Thompson unveils impressive VantageNOVA business class herringbone

Thompson Aero Seating’s latest product, the herringbone VantageNOVA member of its wider Vantage premium seat family, is breaking cover today with a full set of cabin renderings across its hybrid layout options.

Nova is a compact herringbone seat that will be offered in either a fully outward-facing configuration (where all seats face away from the aisle) or as a hybrid configuration (where window seats face towards the aisle and centre seats face away from the aisle).The additional space saved by the inward-facing outboard seats — Thompson’s LOPA (layout of passenger accommodations) diagrams suggest — enables two additional small outboard lavatories ahead of doors 2.RGN experienced Nova as it evolved over the last couple of years’ Aircraft Interiors Expos, and the product impressed every time as a thoughtful and considered refinement of the herringbone concept rather than a revolutionary new idea within the premium cabin.

It continues to impress with the further options and extra detail now released with this set of imagery, which codifies detail and develops the look and feel of the product seen on-stand.

Not seen in these releases, however, is a promised front-row business-plus implementation, which Thompson calls “first class for free”.

Nova is aimed at the widebody market and is pitched at as low as 40”. Thompson has done very well indeed to shave off inches for airlines where density is key while ensuring that when pitch is added the extra space really makes a difference to passengers.

Notably — in the mockup and in the images the seatmaker is releasing — Thompson’s designers have done significant work to tailor the shape of the seat to the curve of the aircraft cabin sidewalls, perhaps most visible in the outward-facing herringbone variant. This creates markedly more space at key points, especially in the footwell area in bed mode where passengers’ toes can pass freely out towards the sidewall.

At the same time, the seat doesn’t skimp on amenities, with a legrest and recline-to-zero-gravity design, as well as inflight entertainment monitors of up to 24” plus bells and whistles including in-seat power.

One unusual decision — in this standard version, which we presume will be customisable by airlines — is to have the wireless charging contained within a phone-sized stand element, given the history of cabin interiors designers making hard-designed choices like this only for the electronics industry to change the size and shape of phones while the seats are still flying.

It also complicates using anything that isn’t a phone for wireless charging, when arguably one of the most compelling uses of wireless charging, Bluetooth earbud cases, are not sized to fit a phone stand.

What Thompson refers to as “slimline” single-skin overhung doors should help to reduce weight, a key part of the equation in airlines’ doors-or-no-doors consideration. The renderings suggest a door and wall height that would place Nova in the mini-suite rather than maxi-suite category, although adding height or other privacy elements would seem within the realms of possibility if an airline wished to do so.

Thompson’s industrial design work to display its seats with impressively attractive colour, materials and finishes (CMF) has borne fruit here.

The CMF gives a real residential feel featuring peach-cream fabric surfaces that make the suite look more like a sofa than an office chair.

Nova as shown in the latest PR imagery moves beyond the natural wood feels of the Echo palette from earlier this year.

However, as ever with a manufacturer-created CMF this will likely only be seen as a showcase rather than installed on an aircraft, with airline customers generally wanting substantial brand element integration.

In terms of production, one benefit to Nova being part of the wider Vantage family is that there is substantial mechanical commonality between Nova and other seats, particularly the other ones on offer in this market segment.

“With a launch customer already secured, Thompson is currently well progressed for the first delivery in 2026,” says the seatmaker. “Testing will take place at Thompson’s own on-site Dynamic Test Facility, reducing development time and increasing sustainability.”