Virgin Australia reveals business cabin overhaul

New luxury suites will take the fight to Qantas on flights to Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi.

Virgin is betting that the new business class seats will help it take a bigger slice of the lucrative corporate and government market.

Virgin Australia has unveiled its latest weapon in its battle against Qantas, a brand-new business class cabin that it hopes will lure high-spending customers to the airline.

The airline’s new international business class cabin is being rolled out on its refitted Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which are used for long haul flights from Australia to Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi.

Dubbed ‘The Business’, the new cabin is laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration, featuring 37 individual and private suites that convert into the length of a queen size bed at 80 inches.

The seats — which are identical to those already seen on Virgin’s domestic Airbus A330 services — feature fully flat beds, aisle access for all passengers and an 18 inch video screen.

The upgrade is accompanied by Luke Mangnan-designed food, fine wines and a Nespresso service designed to overcome the disadvantages of making coffee at altitude.

Virgin has also updated its Premium Economy cabin, which now features 24 seats with 19.5 inch seat width, nine inches of recline and an increased seat pitch of 41 inches.

All five of the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft are expected to be refitted by the third quarter of 2016.

Virgin is betting that the new business class seats will help it take a bigger slice of the lucrative corporate and government market.

That battle for high-paying customers will be particularly fierce on routes to the US, where Qantas has refocused its efforts with direct flights to San Francisco after a five-year absence from the route.

Competition remains fierce on flights from Australia to the US, particularly against the backdrop of a low Australian dollar, which has boosted US tourism to the region.

“With competition increasing from Australia to North America and the Middle East, we believe this will be the best business class on the Pacific, with the product also being introduced to Abu Dhabi later this year,” said Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti.

“We have seen customer satisfaction scores increasing to all-time highs after introducing ‘The Business’ domestically on transcontinental routes so we are confident that, with our new Boeing 777 business class cabin and refreshed premium cabin, Virgin Australia will be the number one choice for premium travellers.”