Why is European business class so rubbish?
Airlines love it, which is usually a pretty good sign that customers are being taken for a ride
You can picture it now. The high-definition television screen. The ultra-luxurious bedding. And, most of all, that apotheosis of late-modernity: the fully flat bed. Business class is not simply a more comfortable way of flying. It is an entirely different mode of transport. The problem is that not all business classes are made equal. Some do not even resemble business class at all.
There is a name for this phenomenon: European business class. Let’s say you wanted to fly one-way from London Heathrow to Nice on the evening of 1 August. British Airways is charging a significant premium to travel at the front of the plane: between two-and-a-half to three times more than economy. Still, you get what you pay for, right?
Well, not quite. On boarding the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737, you will receive an identical seat to those in economy, but with the middle seat blocked out. To be fair, that is a useful place to rest a drink. But given that humans are generally speaking longer than they are wide, it means no additional legroom or much in the way of comfort.
It is not like this everywhere. For instance, if you fly domestic business class in the United States (where it is called, unhelpfully, first class), you will receive a larger, more comfortable seat, akin to international premium economy. This is Delta’s offering:
It gets more galling. In Asia, regional business class often resembles what you might expect travelling long haul. This is Singapore Airlines’ regional 787-10 business class cabin:
British Airways is by no means an outlier. Every European carrier, with the notable exception of Turkish Airlines, offers some version of economy seating with the middle seats blocked out for intra-continental flights. They do this for one simple reason: it is tremendously convenient.
Flexibility is the key. The fact that each seat on the plane is identical means that airlines can ‘flex’ the number of ‘business class’ seats. If on a given flight, many more passengers book business class, the airline can easily push the curtain back a few rows. This is especially helpful given the different types of markets airlines serve. For example, business-heavy routes such as London City to Geneva will have a higher demand for business class travel than more leisure-oriented ones such as London Gatwick to Tenerife.
If there were ‘proper’ business class seats on board, not only would these take up precious real estate on the plane (and additional weight), they also mean the airline might miss out on revenue. Either because the seat goes unsold, or because more people were prepared to pay for business class, but were unable to purchase it. European business class is therefore a chief financial officer’s dream.
So the real question is, how do the airlines get away with this? The first point to make is that Europe is relatively small. I’m no 16th-century explorer, but it is not even a separate geological landmass. It is essentially a West Asian peninsula. To that end, the average flight time is a little under two hours.
Then there is the fact that many people flying European business class are connecting to or from long-haul flights, where they can expect a flat bed with all the trimmings. While others are flying on actual business, and are therefore not paying themselves for the ticket, and value the additional flexibility a business class ticket usually confers.
To be fair to the airlines, the benefits of business class extend beyond the seat itself. Passengers can expect fast-track security, access to the business class lounge, priority check-in and boarding, hot food, hard liquor and free checked baggage. Indeed, it is sometimes cheaper to pay for business class solely for the more generous luggage allowance, than it is to fly economy and pay directly for it. Meanwhile, those flying domestic US first class may get the better seat, but they usually do not receive automatic access to the lounge.
But let’s face it. Euro business class is rubbish. And the airlines can only get away with it because they are all at it.
Housekeeping: for my fellow aviation geeks, I was particularly pleased that today’s newsletter came to 747 words.
For competition reasons - the biggest airlines in Europe are Ryanair and Easyjet which don’t offer any business class. A proper seat would absorb too much space and not allow the airlines to compete on price with the LCC when not in demand. Many companies in Europe won’t pay for business on either now (or allow domestic flying).
Most of my flights were Europe ~ Far East and intra-Asia. I avoided European airlines like the plague using SQ and CX for long haul plus regional airlines as needed. Even regional PRC outfits were better than BA et al.