The latest in luxurious first-class airplane suites: Building up

With airlines seeking to use the floor space footprint of their first-class suites as efficiently as possible, the latest developments in making these ultraswanky experiences even more luxurious aren't about adding more width or length to the suites. They're about going up. A new generation of high-wall supersuites are stretching up to the ceilings of the latest wide-body jets, eclipsing the suites that came before. The first generation of first-class suites with doors were introduced about 15 years ago on the Airbus A380. With the biggest commercial airplane ever built came the biggest first-class seats, and these quickly spread onto other airliners such as the Boeing 777. In the decade and a half since, most first-class seats now have doors. The main function of the doors is privacy, allowing first class passengers some of the top luxuries in our always-on world: the opportunity to create their own space to work, relax with a movie on a big screen or enjoy Champagne-and-caviar private dining. Yet until recently, the first-class doors themselves didn't extend all the way to the ceiling, ending instead at about chest height for most passengers, which means that the crew and other passengers who are passing by can see in. This is by design, since safety specifications mean that crew members need to be able to see into the suite. Story has more.<br/>