From Polaris to The Loft, business class has never sounded so good

From Retreat Suites to The Room, airlines are resorting to inventive names for premium cabins to set them apart in the hyper-competitive world of aviation.

It’s no longer enough to simply book a “business class” seat on an airline.

In 2022, airlines are coming up with increasingly inventive names for their premium cabins and the products within them, in the fiercely competitive pursuit of high yield passengers.

On Japan Airlines, it’s the Sky Suites cabin, Qatar Airways tucks business class passengers behind sliding doors in QSuites, and Virgin Atlantic is rolling out its new Retreat Suites cabin featuring an eight-person space known as The Loft.

British Airways has the Club Suites and an even more lavish name for its premium economy cabin in “World Traveller Plus”.

On Delta Airlines, business class passengers recline in Delta One, United Airlines calls its premium cabin Polaris and on All Nippon Airways (ANA) it’s The Room.

Etihad Airways boasts Business Studios rather than mere seats in its Boeing 787-9s, Air New Zealand badges its premium cabin as Business Premier and travellers should ask for an upgrade to Royal Laurel on Eva Air.

United Airlines’ Polaris business class sticks to the accepted standard of a lie-flat bed with direct aisle access.

Editor-in-chief of Executive Traveller website David Flynn said the hypercompetitive nature of aviation meant airlines had to work hard to differentiate their business class product.

Creative names were one point of difference given what was on board tended to run to the same theme of a 1-2-1 seat configuration, lie-flat bed and plenty of personal space.

“I think of this as a ‘convergent evolution’ — all premium passengers have the same needs and of course no airline wants to be left behind,” said Mr Flynn.

“And while this baseline is wonderful for the traveller it becomes harder for airlines to stand out when you’re all flying variations on the same theme.”

In the event an airline rolled out a different feature, Delta One’s trailblazing “privacy door” for instance, others were quick to follow suit.

At last check, QSuites, Club Suites, Retreat Suites and JetBlue’s Mint Suites all offered doors, making them the new “must-have” for business class said Mr Flynn.

“Not all passengers love them – depending on the suite’s design a door can make you feel very enclosed, but they’re superb for overnight flights because they reduce distractions of aisle movement, noise and other interruptions that can disturb sleep,” he said.

Qatar Airways’ QSuite class boasts sliding privacy doors, complete with a “do not disturb” indicator.

Don’t Forget Travel Group director Andrew Sullivan said customers had become accustomed to 21st century business class features such as lie-flat beds and direct aisle access, and were generally not prepared to accept anything less for their money.

Clever names however were yet to cut through, with little “name recognition” for premium cabins beyond “business, premium economy and first”, he said.

“The only ones that clients do request by name are Qatar’s QSuites, and there’s some recognition of Air New Zealand’s sky lounge in economy,” said Mr Sullivan.

“The club lounges, polo suites, the residences haven’t really made an impact beyond passengers asking for that ‘big cool thing’. People don’t ask for them by name.”

With regard to the “next big thing” in business class travel, Mr Flynn said Finnair had broken ranks with the pack with a revolutionary sofa in the sky, in its A350 aircraft.

“It doesn’t recline, instead the passenger finds their own position for sitting, slouching and sleeping,” said Mr Flynn.

“It’s incredibly comfortable and only Finnair has it, which really helps the airline create that point of difference.”

Mr Sullivan said one thing airlines were yet to do was make much use of overhead space for passengers, suggesting a two-storey suite could be a possibility.

“Maybe they will add a chandelier,” he laughed.