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The British Airways First Class amenity kit, crockery and bedding improvements are now live

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British Airways officially launched its ‘soft’ improvements to First Class on Sunday, and they should be fully rolled out across the network by today.

SaturdayKid on Flyertalk posted some images, of which I have borrowed a couple.  You can see all of his images and some other feedback on Flyertalk here.

General feedback from a couple of HfP readers who are also BA crew is positive with customers being especially happy with the new noise cancelling headphones.  The loss of the Liberty amenity kits does seem to be felt, however, with the new Temperley ones not really measuring up in terms of style or bag quality.

Here is the new amenity kit, the new noise-cancelling headphones from Meridian and the new day blanket:

British Airways First Class improvements

Here is the new sleep suit, also from Temperley – male and female versions are available.  Apparently you can now mix and match the sizing of the top and bottom halves for the first time.

British Airways First Class improvements

Whilst not pictured, your hot towel now comes on a little glass tray!

There is also new crockery, cutlery and glassware.  Here are some official BA pictures:

British Airways First Class improvements

and

British Airways First Class improvements

The new teapot is also apparently very impressive!

There is also good feedback on the new bedding with praise for the high thread count.

New British Airways First Class food

A new menu has also been introduced.  Here is a sample selection for the main meal.

As you will see, canapes have returned, served with the initial drinks service:

Canapes

Shropshire blue cheese with spiced apple jelly and candied pecans, Kinglas smoked salmon with cream cheese and caviar, Cumbrian air-dried salami with sliced black olive, sun-blushed tomatoes and cornichon

Here is a current main meal menu:

Appetisers

Cured beef bresaola with tonnato dressing, anchovies, tomato, caper

Kidderton Ash goat’s cheese with hazelnuts, asparagus, raddish

Seared scallops with truffle pea puree, maple-cured gammon, pea shoots

Vichyssoise soup with Braddock Whites poached duck egg, potato salad

Seasonal mixed leaf salad with spicy lemon vinaigrette or creamy honey mustard dressing

Entrees (why has BA started using the word entree?)

Seared fillet of aged Herefordshire beef with caramelised caper butter, red wine jus, roasted vine-tomatoes, wild mushrooms, pine nuts

Seared fillet of halibut with Brixham crab bisque, preserved lemon, buttered samphire

Roasted breast of corn-fed free-range chicken with Winbirri Bacchus white wine, thyme and bread sauce

Ricotta black pepper ravioli with lovage pesto, charred leeks, black olives, red vein sorrel

All served with side orders of potato fondant with truffle salt, broccoli with almonds, glazed chantenay carrots

Cheese

Belton Farm Red Fox

Fourme d’Ambert

Double-Barrel Lincolnshire Poacher

Normandy Camembert

Desserts

Chocolate and orange delice with almond granola, sugared pistachios

Blueberry and nectarine charlotte

Vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce, raspberries

Chocolates by Lauden

The wine list and champagne list appears much as it was, which means you’re still getting bottles selling for £12.72 retail.  However, British Airways has added a cocktail list including mocktails.

All in all, it seems more like evolution than revolution although there is no doubt that the overall standard has improved.  I look forward to trying it out at some point.


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Comments (151)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Alex W says:

    Ooh, I do love a cornichon. Important question is – does the new sleeper suit have any pockets??

  • Adam says:

    Just flew back from JNB in first and must admit I was very impressed, one thing I did notice was that the crew were still trying to find their way around the new menu.

  • Mark says:

    Will be trying this out in a few weeks. Can’t wait!

  • Young L says:

    Just arrived from Tokyo, menu was impressive, wagyu steak and Laurent-Pierre champagne. Bedding very comfortable, too. We only got top pajama, no bottom, and no slippers either, maybe because this is a day flight.

    • Alex says:

      Did you ask? You ‘should’ have gotten full pair of PJ’s (and slippers) on request

  • Novice says:

    O/T but recently I had a first class flight with lufthansa and although everything else was good, I couldn’t help but think airlines are really missing the point about one thing;
    Is it just me or does anyone else think for the price we are charged, we deserve better and bigger toilets.

    I fly business much more. First is a treat for myself. And most of my flights are paid for by myself so I do get annoyed that everyone is always moaning about other things and nobody ever talks about toilets which are important on 13 hrs flight.

    Maybe I just travel too far.

    • Mark2 says:

      +1

      • David says:

        What are you hoping for? Provided it’s clean, has some soap and everything works, I’m not sure there’s much further enjoyment to be gained from a toilet. I enjoy the novelty value of the window on an A350, but even that’s worn off after a couple of flights. If they’re going to invest in anything, I’d rather it were in the main cabin.

