Enjoying a remarkable trajectory in the business class seating segment, Thompson Aero Seating confirms it is “absolutely exploring” how to support airlines as they seek to bring extra-opulent new enclosed first class and multi-person ‘first class-plus’ suite solutions to their widebody aircraft.
“Across our portfolio, there are a few customers coming back to us asking if we can help them to develop first class or a super first class cabin. So we are working with a few of them,” Thompson Aero Seating head of marketing Becca Shou revealed to RGN just hours after Airbus announced at the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) that it will develop its First Class Experience concept for the A350-1000 to address the niche-yet-growing “FC+” market.
It’s easy to see why airlines are keen to work with Thompson on their most premium of premium cabin products. The Northern Ireland-based seatmaker is known for building reliable and durable business class seats. And its new dynamic testing facility has proven to be an especially advantageous addition given safety regulators’ heightened scrutiny, in recent years, of seatbelts and the premium seat certification process.
The new dynamic testing facility “enables us to do real-time tests very quickly, and we can make amendments very quickly as well,” Shou noted at AIX in Hamburg. “That enables us to deliver within very short time frames.”
Thompson saw revenues increase by 30% year-over-year in 2025. Its orderbook, which is in excess of £1.2 billion, includes contracts for the new front-row, “business-plus” doored suites that burst onto the commercial aviation scene with gusto, and can be utilized for first class.
“It has become more of a standard offering rather than an extra luxury addition,” Shou said of the more private and spacious front-row biz-plus suites. “This is very standard across the board” and “many airlines” are asking for it.
For example, Thompson’s popular VantageXL staggered, forward-facing all-aisle-access lie-flat for twin-aisle aircraft — including the XL+ version which has been optimized for both the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 and facilitates a front-row biz-plus suite option — counts China Southern and Lufthansa Group carriers Edelweiss and Discover Airlines among its latest adoptees.
Having iterated on the XL+ platform, Thompson used the occasion of AIX to unveil the front-row VantageXL+ First suite, featuring a raised, actuated, two-staged divider, plus extended bed-level cushioning, a floating outboard armrest and cocktail surface, and overhung doors to maximize living space. Dual dining and a massive 32″ inflight entertainment screen can also be accommodated.
Meanwhile, Thompson’s 100% PRM accessible VantageNOVA flexible herringbone platform boasts Delta Air Lines as a launch customer, and can now accommodate a new VantageNOVA First option that is seamlessly incorporated into the front row, and designed “to bring a first-class experience to the VantageXL+”
Offering a flexible social experience, VantageNOVA First features a Star Configuration that enables four passengers traveling together to enjoy a quad experience, including two passengers in buddy seats.
VantageNOVA First was not only a finalist in this year’s Crystal Cabin Award competition, but also attracted huge foot traffic on Thompson’s stand, as anyone who visited the seatmaker at AIX could attest.
Already edging into first class with first class-like biz-plus suites, Thompson’s revelation at the show that it’s working with customers on how it might support dedicated first class and super first class concepts makes perfect sense, especially now that the COVID pandemic and its disruption to first class appears to be largely in the rearview mirror (Airbus says that while the average number of first class seats has clearly shrunk, the suites are becoming much more luxurious, so the segment is enjoying a sort of renaissance.)
It also comes as innovative new multi-person suites have broken cover in the world fleet, including Lufthansa’s award-winning Allegris first class and SWISS’ Senses first class with their compelling two-seater center suite. Thompson is, incidentally, one of three key suppliers of business class seats on both programs.
Related Articles:
- Airbus enters development phase for ultra-luxe First Class Experience
- Delta says new A350 Delta One suites will be 100% PRM accessible
- Thompson is big winner in latest Lufthansa Group business seat choices
- Qantas readies for Sydney-London with extra tank and just 238 seats
- Inside an A350-optimized Unum Two seat, as revealed at AIX
- Edelweiss cranks up the premium factor on Airbus A350s
- Thompson unveils impressive VantageNOVA business class herringbone
- Airbus enters preliminary work to offer lie-flats on the A220
All images credited to the author, Mary Kirby
