If there’s one thing about air travel that has always been certain, it’s that when your seat backs are in the upright position and tray tables stored, you will be facing in the same direction as the plane. Unlike trains and ships, this has always been a fundamental truth of air travel.
Alas, no more. In British Airways’ Club World cabin, pairs of side-by-side business class seats face each other – one looking forward and one backwards, which means that you can travel from here to there…backwards.
It’s a little unnerving at first. When I sit down in seat 18A on my flight from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi – having safely stored my iPad and other in-flight necessities in a handy drawer under the adjacent seat – I’m sitting almost face to face with my neighbour. A short, awkward conversation ensues about how cosy the arrangement is, then we turn and face away from each other, both pretending to be fascinated with something on the other side of the aircraft.
But it doesn’t matter much. The novelty of racing down the runway backwards and watching Heathrow and London grow smaller and eventually disappear behind the aircraft is enough to make me forget about my neighbour in an instant, and as soon as we’re in the air, the stewardess comes and raises the opaque glass divider that separates his chair from mine.
Happily, the rest of the flight is plain sailing. The space created between the window and the divider creates a very private, exclusive experience that feels something akin to having your own private suite (although I’m not sure I would feel quite as comfortable if I were in one of the seats in the centre of the aircraft). I’m in my own little bubble for most of the flight, except when thoughtful cabin crew, now equipped with iPads, peek in to see if I need anything.
The screen is only lowered for meal service, which includes a quintessentially British afternoon tea, complete with finger sandwiches, warm scones, clotted cream and jam, which was served 38,000 feet above Turkey.
I passed on the in-flight breakfast as I had already filled up on warm bacon rolls and fresh fruit at the Galleries Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5, where I also took advantage of a complimentary 20-minute neck and shoulder massage at the Elemis Travel Spa. There’s also a wine gallery and a work and entertainment zone, but it was far too early for the former and I don’t have time for the latter, what with the massage and all.
Back onboard, the partnership with Elemis continues in the in-flight amenity kits, which feature a range of products from the label, including hand and body moisturiser, lip balm and eye gel. The pyjamas and eye mask make settling into a comfortable sleep very easy indeed.
Everything is where you want it to be – there’s a power socket for your phone or laptop charger by your feet, a moveable desk/dining table that can be as near or far away as you please, a TV screen that folds out from the side of the adjacent seat, and a reading light over your shoulder that can be adjusted to suit your needs – bright for reading or dim for ambient dining perhaps.
A cunningly designed footrest can be manoeuvred into three different positions depending on how you are sitting. It acts as a handy foot-stool when you’re sitting up reading; a comfortable leg support when you have the chair in the ergonomic ‘Z’ position, which is ideal for watching movies or reading; or as the bottom half of the bed when you select sleep mode and the seat transforms into a fully-flat 1.98m bed that’s 63.5cms wide.
When the divider between my fellow passenger and I is lowered for landing, we greet each other like familiar acquaintances, bidding each other good morning and asking each other how we slept. He doesn’t ask but I know he wants to know what it was like to take off backwards, and I can tell he wants to swap seats for landing, but I’m staying put. I plan to conclude this very pleasant flight in the same way I began it – so for the first time in my life, I land in Abu Dhabi backwards.
THE IMPORTANT BIT
What: BA Club World
Route: London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi International Airport
Seat: 18A
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
