Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Inside the entrance to Tangerine, a small design agency in Southwark, south London sits a historic object. It is an example of the first lie-flat business-class airline seat, introduced by British Airways 25 years ago, an innovation that was revolutionary at the time but is now commonplace.Aviation has moved on and BA, which once called itself \u201cthe world\u2019s favourite airline\u201d needs to regain its halo. The airline is hoping to improve service quality and restore prestige with a \u00a37bn investment programme. Much rests on a tangible symbol of its commitment to luxury: a new seat for first-class passengers on some routes, which was also designed by Tangerine.The new BA suite has a wide seat that converts to a 2 metre-long bed, enclosed behind a curved wall with a recessed wardrobe to hang clothes and store a wheel-on suitcase. The suite, which will roll out on its Airbus A380 aircraft next year, was engineered and is being made by Collins Aerospace in Northern Ireland, with leather and fabrics from various UK suppliers.BA is not alone in investing more in first-class travel and joining the \u201cseat-to-suite\u201d offer to its wealthiest customers pioneered by Gulf airlines such as Emirates. Air France last week unveiled its new first-class suite called La Premi\u00e8re, which extends for five windows, with an armchair and a chaise longue that converts to a bed. There will be only four of them per cabin.BA\u2019s choice of design partner is confirmation of the influence in aircraft seat design of a cluster of London studios, including Tangerine, Acumen, PriestmanGoode and JPA Design. They compete with others such as Teague in the US and Design Investment in Switzerland, which worked on the Air France suite, but the UK is still the leader in this curious business.That might reflect a British affinity for folding products, such as Brompton bicycles, and for tricky puzzles: aircraft seat design involves getting a lot into a small, curved space. \u201cSome countries are more flamboyant, but British design is incredibly ingenious,\u201d says Matt Round, Tangerine chief creative officer. London is also known for its design universities, notably the Royal College of Arts.But the city\u2019s geography and BA\u2019s role in the London to New York route is the crucial factor, particularly for business and first-class seating. Nearly double the number of premium travellers fly to and from London daily than New York or Paris (more than 300 BA flights were due to land at Heathrow on Friday, when a fire temporarily shut the airport for flights).BA gave a boost to agencies such as Tangerine and Acumen, which designed its first flatbed first-class seat 30 years ago. They are experienced in working with airlines, manufacturers and regulators, that is hard for new entrants to match. Seats not only have to be comfortable and luxurious but pass rigorous safety and crash tests.It is only when talking to aircraft seat designers, as I did recently at Tangerine, that one gets a sense of the intricacy of their task. The sliding door is placed well forward of the passenger to convey a feeling of privacy; the suitcase space in the wardrobe juts invisibly beneath the armrest of the seat; a fold-out table stows at 45 degrees to remain clear of a crucial air vent.First-class suites can cost more than \u00a3300,000 each to make and install, not counting the development costs: it is a big investment for a product that few customers will experience. But the halo effect is bright: Etihad\u2019s 2015 \u201cFlying Re-Imagined\u201d campaign for its \u201cThe Residence\u201d first-class cabin, partly designed by Acumen, changed its image.Will BA\u2019s new first-class suite have a similar impact to that of its Club World seat a quarter century ago? That is unlikely, given that those of some rivals, including Air France\u2019s La Premi\u00e8re, are already bigger and more luxurious. \u201cThis is a nice product that gets a lot of the basics right, not the world\u2019s best,\u201d says Ben Smithson, senior writer for The Points Guy, a travel guide.But it need not change the world this time. Gulf airlines had to push the limits of luxury to convince passengers to fly through their hubs, but a subtle suite with \u201cthoughtful British touches\u201d may be enough for BA. \u201cThis is about setting a stage for impeccable service, not having the widest seat,\u201d says Dan Flashman, the suite\u2019s lead designer.Meanwhile, the halo effect of premium flying benefits the UK\u2019s industrial design studios as well as airlines. Tangerine has now created seats for East Japan Railways\u2019 next Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka. London\u2019s design niche has travelled far.john.gapper@ft.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Inside the entrance to Tangerine, a small design agency in Southwark, south London sits a historic object. It is an example of the first lie-flat business-class<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":252145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-252144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":252146,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252144\/revisions\/252146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}