first such update in 10 years. The U.K.-based carrier has a dozen of the fuel-efficient, more eco-friendly planes on order, with the first four due to enter service later this summer. New Yorkers (and Brits) will be the first to experience the planes first-hand; Virgin expects to deploy them from London to Atlanta and Los Angeles at a later, yet-to-be-announced date.
So what should we expect from the A350? Economy seats are robust and simple, though three dozen of them will have 34 inches of legroom—the best back-of-bus kneespace among its long-haul rivals. Custom-designed seats in Premium retain the leather finish of the current cabin, adding larger TV screens and integrated footrests. The greatest changes are in the Upper Class cabin, where the pod-like Dream Suites now have privacy-enhancing screens, extra-roomy seats, and that same purple-heavy mood-lighting once synonymous with Virgin America.
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A rendering of the A350's Premium seats.
Courtesy Virgin
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