Turkish Airways is certainly one of my favourite airline manufacturers, and likewise provides the most effective enterprise class experiences on the earth. That’s even though Turkish doesn’t have a very good enterprise class laborious product, no less than not with any consistency. Happily that’s anticipated to alter subsequent yr, and we now have some extra particulars about what we will count on.
Turkish Airways plans new 777 & A350 enterprise class
Govt Traveller has some clues on a brand new enterprise class product that Turkish intends to introduce, primarily based on an interview with the corporate’s chairman. The brand new product might be branded as “Crystal,” and is predicted to be unveiled on Could 28, 2024, on the Plane Interiors Expo in Hamburg, and can then be launched as of 2025:
- The brand new enterprise class product will initially be retrofitted on all present Boeing 777-300ERs; the airline has 33 of those plane in its fleet, and so they’re a median of round 9 years previous, in order that they nonetheless have fairly a little bit of life left in them
- Then the plan can be to put in the brand new enterprise class product on Airbus A350-1000s which can be delivered as of 2026, as a part of Turkish’s latest Airbus plane order
- Nevertheless, there are not any agency plans to retrofit this product on present Boeing 787-9s or Airbus A350-900s, as these planes already function direct aisle entry from all enterprise class seats
The brand new seats are anticipated to be in a 1-2-1 configuration, with every seat that includes a sliding door, in addition to trendy tech. On the 777-300ERs, it’s anticipated that enterprise class could have a complete of 44 seats. Turkish gained’t be utilizing one of many fashionable “generic” seats from a serious present producer, however moderately the seat is being created in-house, by the Turkish Cabin Inside crew, so will probably be a product you gained’t discover on some other airline.
For context, Turkish’s present Boeing 777 enterprise class consists of a complete of 49 totally flat seats, unfold throughout seven rows, in a 2-3-2 configuration.
I can’t assist however be curious how completely different this new product might be from Turkish’s A350 enterprise class accessible on jets that have been meant for Aeroflot. These function enterprise class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration with doorways and good tech. It clearly gained’t be precisely the identical product, since that’s the Collins Aerospace Horizon seat.
Turkish Airways already had a change of coronary heart
What’s attention-grabbing right here is that final July, Govt Traveller additionally had the news about Turkish Airways’ new enterprise class product, additionally primarily based on an interview with the corporate’s chairman. However on the time he was promising one thing utterly completely different:
- He defined the brand new enterprise class product would keep a 2-3-2 configuration, whereas nonetheless providing direct aisle entry and full privateness
- He defined that the rationale for this was as a result of he didn’t need to surrender cabin density, and claimed that the airline might keep 49 seats within the cabin whereas providing these further facilities with a customized product
- He claimed the airline was within the means of getting that new seat licensed, suggesting the airline had already designed the seat
I expressed skepticism about that on the time. There’s merely no manner you’ll be able to have a 2-3-2 configuration with direct aisle entry whereas sustaining the density of Turkish’s present enterprise class. The closest factor to that structure can be an Apex Suites enterprise class product, and that’s one of many least dense enterprise class merchandise on the market.
So on the time I questioned how that was potential, and I assume my skepticism was for good purpose. Now the airline goes for a 1-2-1 configuration with diminished density, due to course that’s simply what’s wanted to make a aggressive product work these days. I’m simply confused by the confusion of Turkish Airways’ chairman.
Backside line
Turkish Airways plans to introduce a brand new Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 enterprise class product. This can carry “Crystal” branding, and might be retrofitted on 777s as of 2025, and might be put in on newly delivered A350s as of 2026.
The brand new product must be in a 1-2-1 configuration, with direct aisle entry and privateness at every seat. This could actually take the Turkish enterprise class expertise to the subsequent degree, and I can’t wait to study extra particulars.
What do you make of Turkish Airways’ new enterprise class plans?
