British Airways plans a 17m Heathrow bar and First suites for two
The lounge with the bar is due at the end of 2028, while a dark-red First check-in area at Terminal 3 opens this winter.
British Airways has announced a redesign of its A380 interiors and Heathrow lounges, built around British craftsmanship. The airline made the plans public as its new Swaine amenity kits launched on outbound First services from Heathrow on 6 October 2026. Inbound passengers will receive the kits over the coming months.
The kits contain Wildsmith products and come in royal blue and cream, styled after the suitcases of early air travellers. Swaine, the British maker, also supplies herringbone blankets and navy sleepwear featuring BA's bespoke tartan, so the cabin's look is tied to a single textile pattern.
Studio William cutlery and wine glasses, developed with Richard Brendon and the wine writer Jancis Robinson, are also part of the commissions. British Airways expects the first refitted A380 to enter service in the coming months, carrying new seats in each of its four cabins, plus reworked galleys and stairways.
The 12-suite First cabin gets the biggest change. Dividers between the centre seats open to create a shared lounge, and stowable tables let companions dine together. Two single suites can therefore become one space for a couple or a pair of colleagues.
Business class takes the entire upper deck, where 106 Club Suites form what BA calls the world's largest business-class cabin. The space is split into four zones with communal areas and Club Kitchens, and the suites gain extra storage and a blue, red and cream palette.
We covered the A380 interior and its 106 Club Suites when it was first shown. The seat count has not changed. What this announcement adds is the First cabin detail, the lower cabins, the tableware and the lounge programme that feeds the aircraft.
Premium economy gains privacy wings and larger screens. Economy passengers get wider seats, again with larger screens. The upper-deck and First changes are the headline, but every one of the four classes on the refitted A380 is being touched.
The Terminal 5 lounge and its 17m bar
A new lounge at Terminal 5's C Gates, due to open at the end of 2028, will pair British-made furnishings with a 17m bar overlooking the airfield. BA expects the bar to rank among the world's longest in an airport lounge.
UK-sourced timber, glazing, metalwork, textiles and bespoke furnishings will fill a space that looks over both the airfield and the concourse. The sourcing rule is the same one that governs the aircraft: British materials and British makers wherever the airline can find them.
Inside it will be a dedicated Concorde lounge for First passengers, with darker materials, richer textures, private concierge service and separate dining spaces. It is the most private room in the plan, and the one that departs most from the lighter palette elsewhere.
The design develops a concept recently introduced in Miami, and the project is part of a programme to redesign every BA lounge at Heathrow. The Miami room therefore works as a template for the London spaces rather than a one-off.
The Terminal 5 Arrivals lounge is scheduled to open by the end of 2027. It will have 59 shower rooms, a coffee bar and deli, and dedicated work booths, so passengers landing at Heathrow can wash, eat and work before the city.
A new Concorde Arrivals area will give First passengers private cabanas and dining spaces. Glass screens provide privacy within interiors in the airline's blue, red and cream, the same three colours used in the Club Suites upstairs on the A380.
What arrives before the lounges
Some changes will be in place well before the lounges open. A dark-red First check-in area, developed with American Airlines, opens at Terminal 3 this winter. It is the first visible piece of the programme on the ground at Heathrow.
BA has not said what the programme will cost or when the rest of its A380 fleet will be refitted. The dates it has given are the first refitted aircraft in the coming months, the Terminal 3 check-in this winter, and the two Terminal 5 openings.
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Images: (Image credit: Courtesy of British Airways); British Airways
