The death of the first-class airline seat, it seems, has been greatly exaggerated.  

Many airlines set about removing first-class seat capacity in the wake of the pandemic and the accompanying travel freeze – and as business-class seats became ever bigger and better.

But London-based aviation design studio Acumen – which pioneered the first ever ‘flying bed’ in 1995, for British Airways – believes first class does have a future, and has revealed eye-catching renderings of a first-class suite that it says is a rung above even the new ‘super business class’ seats, offering a ‘passenger experience reminiscent of a VIP jet’.

Behold ‘The First Place’, which contains a separate leather armchair, an ‘innovative’ chaise-longue and not one but two privacy doors – a single sliding suite door and a ‘rotating soft wall’. Why? ‘To give the passenger greater control of the level of privacy they desire,’ says Acumen.

The suite also has not one but two monitors – a large 32-inch LED screen for lounging/bed viewing from the chaise-longue, and also an 18-inch monitor for viewing whilst seated in the armchair.

The armchair, explains Acumen, ‘is styled to reflect high-end residential furniture, can rotate and recline to offer…