Virgin Australia Launches New, Redesigned Business Class And Premium Economy

Virgin Australia, the trans-Pacific airline that's part of the Virgin airline empire, officially launched an overhauled business class and premium economy at LAX last week after only seven years of operating flights between Australia and North America. The cabins, which will be installed on all of the airline's long-haul Boeing 777-300 fleet by September of 2016, take advantage of new developments in cabin design technology and style to keep the airline in stride with the competition in terms of international long haul product.

In business class, that means updating the seat configuration to adopt a reverse herringbone design, a layout that maximizes the packing fraction of the seats while still offering lie-flat beds for each passenger. The reverse herringbone layout also gives aisle access to each business class customer, a matter of great importance to many of the high maintenance travelers who often book premium airfare.

While airlines like American, Delta and United have also recently turned to the reverse herringbone design in a variety of configurations, Virgin Australia's design is a bit unique in that it uses slightly bigger TVs, slightly wider seats and premium materials in line with the Virgin brand.    Tangerine , a UK design agency that oversaw the design process, told The Australian Business Traveler that it used "a tapestry of different materials and textures.... to create a sumptuous cabin environment."

Qantas, the airline that competes most directly with Virgin Australia on its long haul routes, offers business class seats that are typically 21.5" wide while Virgin Australia's new product is 24" wide. Qantas, however, also operates some flights with international first class, an class of service typically above business.

Virgin Australia's premium economy cabin was also overhauled and featured at the LAX launch event last week. That cabin was upgraded to seats with a 41" seat pitch up from 38", though now the cabin only has 24 seats instead of 40. Competition in the international premium economy space has also been heating up over the last twelve months as airlines look to woo deeper-pocketed millennials that can't necessarily afford a full-fledged business class ticket. Later this year, Both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines plan to start offering a premium economy product on international routes.

Overhauls to the Virgin Australia fleet are already in place in three out of the five of the airline's 777-300 aircraft. By September of 2016, the fleet should be fully up to date.