KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is seeing light at the end of the certification tunnel for its new World Business Class seats on the Airbus A350-900, after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approved test results for the reverse herringbone seats.
“EASA has now approved the test results for the WBC seats, allowing the certification process to begin,” the airline revealed on October 2 after its first of 22 A350-900s (PH-ZNA) landed at Amsterdam Schiphol. For now, cloth placards have been placed on WBC seats to prevent anyone, including crew, from sitting on them until certification is obtained.
When the 331-seat, three-class A350-900 is pressed into service at the end of the month to Toronto Pearson, the 34-seat WBC cabin will not be available, KLM’s booking engine shows. KLM is presently selling seats in the 271-seat Economy Class cabin and the 26-seat Premium Comfort Class premium economy cabin aboard the A350.
The SkyTeam Alliance member is certainly not alone in facing premium seat certification challenges.
In recent years, neck injury criterion (Nij) has joined head impact criterion as a particular focus for regulators, with EASA and the UK CAA paying much closer attention to how the shoulder belts of non-forward-facing seats at oblique angles interact with the necks of crash test dummies, as reported by RGN.
Industry has responded by proposing changes to the evaluation criteria that aim to provide an equivalent level of safety, and EASA has accepted the deviation.
Rayk Hey, who serves as chairperson of standards body SAE International’s Aircraft Seat Committee revealed today that EASA has released a revised document which outlines its approval of a deviation request regarding upper torso restraints slipping off the shoulder of the crash test dummies used in sled testing for aircraft seats.
The safety regulator “has updated the approval of the deviation request regarding shoulder belts slipping off a shoulder to ISSUE 2,” Hey told his following on LinkedIn, noting that the document aligns with the respective UK CAA document. The industry’s Ad Hoc group “will align this week on a consolidated position.”
In the meantime, the approved deviation and clarified language are now in play.
Stelia’s popular Opera platform for widebody aircraft, already in use by KLM sister Air France, is the baseline platform for KLM’s WBC for the A350-900. Panasonic Avionics’ next-gen OLED-based Astrova IFE system is fitted to the twinjet from nose to tail, including in the WBC seats.
KLM’s technology design partner, Reaktor “designed and built the inflight entertainment software that runs on the new Panasonic Astrova 4K screens, from the interface passengers browse to the Bluetooth pairing that lets them use their own headphones. The result is an experience that’s faster and smoother to use,” the Finnish company said on LinkedIn.
After the A350 operates AMS-YYZ for a spell, flights to Montreal, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, and Zanzibar will follow, according to KLM.
“We’re delighted to welcome our first A350 to Schiphol. This is an important milestone for KLM and for the Netherlands,” KLM president and CEO Marjan Rintel said in an October 2 statement.
“Fleet renewal is one of the most effective ways we can make our operations cleaner, quieter, and more fuel-efficient,” he said. “We already have 17 A321neos flying on our European routes, and with the arrival of the A350, we’re taking the next step in renewing our intercontinental fleet. That means more comfort for our passengers, while also reducing our impact on our surroundings.”
In keeping with KLM’s decision to name its aircraft after Dutch masterpieces, the carrier has chosen Rembrandt’s The Night Watch as the moniker for its first A350-900.
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Featured image credited to Airbus SAS 2026
