The ‘super first class’ suite with a double bed, private bathroom

Etihad’s three-room Residence suite on its Airbus A380 remains a game-changer for first class travel, redefining notions of sky-high luxury on board a commercial jetliner.

More than just one private space, the Residence provided high flyers with a separate living room, bedroom and bathroom (with its own shower, naturally).

And while the A380 is no longer being built, it’s now possible for any airline to offer an extravagent better-than-first class experience – no superjumbo required.

This is the En Suite: a ‘super first’ concept from London’s Factorydesign, which also lent its expertise to shaping Etihad’s A380 first class cabin.

En Suite carves a niche between first class suites and Etihad's Residence.

In its default configuration, En Suite provides an oversized suite for two passengers travelling together.

With full-height walls, the spacious En Suite is a private retreat.

A pair of wide armchair-style seats converts into a double bed, with full height walls transforming this into a truly personal space for living, relaxing, dining and sleeping.

Suite dreams become sweet dreams in an extra-wide double bed.

The En Suite’s luxury travel trump card, however, is the inclusion of a spacious private bathroom.

“Currently, with the exception of Etihad’s The Residence, even the most privileged premium class travellers are required to share a toilet,” Factorydesign points out.

“Can you imagine that being acceptable in any Four Seasons or Shangri-La Hotel?”

However, for airlines which are a little less adventurous or who needs to sweat their Excel spreadsheet a little harder, Factorydesign can also split En Suite into a pair of self-contained first class suites.

The En Suite footprint can also be configured as two individual first class suites.

Each has its own aisle entry and shared use of the bathroom – “creating a stunning experience for the passenger while, pragmatically, satisfying the airline’s commercial ambitions,” the firm says.

Even as a two-suite design, passengers can still use the private bathroom.

No airlines have yet signed up for the En Suite, but as business class continues to advance and crowd into the once-exclusive domain of first class, it’s not hard to imagine that this mini-Residence taking pride of place as the halo product on an Airbus A350 or Boeing 777X.