        Are you hoping for a Japanese-style automated, seat-warmed, musical washer-dryer?!

        • Shoestring says:

          Has anybody else experienced the new ‘squeezed loo’ in BA Europe down the back?, no idea of the plane (sorry) but it’s the one where they reconfigured, took out food trolley storage and put in an extra couple of rows of Economy seats & a couple of slimmed down loos against the back wall.

          The loo on the right is not so teeny tiny small, but the one in the middle – it also has a cabin crew jump seat bolted onto the door – is so tight that I found it a bit difficult to turn around without banging into the sides. Genghis wouldn’t stand a chance. There’s a teensy basin to wash your hands, smaller than you’d find in an on-board coach loo.

          Then try finding the litter disposal. It was impossible, nothing obviously marked, I was trying everything with a likely looking catch on it, no dice. I *did* find it after nearly 2 minutes, it’s a sort of car ash tray sized thing at the back left, which my hand tissue nearly filled up, you’d be better off just flushing it down the loo.

        • Novice says:

          Its not about enjoyment.

          I suffer from claustrophobia and obsessive compulsive disorder for washing hands.

          The washbasin is usually so small that it’s hard to wash hands satisfactorily.

          Then imagine a long flight where you want to brush teeth and wash face. Water pressure socks.

          For a flight you pay thousands out of your own pocket it is just not good enough.

          I’m a vegetarian but I never complain about the crap food options I get. To me having a good, clean and big washbasin is more important.

        • Evan says:

          I’m not trying to be mean Novice but it does sound as though your needs are a bit specific. I accept that it can be difficult to change clothes in the loo – cat swingingwise etc. Otherwise for most folks it is just a loo….

        • Novice says:

          @Evan
          Yes. They can seem specific needs if the vast majority of world population doesn’t care a toss about cleanliness.

          I am well aware of the fact that washing hands can seem like a chore to many.

          But if it was free or I was travelling on someone else’s money than I guess I shouldn’t complain.

          However I pay for my travel so as everyone else I have a right to complain.

        • SimonW says:

          What do you call a claustrophobic, vegetarian with OCD ??

        • Novice says:

          A sane person in an insane world

          😁

        • SimonW says:

          Hahaha. Well played !!

        • Novice says:

          I’m actually a pescetarian but have found people don’t understand that so I stick with vege…

          Lol

        • Novice says:

          @SimonW
          I try…

        • ankomonkey says:

          @Novice, you are not alone. My OCD for clean hands requires that I sniff them regularly to assess cleanliness. Malodour=need to wash. Clean odour feels amazing.

          And your tissue answer was exactly what was going through my mind when I read the question you were answering.

        • Lady London says:

          Have you been in the upstairs toilets o SQ or QR? I think you’d change your mind then. Makes a big difference.

        • Alex Sm says:

          Norwegian loos are the same! So scary!

          But @Shoestring – you now made me doubt… was that you wearing a yellow shirt at the Xmas party last year or was it @Genghis?

    • marcw says:

      I just avoid the toilet at all if I can – can’t recall the last time I visited the toilet in intra-EU flights…

      • Shoestring says:

        bit tricky if you’ve been caning it in the lounge…

      • Novice says:

        I try my best to never go in any toilet as well but it’s hard going if the flight is over 10 hrs…

        • Michael says:

          What is so scary about the toilet?

        • SimonW says:

          More to the point, how do you undo the lock and open the door after you have washed your hands?? OR do you then have to go to another toilet and start again ?

        • Novice says:

          Nah…

          Just use tissue 😁

        • Charlieface says:

          I try to avoid toilets as well although going once every day or two is usually advisable 🙂

      • Michael says:

        haha simon that’s hilarious.

    • MrHandBaggageOnly says:

      @Novice, I agree with this 100%. It really wouldn’t take much more space to make toilet areas larger and allow more comfort. I am always surprised that the facilities at the front seem no larger than those at the back. Obviously you can tell I’ve never used the Emirates bathroom on the A380 that appears, in the pictures at least, to give the sort of space some us clearly desire!

      More space in bathrooms on-board would make me choose one carrier above the other, much more than food, drink or entertainment.

      • Novice says:

        Amen to that…

        • Novice says:

          A lot of commenters who are saying end of day it’s a toilet…

          Imagine paying for a suite in a good hotel, you walk in bed looks good, other stuff looks good, their reception/lobby look great, restaurants are good.

          Then you enter the bathroom and it’s worse than premier Inn, I think your reaction might be different.

