The Chinese flag-carrier, Air China, has placed orders for 15 Airbus A350 aircraft scheduled for delivery from 2022 onwards. These jets will introduce a new business class suite called CL6720, designed by Recaro. Notably, each of the staggered business class seats will feature a contemporary sliding privacy door for enhanced passenger comfort and privacy.
Air China, a member of the Star Alliance, plans to expand its Airbus A350-900 fleet by doubling its size in the coming years. The second wave of deliveries is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022, increasing the total number of A350-900s to 30. Despite having the option to switch some orders to the longer-range A350-1000, the airline has decided to stick with the A350-900s to maintain fleet standardization.
The new A350s will feature a distinct and advanced business class seat, the Recaro CL6720, which Air China will be the worldwide launch customer for. This seat upgrade is likely to set a new standard for business class comfort and is anticipated to be adopted by more airlines in the near future.
The recently introduced Air China A350 business class suite offers passengers a sense of privacy with its high walls, creating a cocoon-like environment. Unlike some other airlines, Air China has not incorporated sliding privacy doors into the design, but the suite still provides a generous amount of personal living space, especially on the airline’s busiest routes. Additionally, the seats are fully lie-flat, ensuring a comfortable rest during the flight.
According to Recaro, the CL6720 business class seat’s lightweight structure is designed to significantly reduce fuel costs and lower the carbon footprint for airlines. Air China plans to customize the seat based on Recaro’s platform design, with a strong emphasis on enhancing comfort and optimizing functionality. Recaro’s previous CL6710 version has already been adopted by various airlines, including China Southern’s Airbus A350s, Airbus A330s operated by TAP Portugal and Azul, as well as El Al’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
The CL6720 ‘mini-suite’ boasts additional features such as ambient LED lighting, a spacious 1.98m (78″) bed with premium foam technology for added comfort, a six-way adjustable headrest, and refined seat adjustment mechanisms that ensure smooth and seamless adjustments at every point.
Air China’s initial 15 A350s, in service since 2018, primarily operate on premium high-traffic domestic routes within mainland China and international flights to destinations such as London, Milan, Frankfurt, and Munich.
