British Airways' new First – which took to the skies last month – touched down at King Abdul Aziz International Airport early Sunday morning before departing for the airline's £4.3 million Terminal 5 home at London Heathrow, said a press release issued Sunday. With stiff competition in the industry for premium passengers, the carrier's £100 million investment in its flagship brand is set to re-establish its position as a global premium airline. “The arrival of new First on the Saudi route demonstrates the enduring importance of this market to the airline. We are giving our local customers a taste of our flagship product and I'm sure they will find that every aspect of the cabin has been designed to provide a seamless end-to-end experience that is dedicated to exclusivity,” said Paolo De Renzis, British Airways' Area Commercial Manager, Middle East. ”We set the industry benchmark when we launched the world's first fully-flat bed for business customers in 2000, and the new First cabin is another step in maintaining our leadership as an innovative airline. I have personally seen the new First cabin fitted on the aircraft and it looks amazing. It is luxurious, classic, private and has great style. This is what our customers have told us that they want, including those we surveyed in the Saudi market. The new First cabin not only reinforces the exclusivity of our brand but sets a whole new standard in understated luxury and innovation in the skies,” added De Renzis. The service proved a resounding success on its inaugural flight to Chicago earlier this month with one customer reporting the fittings were reminiscent of a Bentley, while another compared the sleek new cabin to the luxury of the Orient Express. New key features of the cabin include a 60 percent wider bed at the shoulders; personal wardrobe; personal electronic blinds; a 15” in-flight entertainment screen; USB port, RCA jack and noise-cancelling headsets; fully integrated ambient and mood lighting; Anya Hindmarch washbag and amenities by D.R. Harris & Co. and a leather-bound writing table. Each individual suite has its own personal wardrobe, a leather-bound writing desk that converts into a dining table, a new 15” in-flight entertainment screen and a buddy seat to enable customers to dine together. The lighting and electronic blinds can be modified to reflect mood and time of day. A seat control unit replaces the switches to activate the bed and give the customer precision control over the seat position and pneumatic panels to support the head and lumbar positions.
