Iberia upgrades its new Airbus A350 business class seat

By David Flynn, January 30 2018
Iberia upgrades its new Airbus A350 business class seat

Iberia's new Airbus A350 jets will see the British Airways sibling and Oneworld member revisit its international business class

At first glance, and indeed second glance, the seats look identical to those of the Spanish flag-carrier's Airbus A330 and A340 fleet.

However, this version of the familiar Stelia Solstys III design has been tweaked to be slightly wider, at 58cm across compared to 52.5cm on the A330, along with wider footrests and a larger drop-down aisle panel in the seat's shell.

There's also more space at the seat for storing your carry-on kit, plus a larger HD video screen – upsized from 15.4 inches to 18 inches.

Iberia's Airbus A350s will have 31 business class seats in this staggered 1-2-1 layout, along with high-speed satellite Internet connectivity.

The drab colours in this mockup of Iberia's A350 business class cabin don't do justice to the real thing, which will take wing in June 2018 ahead of the launch of direct flights to New York from August.

Iberia has 16 A350s on order, which will replace its older Airbus A340s through to 2020 along with new Airbus A330 jets.

David

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

28 Jul 2016

Total posts 105

This only makes more sense that BA would choose this seat to have a consistent experience across the IAG group.

29 Mar 2014

Total posts 78

It's rumored BA's new biz is a staggered config like this as well. Seems IAG wants to make their flagship products more consistent.


I do like that this is BA's new biz. It essentially forces them to step up their first class product, otherwise they won't sell.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

27 Jun 2013

Total posts 40

Did the Iberia A330 J last year. Very nice seat and great Spanish tapas plates!


These seats do look very similar to the untrained eye

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

16 Jan 2018

Total posts 129

Hopefully BA moves towards a design like this... for an airline that pioneered the flat bed seat they’ve done very little when it came to innovating it, and just did incremental upgrades across their fleet.


Hard to believe that in this day and age an airline squeezes in 8 across and expects it to be a leading design! Their first class design is ‘on par’ with what Kuwait Airlines brands their first class...


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