SAS has just revealed its photos of its new A321LR cabin. The transatlantic narrow body joins the carrier’s wide-body fleet in connecting the two continents, but trying to keep the same passenger experience touch-points across fundamentally different airframes was a difficult ask. While the airline sadly hasn’t been able to provide all aisle access, by using the same seat family, things should at least feel a little familiar.
At the front of the aircraft, there are seven rows in a forward facing staggered 2 x 2, 1 x 1 configuration thanks to SAS’s choice of the Thompson Vantage seat (the slightly narrower version of the Vantage XL that now graces its wide-body offering. Factorydesign once again has helped SAS bring their ambitions to life. “We designed their new Vantage BC cabin in collaboration with the SAS product team adding to our portfolio of work for them on their A330 BC and A350 Business Class, Welcome area, Business Class bar and Economy Snack Bar.”
Featuring a cooler, more sophisticated colour palette, these seats certainly mean business, with the ‘Throne’ seats in even rows 2, 4 and 6 being the hottest tickets thanks to their privacy and increased personal surface area. In total, 8 of the 22 seats are window seats that will involve having to climb over your partner to get to the aisle.
Interestingly behind the Business Class cabin sits a totally separate mini Premium Economy ‘SAS Plus’ Cabin, featuring the Collins Aerospace MiQ seat, with a similar trim and finish. This 12 seater cabin in a 2 x 2 configuration is perhaps one of the most intimate Premium Economy Transatlantic cabins, which – by sheer scale – will give a more premium service to those sat in it. This could be one of the hottest cabins across the Atlantic as long as the airline gets the price point right.
Behind these two cabins sits the economy cabin, which has a very grown up slate and black interior, featuring seats in a standard 3 x 3 configuration. By having a slightly smaller cabin means that the service, especially on the redeye flights back to Europe, should be a lot quicker.
This aircraft was meant to start flying last year on revenue flights across the Atlantic, but that had been delayed until just now, with a guest flight across the Atlantic to Dulles in a couple of days, but with an official launch from Copenhagen to both Washington Dulles and Boston as of late March 2022.
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