HARMONDSWORTH, England, January 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

British Airway's customers flying on a recent Boston flight were the first to experience the airline's very latest seats and cabins following the first complete refit of one of BA's Boeing 777-200s.

The aircraft was the first of 18 to be fitted with British Airways' recently launched First cabin, new World Traveller and World Traveller Plus cabins and the airline's latest Thales in-flight entertainment system.

The multi-million pound refurbishment gives the 18 Boeing 777-200s the same contemporary interiors as British Airways' six brand new Boeing 777-300ERs.

Frank van der Post, British Airways' managing director of brands and customer experience, said: "This exciting and ambitious refit now brings our 777s right up to date, with new interiors and the very latest inflight entertainment system.

"We have had fantastic customer reaction to our new fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs, which originally showcased our new cabins, and we know those who travel on these 18 aircraft will be equally impressed with our investment.

"Customers will be able to enjoy the very best travel experience British Airways has to offer, with more comfortable seats and brighter, more contemporary cabins."

Over the next five years British Airways will be investing more than £5bn in new aircraft, smarter cabins, elegant lounges, and new technologies to make life more comfortable in the air and on the ground.

It takes British Airways' Cardiff-based engineers, at the airline's Welsh maintenance base, approximately a month, or 5,700 man hours, to carefully remove a 777's old seats and interiors and replace them with the airline's very latest cabins.

Each aircraft will also have a staggering 13 kilometres of wiring removed and new fibre optic cables installed to power the new in-flight entertainment system.

New widescreens will be fitted in Club World and customers flying on these refitted Boeing 777-200s will also be able to experience the airline's sophisticated new First cabin.

New seats and cabins in World Traveller Plus and World Traveller, feature the latest cushioning technology and in-seat power sockets.

The Thales in-flight entertainment system offers over 700 hours of movies, TV and music options on demand; that's more than 230 TV programmes, 70 films and 400 CDs, providing customers with 50 per cent more choice on movies and doubling the range of TV and music options, as well as plug and play technology.

Each cabin also gets bigger, high-resolution widescreens: customers in World Traveller will be able to watch TV and films on 35 per cent larger video touchscreens (now 8.9 inches); in World Traveller Plus they are 60 per cent larger (now 10.6 inches); Club World widescreens increase by 16.3 per cent (now 12.1 inches) while the new First screens increase by 275 per cent (now 15.4 inches)

About British Airways:

British Airways plc offers a wide range of worldwide destinations, including holidays in Brussels, Maldives holidays, holidays in Boston, Venice holidays and Orlando holidays, as well as hotels, car rental with Avis and experiences. Customers can save time and money with ba.com when booking ATOL protected holiday packages, ATOL number is 5985. Passengers are offered added peace of mind to their holiday plans and the security of travelling with British Airways. British Airways plc constantly seeks to exceed customers' expectations, both in terms of the value for money and quality of the service provided.

Press Contact:
Michael Johnson
Waterside
PO Box 365
Harmondsworth
Middlesex
UB7 0GB
+44(0)2087385100
http://www.ba.com

SOURCE British Airways