With no less than 600 initiatives in almost all its areas of expertise, British Airways has embarked on an ambitious transformation programme. And costly... because the company intends to invest the considerable sum of 7 billion pounds (8.2 billion euros) to give a new face to the passenger experience. Travel classes, seats, lounges, website: the metamorphosis is widespread, and even "revolutionary" according to the airline's CEO Sean Doyle.
" We are on the road to a better BA for our employees and our customers, supported by a transformation programme that will see us invest 7 billion over the next two years to revolutionise our business" sums up Sean Doyle. He continues: " We will be taking delivery of new aircraft, introducing new cabins, improving our customer service, focusing on operational performance and addressing our environmental impact by reducing emissions and creating a culture of sustainability.We are also investing heavily in the development of a new ba.com website and application, and focusing on transforming our business and solving customer problems. ". A vast programme...
Notable in-flight developments include the introduction of new seats and new cabin interiors on board Airbus A320neo and A321neo who provide short mail of the company. The first class will also be given a new look, with the promise of a brand new, exclusive First suite. BA is planning a launch in late 2025-early 2026, with the refurbishment of the airline's A380s.
The transformation of British Airways will also be embodied in a new airport lounge concept. Business travellers will have the opportunity to discover a first representative of this later this year with the inauguration of the Dubaiairport, then to Miamiby 2025. At the same time, BA will be renovating its lounges in Lagos and Seattle.
The £7 billion investment also places a strong emphasis on technology. 100 million will be devoted to work on the machine learning and theartificial intelligence (IA) for all BA activities. Until we know what the practical applications will be, members of the British Airways Executive Club programme will have access to a service of free in-flight messaging in all classes of travel from 3 April. British Airways promises that this service will be available on all aircraft equipped with WiFi within two weeks of the roll-out date. In-flight communication will also cover exchanges between passengers and flight and ground staff. Microsoft has designed a brand new tool specifically for BA, which is presented as a novelty: an in-flight customer assistance solution using Wi-Fi to improve and speed up any problems that may arise during the flight. Last but not leastStill in the 'technology' category, British Airways is to overhaul its online showcases, website and mobile application. Personalisation will be the watchword of this digital transformation, the first advances of which are expected by the end of the year.
Finally, British Airways intends to continue investing to contain its environmental impact. The company's growing involvement in the SAF - which is part of the wider strategy pursued by the parent company IAG - reached a new milestone last week. IAG signed its largest ever contract for the purchase of SAF with Twelve. Twelve will supply the group's five airlines with e-SAF, a first in Europe. This agreement should enable the use of SAF to be increased still further, with a view to achieving a target of 10% by 2030, the company points out.
