Business class travel set for dramatic shift

Business class air travel is poised to move into a new era of supreme comfort as the major airlines gear up to install more luxurious seats.

UK airlines British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have already launched fully flat business class beds, with the major US airlines set to follow.

Such changes could pave the way for a dramatic shift in the traditional economy, business, first class division in air travel, CNN reports.

"We're sure more and more carriers will go full flat and maybe they'll sacrifice first class as part of that and move to a two class airline as opposed to a three class airline, and that'll be part of the whole economics," Phil Lewis of Contour told CNN.

Paradigm shifts like this don't occur every day, with aircrafts only upgrading their seats every five to ten years due to the excessive costs involved.

But the industry could be poised to go even further as top manufacturers tout their latest cutting-edge designs.

Contour, for instance, hopes to take the air industry by storm with its revolutionary new 'Odyssey' seat.

The seat is in its concept state but will offer fliers a choice of seating and lying positions

Budget fliers may fear being left out in the cold, although Mr Glass conceded – besides the onset of electronic gismos – there hasn't been a shift in the fundamentals of seat design for 50 years.

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