British Airways reveals new economy seat redesign

New World Traveller (economy) onboard 747 While several airlines, such as Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Singapore Airlines and Japan Airlines, have phased out the Boeing 747, British Airways believe the 747 holds a special place in the heart of its customers.

British Airways' aircraft cabin interiors manager, said: "Our customers love our new aircraft, but the 747s hold a special place in their heart, so we're delighted to have been able to revamp these aircraft. They'll look and feel like new now, with enhanced comfort, technology and design." The upgrade will include a refreshed cabin interior, comfortable foam seats with new seat covers matching those in the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner (the newest aircraft in BA's fleet), and a new, “state-of-the-art” in-flight entertainment system - Panasonic’s Avionic's eX3, the company’s most advanced in-flight entertainment system. The new entertainment system will give customers a choice of over 1,300 hours of entertainment, including more than 130 movies and 400 TV programmes on larger, hi-resolution, ‘tablet-like’ touch screens.

, British Airways' in-flight entertainment and technology manager, said: "We know that in-flight entertainment is really important to our customers – being able to relax and watch a film or listen to music helps customers to pass the time enjoyably - so by installing this state-of-the-art equipment we will be able to deliver even more programming on board."

New World Traveller Plus (premium economy) onboard 747 Passnegrs in World Traveller Plus will now also have access to a universal power socket at every seat, while those is World Traveller will have their own personal USB socket to power phones and tablets. The new cabin configuration will house 16 additional Club World (business class) seats, meaning more capacity on key transatlantic routes. The first British Airways' upgraded Boeing 747s took to the skies from Heathrow to New York JFK last week. The upgraded aircraft will also be operated on selected flights to Chicago, Lagos in Nigeria, Dubai, Boston, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, with further routes to be added in summer 2016.