Thai Airways New Business Class: What Do We Know?
- Konrad Tillman
- Apr 4
- 3 min read
Intro
When the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world, Thai Airways was an airline that looked worse for wear. Retiring a large part of its fleet and suffering extreme financial problems, the airline has had to reinvent itself.
Well, Thai Airways has come leaps and bounds in the past two years, especially as the tourism sector of Thailand is at an all-time high. This is to the point where the airline has placed an order for quite a few 787s and A321Neos which should be featuring a brand new business class...
Current State Of Business Class
While Thai Airways is my favorite airline in the world, the one area in which they have lacked is fleet consistency in business. On the 787-8 the airline offers 2-2-2 seating. On the couple of 787-9s they have, the airline offers a 1-2-1 seating in a reverse herringbone configuration, and then the 777s are a whole different story. The five 777-200s in service feature this dated but antique product:
And then finally, you have the 777-300 and A350. These seats are all pretty similar in a 1-2-1 configuration, but not cutting edge.
Something to note is that Thai Airways currently offers First Class on three jets serving London, Tokyo, and Osaka daily. While these are primarily in service to serve the King, there are no plans to reconfigure additional jets with First class which is a shame, since the product is VERY good.
The New Widebody Business Class
While details remain scarce at the time, Thai Airways has announced that the airline will be installing a brand new business class on their 777s and 787s. The only details we do know are that the seats will be in a reverse herringbone configuration, and the front row will be a "business class plus" product with additional foot space.
The two main potentials on the table are the Collins Aerospace Element seat, featured on the likes of the Starlux A350, and the Thompson Aero VantageNOVA seat.
While we obviously have no way of knowing which product Thai Airways is going with, I am going to go on a wild guess and say it is going to be the Thompson Aero seat for two reasons:
The Thompson Aero VantageNova seat is set to debut soon on an undisclosed airline, and it very well could be Thai Airways.
This seat is right in line with Thai Airways as a concept going forward. It's hard to understand my thought process, but I believe this will look better with their new purple and black branding. Something makes this product feel very Thai Airways-esque.
Something quick to note is that while Thai Airways will be installing premium economy on the 777s, passengers in economy won't be pleased to hear that the more spacious 3-3-3 configuration will now be turned into the more traditional 3-4-3 in modern aviation today.
The A321Neo
In addition to the brand spanking new widebody business class, Thai Airways will also be installing lie-flats seats on their A321Neos. In my opinion, the A321Neo is going to be a complete game-changer for Thai Airways, as it will most likely fly select routes to Central Asia, and Southeast Asia freeing up more widebodies for a large international expansion. To take matters further, I would expect to see Thai Airways expand its long-haul route network considerably in the next five years.
Anyway, I digress, Thai Airways has decided to install Thompson Aero Vantage seats going forward on their A321Neos. Seats will be laid out in a 2-2, 1-1 configuration, perfect for the Thai market. These seats are vastly similar to what you will find on Singapore Airlines and TAP on their narrowbodies and are relatively comfortable.
Final Thoughts
Thai Airways is coming leaps and bounds to rebound to the airline it once was. Beginning shortly (relatively in the grand scheme of things), Thai Airways plans to install a brand new business class almost fleet-wide on their 777s, 787s, and as far-reaching as their A321Neos. All things considered, I am excited to keep seeing Thai Airways evolve, and this launch takes the airline one step closer to the golden era of the airline.
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