Delta Air Lines will debut fully-enclosed business class suites on its international Airbus A350 fleet, in a move which significantly raises the bar for US airlines.

32 of the Delta One suites will dress the pointy end of the A350s, the first of 25 of which is due in September 2017, with the Boeing 777 fleet to follow from 2018.

Each suite has a door which slides shut and is as high as the seat itself, creating a private cocoon for passengers in a design created in conjunction with London's Factorydesign, which notably also worked on Etihad's current first class and business class.

Other features of the suites will include seats which are wider than 21 inches; roomy stowage compartments for shoes, headphones and laptops; two consoles so passengers can comfortably spread out their work during the flight; and an 18-inch HD video screen, with AC and USB power sockets.

The suite is built arund a heavily customised version of Thompson Aero Seating's Vantage XL – which Qantas chose as the platform for its highly-regarded Airbus A330 Business Suite – which Thompson calls the Vantage XL Suite.

"This product is meant to be as close to a private jet experience as possible and is driven by our customers, who were telling us that they wanted more privacy,” said Tim Mapes, Delta's chief marketing officer.

The Delta suites will go up against United's new Polaris business class, which begins flying at the end of this year.

Read more: United Airlines launches new 'Polaris' business class seat, lounges

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