American Airlines unveiled new suites for some of its longest-range planes with lie-flat seats and a sliding door for privacy that will be available in 2024.
As air travel picks up in pace, airlines are adapting to win over business travelers and those willing to pay a premium for better travel. Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines $AAL unveiled its range of new suites for longer flights called the “Flagship” suites, replacing its prior first class options for long range and international travel flights.
The new suites have sliding doors and will be amiable on new 787-9 Dreamliners and Airbus XLRs. They may also be available on some older Boeing 777s. American Airlines plans on offering the new travel suites in 2024.
Predicting airline flight fares in a few years can be hard to do given the enormous range of factors that can influence pricing — most notably in 2020 with the unexpected onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that turned travel upside down. However, the price difference between flying coach and premium has been significant, with an economy ticket for a short round trip between New York City and Paris within a week’s time coming in at $935 in October of this year, as compared to a business flight at $5981.
Airlines worldwide have been reducing first class cabins and replacing them with business class and premium economy cabins and sections as they adapt to market demand. American Airlines expects premium seats to sell rapidly by as much as 45% in 2026. Each Boeing 787-9 will have 51 new suites and 32 premium economy seats, while older 777-300ER planes will have 70 suites and 44 premium economy suites.
