Recategorising business suites into the mini-suite and maxi-suite

In the late 2010s, as the doored suite category of aircraft seating began to move backwards into business class from where it began in first class a decade previously, regulators began to discuss them as “mini-suites”. The “mini” here highlights, among other differences, the key visibility distinction between, say, a first class suite with doors and walls that any passing flight attendant would not be able to look over, and a business class suite where the walls and doors are low enough to give clear visibility.

As business class suites have evolved, it has become clear that some airlines are looking to differentiate based on the height of their suite walls and doors — and therefore privacy. After flying in most products on the market multiple times, and experiencing many others at manufacturer facilities and during trade shows, it’s also clear that there is a subset of higher-walled suites that offer a substantial amount more privacy for the passengers.

This extra privacy is mostly beneficial, but airlines do need to figure out how to design, and in some cases redesign, service patterns or modalities to avoid passengers feeling ignored or being startled by a flight attendant suddenly appearing over the walls or between the doors to ask if they need anything. These are, naturally, very much business class problems to have, but business class is after all the fundamental economic pillar of longhaul network airlines, so they’re problems that need solving.

As part of this discussion, let’s call these new onboard products “maxi-suites” in order to distinguish them from mini-suites. Products that are clearly maxi-suites include the Japan Airlines implementation of the Safran Unity product, the Adient-produced second-generation Qatar Airway Qsuite, and the front row Business Suite within the Lufthansa Allegris cabin. (The first-generation Qsuite is closer to the borderline but is, in your author’s opinion, a maxi-suite.)

First-generation Qsuite window suite is pictured with a very large IFE screen, and bathed in pink LED lighting.

The first-generation Qsuite is around the borderline between mini-suite and maxi-suite — your author suggests maxi. Image: John Walton

So what precisely is the height line between the mini-suite and maxi-suite? It will depend on precise height and design, mainly around the height of the seat pan, the height of the doors, and the height of the walls. Translucency and transparency can also have an effect. Further, some seat platforms will have the option of being both mini-suite and maxi-suite thanks to the door and wall height flexibility that seatmakers have designed into their products.

Overhead view of JAL's business class cabin with Unity suites.

JAL’s version of Unity stands out as a maxi-suite. Image: John Walton

Unity certainly is available in both mini and maxi version, for example, and the front cabin in Starlux’s Airbus A350 goes as far as featuring the same Collins Elements product as both a maxi-suite (in its first class version) and as a mini-suite (in its business class version). Lufthansa’s Allegris business goes as far as to offer a maxi-suite and a no-suite option of the same base product within the same cabin.

Lufthansa's front-row, middle pair, Business Suites in the Allegris cabin

The height of the doors, walls and translucent panels of Lufthansa’s front-row Business Suite in the Allegris cabin are a clear example of a maxi-suite. Image: John Walton

To offer a few examples above and below the mini-maxi line:

Maxi-suites

Japan Airlines A350 business (Safran Unity), Lufthansa A350 Allegris (Business Suite only, Stelia for the A350 and others on other aircraft), Qatar Airways second-generation Qsuites (Adient) and first generation Qsuites (Collins), Starlux A350 first class (Collins Elements)

Mini-suites

British Airways Club Suite (Collins Super Diamond), Delta One suites (Thompson Vantage XL+), Virgin Atlantic A330 Upper Class suites (Thompson Vantage XL+), Qatar Airways 787 Business Suite (Adient)

To an extent, the mini-suite versus maxi-suite line, and the effect it has on the passenger experience, will also depend on the height of the person seated within the suite — and some of the effects will also depend on the height of the crew working in the cabin.

Front view of the new Qsuite product with grey and maroon being the dominant colours

Qatar’s new Qsuite is definitely a mini-suite. Image: John Walton

A taller passenger and taller flight attendant will have fewer issues around visibility, for safety or for service, than a shorter passenger and shorter flight attendant.

In design and certification terms, maxi-suites benefit from the regulatory success of the mini-suite, with known certification issues by and large overcome, and the key hurdles (around cabin visibility and emergency egress in particular) now having multiple examples of successful approvals for seatmakers to use in their efforts.

It seems likely that the trend line towards the maxi-suite airlines will continue. Key questions along this line that need to be answered include weight, the role of translucent and transparent materials, service design, communication, and the use of the call bell — one of the third rails of any discussion of onboard service.