Old Virgin Atlantic's Coffin Layout Rejected By Thai Airways' Customers

Here's a situation so absurd it could only happen in aviation: Thai Airways acquired three Airbus A330-300s from Virgin Atlantic, complete with 31 business class seats. Thai passengers took one look, agreed with the "coffin class" allegations, and rejected them as inadequate business class.

Virgin Atlantic's response? Well, they're still flying these exact same seats as business class on London to New York.

Thai Airways' response? Rebrand them as "Premium Economy Plus."

Starting 26th October 2025, Thai Airways will launch "Premium Economy Plus" on routes to Chennai, Dhaka, Hyderabad, Jakarta, and Kathmandu. The product features lie-flat seats in a herringbone configuration with direct aisle access and an onboard bar—the same Virgin Atlantic Upper Class seats that fly transatlantic routes.

Let that sink in: what's good enough for Virgin's flagship London-New York service is being downgraded to "economy plus" on Thai's regional Asian routes.

One passenger flying Bangkok to Chennai described it as "lying down in a coffin," adding they would have been more comfortable in an economy seat. The airline had significant problems marketing this cabin as business class, with passengers and influencers posting that the product was subpar with a lack of privacy.

As discussed on the On Air podcast, this isn't about the seats—it's about managing wildly different passenger expectations across regions.

Thai Airways received three ex-Virgin A330-300s (HS-TEV, HS-TEW, and HS-TEX) between October 2024 and August 2025. The aircraft feature 264 seats: 31 in the herringbone business cabin, 48 in traditional premium economy (2-3-2), and 185 in economy.

So passengers get to choose between regular premium economy or "Premium Economy Plus" with: • Fully lie-flat beds • Direct aisle access • 1-1-1 configuration • Access to an onboard bar • The exact seat Virgin Atlantic charges £2,000+ for on transatlantic routes

This perfectly illustrates how subjective premium travel can be. Thai is reclassifying the cabin for routes where there's limited corporate travel and price-sensitive markets rather than spending millions on retrofits.

Meanwhile, thousands of passengers happily pay full business class fares for these same seats between London and New York every week. Same seat. Same configuration. Wildly different perceptions.

I've got British Airways Gold status and Virgin's herringbone seats aren't winning awards in 2025—but they're still Virgin's current business class on some major routes. Thai passengers rejecting them says more about regional expectations than actual quality.

The genius move? If Thai prices this sensibly, it could be brilliant for points collectors. The big question is how this will be categorized for award redemptions. Imagine booking what Virgin calls business class for premium economy awards.

The whole situation is bonkers. You could fly Virgin business from London to New York in these seats, then discover Thai considers them "not quite business class" standard. It's the airline equivalent of "one person's treasure is another's trash"—in reverse.

Will it work? That depends entirely on pricing. If Thai offers these at a reasonable premium over economy, passengers might embrace it. If they charge near-business prices... expect more coffin comparisons.

As for me, I'll stick with my British Airways business class redemptions for now. At least BA won't rebrand their executive club mid-flight…

Have you flown Virgin's herringbone seats? Would you book this "Premium Economy Plus"? Let me know!