British Airways are introducing domestic business class commencing on 1 April 2017. This is a huge event as before now domestic routes were economy class only.
Many other airlines offer a domestic business class product. All of the airlines in the USA worth their salt have it, though it’s called first class. Qantas in Australia has it. It is a standard on decent airlines.
Domestic Business Class
The product will be called Club Europe and promises to be a revolution for domestic business travellers. British Airways offers Club Europe – the short haul business class product – on all flights in Europe. Some of these have sector lengths that are less than an hour in the air yet a full service is offered.
Within the UK, there are flights that are well over an hour, such as those between London and Scotland so it makes sense offering the higher class of product for those willing to pay for it. The cabin and service will be the same as the existing Club Europe where the middle seat is converted to a table with complimentary catering.
Why Now?
Buy on board food arrived at British Airways in January. Domestically it means all food for all passengers had to be paid for and this causes issues with certain passengers.
Imagine arriving in London on a British Airways long haul flight in First Class or Club World. You then transfer to another British Airways flight domestically. You are then expected to pay for food and drink in seating that is the same as everyone else.
I would feel short changed if I had paid for an expensive ticket up front and then get no perks on my transfer.
Overall Thoughts
Bring on 1 April and let us hope it is not an April Fools joke! It will be excellent to be able to fly Club Europe domestically and this brings the domestic business traveller the same service as those flying to Europe. Long overdue in my book!
Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image via British Airways.
just curious … exactly how would 3x pricing for a guaranteed empty middle seat and 30″ legroom for 0:45-1:30 segments be “promises to be a revolution”
How do you figure 3x pricing? I’ve seen Club Europe for as little as £40 more per sector when I’ve been looking at flights. Regardless of that, pricing hasn’t been released as far as I can tell and I didn’t touch on that in the post, so I’m not sure where you’re coming from. Thanks for the comment!