The star of the GBTA trade show was a mock up of Etihad’s new 3-room “Residence” w double bed soon to appear on its new A380’s (Chris McGinnis)
(Los Angeles) Every year at about this time, the business travel industry gathers for the Global Business Travel Association convention. This year it’s here in Los Angeles, with about 7,000 industry folks schmoozing, speaking, selling, learning, networking and having a lot of fun.
One of the best parts of this conference is the trade show floor where hundreds of travel suppliers like airlines, hotels, car rental companies, or banks (sellers) erect elaborate booths to show off their wares and negotiate deals with all the corporate travel managers (buyers) at the show.
The highlight of the show? The airline booths! Most (but not all) have their latest, greatest business class seats on the floor to show off. Here’s a collection of some of my best shots from this colorful kaleidoscope! Check ’em out and stay tuned for more posts about the convention.
Virgin America was there showing off its cushy white leather first class seats (Chris McGinnis)
On the heels of announcing new nonstops to SFO, Turkish had it’s nice true lie flat biz class seat on display (Chris McGinnis)
The new lie-flat seat that American Airlines is using on its long hauls– esp popular on the New York to London run (Chris McGinnis)
LAN’s new business class seat nice for those overnights to South America! (Chris McGinnis)
Airbnb was at GBTA for the first time with a cool hipster like lounge booth (Chris McGinnis)
Here’s Qatar Air’s business class seat. All the UAE carriers had their most gorgeous FA’s on hand to show off the seats! (Chris McGinnis)
That’s me and Johnny Jet in the “living room”- one of three rooms soon appearing in the new “Residence” onboard Etihad’s new A380s
First class on Amtrak’s high speed Acela trains along the NE Corridor (Chris McGinnis)
Emirates did not have a seat on display, but had a mock up of its inflight lounge aboard its A380s. (Chris McGinnis)
Here’s JetBlue’s new “MINT” class seat now appearing on its LAX-JFK transcons (Chris McGinnis)
That’s Alitalia’s lovely “baseball glove” leather trimmed business class seat (Chris McGinnis)
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Lufthansa was showing off its new premium economy seat (Chris McGinnis)
A Singapore Girl shows off Singapore Air’s new business class seat now appearing on its 777s (Chris McGinnis)
After a long day at the GBTA show, I needed a nap on Air New Zealand’s economy Sky Couch! (Chris McGinnis)
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Based on what you’ve seen here… or experienced for yourself… which seat is your favorite or the one you’d like to try the most? Leave your comments below.
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Iri says
August 12, 2014 at 3:11 pmHi Chris!!! I am really impressed with your work! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!! I am in that stage of my life when i am starting to be able to fly business every now and then and your guide is superb!!! My fav is definitely Ethiad’s new 3 room residence or the American airlines as i like to be isolated from people seating next to me as much as possible to prevent any of them caughing anything on me(hello ebola virus or any other viruses) and just it offers more privacy.
Hajime Sano says
July 30, 2014 at 11:19 amThanks Chris! I thought it might be industry only. But since it is only 15 minutes from me, I thought I’d ask. Love the pictures!
Chris McGinnis says
July 30, 2014 at 8:14 amHi Hajime: Regrettably it’s not a public trade show… industry only. That’s why I thought you might like all the pretty pictures 🙂 — Chris
Hajime Sano says
July 30, 2014 at 12:17 amJust curious- can the general public attend this show, or are industry credentials required?