Tangerine collaborates on BA ‘lounge in the sky’

British Airways is developing a range of comfort-based initiatives for its Club World service on longhaul flights to entice more business passengers.

Created by London product design group Tangerine and BA’s in-house product innovation team, “lounge in the sky” interiors will feature completely flat beds, a state-of-the-art multi-channel entertainment system with bigger screens and power for laptop computers, e-mail and fax.

Three other consultancies are working on the project. Drive Inc and Davis Associates are collaborating with Tangerine on hard products such as seating, while FutureBrand Davies Baron is developing seating fabrics and cabin interiors.

The new interiors are reported to be costing £200m and will be available on BA’s Boeing 747 and 777 fleets from early next year.

BA chief executive Bob Ayling says: “Innovation is the hallmark of all BA product design. This exciting concept is yet another first that will re-define business travel for our premium customers and set the pace for industry.”

The latest developments follow “flying beds” designed by Design Acumen for BA’s First class passengers three years ago. Future plans for the airline include improvements to its First, Club Europe and Concorde brands to be announced later this year.