British Airways' new First service touched down on Indian soil yesterday at Mumbai's CST at 11:10 on BA 199 before departing on the return flight the same day at 13:40 (local time) for the airline's £4.3 million Terminal 5 home at London Heathrow. This is the first time that the airline's Indian customers were able to experience the luxurious new service in India.
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 service has proved to be very popular since the 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.
Judy Jarvis, regional commercial manager for South Asia, said, "The arrival of new First on the London Heathrow to Mumbai route demonstrates the enduring importance of the Indian market to the British Airways. 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.
"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 our regular First passengers across India. 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."
New key features of the cabin include a 60 per cent 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.
A new premium service style has been developed for cabin crew to ensure world-class service for customers who can eat, sleep and work whenever they want to.
British Airways has been flying to India for 80 years and currently operates 45 flights a week from London Heathrow to five cities: Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