          But it’s only a loo…what’s the problem?
          😁

        • marcw says:

          I´m sorry @Novice… you cannot compare hotel to airline industry. There´s no points in making that comparison: a plane is a plane – the service/product is more or less the same. Airlines have tried to differentiate from others offering more stufff, but they all have failed. It´s not like the hotel industry, where you have rooms that charge 15 GBP per night, but the next doorstep you have a hotel that charges 1.500 GBP a night. A plane is just a plane, is a mean of transport, to get from A to B.

          If you have issues then avoid planes at all and stay at home.

      • marcw says:

        There is some inconsistency in your final statement. You say you would choose one carrier above other if toilets were bigger. Now it turns out you´ve never travelled on QR/EK or Etihad…. so it doesn´t make sense. Sorry.

        • Novice says:

          No marcw I didn’t say anything about which airlines I have used…

          And I haven’t used all obviously.

          I was just saying about my recent experience in lufty first class…

          Toilets will never stop me travelling. My ocd isn’t that bad. I was just pointing out my frustration that ppl should also expect better toilets if they are forking out thousands.

        • Shoestring says:

          Don’t mention forks!

          Each fork in its slot in the drawer. Line them up. Big ones to the right, small ones to the left, make sure they are all facing the same way. Do the same with all the spoons and knives.

          Put them all back in the dishwasher a second time in case they got some bacteria from the fresh air – there’s a damn black cat skulking around. Plenty to answer for, that damn cat.

          Count them. Is there one missing? Who has my missing teaspoon? Count them again. Count them a third time. Where is that teaspoon? I won’t sleep tonight.

          Oh dear, they’re looking grubby. I raise one to my nose for the smell test. Nope – it’s dishwasher time again, sod the expense, a dishwasher tab is only 10p & I don’t want cholera or diphtheria, do I?

        • Novice says:

          Also sometimes it doesn’t make sense using middle eastern carriers because it would be stupid to add so many hours when flying western destinations from UK.

          I travel depending on which country I want to go/tour. I am not travelling for work or deals.

          Points are a bonus and a hobby. I’d be travelling even without this.

          This is a place to discuss, what can be improved on planes and recently I’ve found toilets seem to be least improved space on the airlines I have travelled.

          I’m fairly young so I have a long way to go before I can say I’ve sat on all.

          QATAR had a decent toilet last time I sat with them.

        • Novice says:

          @shoestring I can take someone poking fun at an actual health condition. But next time you might want to think about it before you mock someone because it’s easy doing it when it doesn’t affect oneself but what would you say if someone mocked you…

        • Shoestring says:

          I would say: bring it on. People have done that all my life and I think taking the rise out of people because of any peculiarity or big nose feature they might have is part of the human condition. Look at any caricature cartoon of politicians – what do the cartoonists pick out? The unremarkable arms or the scrawny neck/ crazy eyes/ bald head?

        • Novice says:

          @shoestring
          Why are you so into arguing…

          I already said I’m pretty young. I’m sure you can probably deliver all manners of put downs to me.

          I rarely comment here. So, its not nice when a person gives their opinion and a lot of commenters start telling me how to manage my ocd or stay at home.

          It seems like you guys who comment here all the time want some sort of monopoly on this discussion.

          Well your welcome to it…

        • Crafty says:

          I agree with Novice. I flew Cathay Pacific the other day, and being in PE, the business class toilets were by far the closest, so I used those. I was surprised how poky they were. If you pay more you expect something better. I’m surprised everyone else disagrees.

          Harry, you should delete your forks comment, that’s ridiculous and unacceptable.

        • ankomonkey says:

          In response to Shoestring says: 2 April 2019 at 20:51, I have a patent on sniffing to assess cleanliness. I hope you’ll be paying me some royalties for use of my technique on your forks. I don’t accept Avios, but do accept VS, Marriott, Hilton or Amex MR 😉

  • HM says:

    An entree is a starter not a main

    • Matt says:

      No entree is a main course.

    • Lady London says:

      Not in the US it’s not. The Americans say entree for main course. Traditionally in Britain the entree is not the main course it’s a starter.i have no idea why an airline that claims it’s British would adopt this American usage.

      • Alex Sm says:

        Let’s start a petition!

      • Crafty says:

        It’s not “traditionally”, it’s a French word, Americans are simply wrong in this case.

  • Taylor says:

    I’s it cheese or deserts or both? Yes, im greedy.

    • Nick_C says:

      And if you can have both, which do you have first?

      • Taylor says:

        Cheese after desert

        I think the French do it the other way round?

  • Tilly says:

    I look forward to our F flight to HND in September. We really enjoyed our first F last year so look forward to sampling the new soft product. I hope there’s an improvement on the low lactose special meal. I am convinced they serve me the same in F as they do in J, just on a different plate – un-seasoned plain dry chicken.

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