British Airways' A350 Inaugural Flight

TravelPulse Canada was along for a ride this week as British Airways commenced their first North American long-haul service on their new A350 aircraft from Toronto. Wow what an aircraft. While it was not blatantly evident, we believe the new A350 may have been allocated to the Toronto route to go head to head with the Air Canada 787 Dreamliner service.

The new aircraft feature Club Suite, British Airways' latest generation business class seat, which offers customers direct-aisle access, doors for greater privacy and luxurious flat-bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. It boasts 40 per cent more storage, a vanity unit and mirror, WiFi, enviable 18.5-inch inflight entertainment screens, high definition gate-to-gate programming, and PC / USB power. The door itself is built out as sort of a hideaway, not something that is on hinges that swings open. Very discreet and vert tasteful.

Not only is the state-of-the-art A350 aircraft quieter than some of its predecessors, it also delivers environmental benefits such as a 25 per cent lower fuel burn which significantly reduces CO2 emissions.

Gerard McEvoy, VP Sales, North America, said: "We're thrilled to be launching our new A350 from Toronto, a city we've flown to and from for nearly 60 years. The A350 and our new Club Suite business class seat deliver new levels of sophistication, comfort and privacy, and we're proud to share this with our Canadian customers".

Travel Pulse Canada met with Duncan Robertson, Manager product development team, cabin interiors British Airways who is ultimately responsible for the design and integrations of the new club suite. He said " while the new Club Suites are not designed specifically for the A350, it was the first program we could align the development of the seat program with. The 777-200 are currently being retrofitted with the new Club Suites and will be deployed on the first triple seven on October 9. The A350 was the logical aircraft to roll out the new seats on. In total it took approximately two and half years.

Since British Airways took delivery earlier this year, the A350 has flown over 15,400 miles between London Heathrow and Madrid, completing 40 take-offs and landings to put the aircraft through its paces, test all aspects of its technical performance and to further familiarize the airline's crew with the service they will deliver. In addition to the short haul flying, the airline has also simulated a long-haul flight on the ground at London Heathrow.

Following the Toronto launch of British Airways' A350 on selected services, flights will commence to Tel Aviv and Bangalore later this year.

The arrival of the A350 is part of the airline's CA$10.5bn (£6.5bn) current investment program, and forms part of an exciting year for the airline as it celebrates its centenary. Other activities include the airline's BA 2119 program exploring the future of fuels, the customer experience of the future and the aviation careers in the next 100 years.

The airline claims the all new A350 promotes a feeling of well-being, space and calm due to its reduced noise levels, high ceilings and ambient lighting which is intended to compliment the time of day and outside light. Customers will leave their flight feeling rested thanks to higher levels of humidity and refreshed air as the cabin pressure is equivalent to an altitude of just 6,000 feet. There are also environmental benefits to flying on the state-of the-art A350 as 25 per cent lower fuel burn significantly reduces CO2 emissions.

We would have to agree.