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Look at this picture...what do you see?
You would be forgiven for thinking that this was one of any number of LCC's operating a conventional 3-3 operation with minimal legroom.
But no, this is what counts for short haul, intra-Europe business class on many airlines. This is BA Club Europe, in the front "J" cabin of an Airbus A319. I took this flight last week after spending a couple of days in London.
To be fair, London Gatwick to Barcelona is a 2 hour flight, and what they do is that they block off the middle seat in each row, so that this is effectively a 2-2 config.
But legroom is still firmly in LCC territory, and the overall impression is of Y with an empty seat in between.
I was in the aisle. My seatmate in the window seat had just flown into London from San Francisco in long haul J, and this was his first intra-Europe J experience. He was underwhelmed by the hard product, to say the least. On his iPhone, he was on video chat with his wife and kid prior to doors closing, and he swivelled his camera around at this seat. "This is BA Business Class!" he described to his incredulous family. I'm not sure if they believed him...
But all was not lost, I told him...at least the food would be decent (At least that was my recollection, either from a previous flight, or from peeking through the curtain into the J cabin from Y, where I spend most of my time...).
You would be forgiven for thinking that this was one of any number of LCC's operating a conventional 3-3 operation with minimal legroom.
But no, this is what counts for short haul, intra-Europe business class on many airlines. This is BA Club Europe, in the front "J" cabin of an Airbus A319. I took this flight last week after spending a couple of days in London.
To be fair, London Gatwick to Barcelona is a 2 hour flight, and what they do is that they block off the middle seat in each row, so that this is effectively a 2-2 config.
But legroom is still firmly in LCC territory, and the overall impression is of Y with an empty seat in between.
I was in the aisle. My seatmate in the window seat had just flown into London from San Francisco in long haul J, and this was his first intra-Europe J experience. He was underwhelmed by the hard product, to say the least. On his iPhone, he was on video chat with his wife and kid prior to doors closing, and he swivelled his camera around at this seat. "This is BA Business Class!" he described to his incredulous family. I'm not sure if they believed him...
But all was not lost, I told him...at least the food would be decent (At least that was my recollection, either from a previous flight, or from peeking through the curtain into the J cabin from Y, where I spend most of my time...).
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