Brussels Airlines is improving its business class and adding international premium economy seats onboard its Airbus A330 aircraft in what it calls a “boutique hotel in the air” experience.
At first glance, the Belgium national carrier’s new business class looks very much like its old business class.
But there are some crucial and subtle differences that substantially improve the onboard product, which remains Thompson Aero Seating’s Vantage product.
READ: Airlines offer rescue fares to thousands stranded by Wow Air collapse.
This isn’t Vantage XL, along the lines of SAS or Qantas. It’s regular Vantage, also seen on the airline’s Lufthansa Group stablemates, Swiss and Austrian, as well as numerous other airlines around the world.
Around a decade ago, Swiss was to be the launch customer for Vantage but was pipped to the post by Delta Air Lines, which uses it onboard its Boeing 767 aircraft.
READ our ratings for Brussel Airlines.
Unlike the others, Brussels Airlines installed Vantage in a puzzling configuration on its Airbus A330 aircraft.
Most airlines take Vantage in an alternating 2-2-1, 1-2-1 layout, which means that only two passengers in nine do not benefit from direct aisle access.
Brussels Airlines chose an alternating 1-1-1, 2-2-2 configuration, where four in nine passengers either have someone climbing over them to get to the aisle or need to do the climbing.
That changes with the new layout, which matches other A330 operators with the more spacious 2-2-1, 1-2-1 layout.
Not only does the layout improve, but Brussels Airlines and design partner JPA have taken the opportunity to invest in some of the passenger experience improvements that Thompson has created with Vantage over the years.
Most visible are the extended side tables in the “throne” and aisle-adjacent seats, which go some way to making the latter less unattractive compared with either the throne or the window-adjacent seats in the cabin.
One key criticism of Vantage is the amount of space available in the footwells.
Recent implementations of the product have added space here by moving the tray table so it folds down from a vertical storage spot to the side of the seat rather than sliding out from the footwell. Brussels Airlines has chosen this too, and it looks efficient.
The details are also attractive: a small cuboid lamp adds some indirect lighting in addition to the usual spot reading light, the inflight entertainment screens are pleasingly wide, storage is plentiful (including a new under-screen stowage box and side-bins), and the “tower of power” at shoulder level features power outlets plus a headphone holder alongside the headphone jacks.
The overall cabin theme is art nouveau, very appropriate for Brussels, but the execution feels a little uninspiring thanks to the cabin colors, which remain rather blue-grey-boring, despite the addition of some warmer beige surfaces.
A few silvery swirls on the bulkhead are all very well, but there’s more than enough thermoplastic in the cabin for this to have been a little stronger on seat shells too.
I like the idea of the self-service bar area at doors 2, especially the attractive overhead light. But the walls of dark grey, industrial galley inserts feel like a missed opportunity. Is there no texture or color that could have been given to this space?
The airline and its partners have also been smart to include the integrated bulkhead monument at the front of the cabin, which saves space by tucking the feet of the front-row passenger into the bulkhead.
Passengers like these seats because the footwells are larger, while airlines like them because they can save around fifty centimetres of cabin footprint.
All in all, the bones of the cabin are a real upgrade — it’s just a little bit of a shame that the clever idea of adding some art nouveau flair wasn’t executed a little more boldly.
