[Intheair]

I flew last night on BA’s new route to Santiago from LHR on an equally new 787-9.

This was the first time I have flown on a 787 with BA but I have used Qatar’s 787 several times in Business Class. Qatar has good seats, good vertical space and a lovely feel about it. The service is a little bit hit and miss but in general good.

I have flown BA First and Club on BA’s 380, 747 and 777 and have got used to both cabins – not great but acceptable.

However the interior designers have completely ruined the 787-9. It is so dark, dingy, tightly packed and with so little vertical and lateral space. Far worse than the other aircraft, when it should have been better…..

The First cabin is tiny, 8 seats in 1-2-1, what Qatar has in business. It is extremely claustrophic and one is very close to the passenger in an adjacent seat.

Club is just like a school dormitory.

I think we have all become used to the BA service – perfunctory! It was so lacking in charm and class.

Well done BA. – how to ruin a lovely new plane. I appreciate a seat is a seat but use some imagination.

My flight cost nearly £4000 – we do have a choice and eventually will vote with our feet.

[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=790011]I flew last night on BA’s new route to Santiago from LHR on an equally new 787-9.

This was the first time I have flown on a 787 with BA but I have used Qatar’s 787 several times in Business Class. Qatar has good seats, good vertical space and a lovely feel about it. The service is a little bit hit and miss but in general good.

I have flown BA First and Club on BA’s 380, 747 and 777 and have got used to both cabins – not great but acceptable.

However the interior designers have completely ruined the 787-9. It is so dark, dingy, tightly packed and with so little vertical and lateral space. Far worse than the other aircraft, when it should have been better…..

The First cabin is tiny, 8 seats in 1-2-1, what Qatar has in business. It is extremely claustrophic and one is very close to the passenger in an adjacent seat.

Club is just like a school dormitory.

I think we have all become used to the BA service – perfunctory! It was so lacking in charm and class.

Well done BA. – how to ruin a lovely new plane. I appreciate a seat is a seat but use some imagination.

My flight cost nearly £4000 – we do have a choice and eventually will vote with our feet.

[/quote]

Haven’t been in the 787 F cabin on BA, but I did J class once and that was enough for me – horribly tight. I’ve also flown in Qatar’s 788 J and found that excatly as you describe – a world apart.

On the other hand, I really like the W cabin on the BA 788/9, it feels light and airy, plenty of vertical and horizontal space.

The service can be anything from great to absolute rubbish and you need to pack your own second meal, but the hardware is sorted and that’s really what I pay for. On a day flight or a short overnight (where sleep isn’t going to be great in any class) the 787 will do the job for me.

Y, on the other hand, looks like torture.

[thebigseats]

On the contrary, I like the F cabin on BA’s B787-9. It actually looks & feels “premium”, almost like First should. LOL. I have booked (yes, cash!) a return LHR-AUH-LHR flight later this year. Mind you it was only about £1595 in F. CW, on the other hand – never!!

[Henryp1]

Compared to the 777 I prefer the 787-9 F cabin due to the much smaller cabin and far less activity. Seat wise ifs nice and comfortable.

[JohnHarper]

I had a walk throught he BA 788 before it entered service. Economy, like almost every other operator is way overcrowded. I had tried the 3-3-3 seats on Qatar and the BA ones were if anything worse – harder and less lumbar support. Premium Economy was acceptable and if I had to fly on a BA 787 I would want an aisle seat in that cabin. Business was just awful. Cramped – my shoulders wouldn’t actually fit into the seat if I sat straight and the dark gloominess of the cabin coupled with there being far too many seats in the space made it far from premium.

I haven’t seen BA F on the 787 but on the same day I saw the 787 I saw the BA A380 including F and that was pretty dire, again dark and gloomy with seats that were more like C seats on any other airline. I’ve traveled in F on the A380 on SQ, MH, TG, LH, AF, QF, EK, EY and QR. All are in a different league to BA.

[MartynSinclair]

Nearly all my longhaul on BA is on the 380 and once you have experienced the upper deck window space, ALL other J seating feels way too cramped (except of course the 747 upper deck). It is very very noticeable..

[Ahmad]

[quote quote=790090]Nearly all my longhaul on BA is on the 380 and once you have experienced the upper deck window space, ALL other J seating feels way too cramped (except of course the 747 upper deck). It is very very noticeable..

[/quote]

Have you tried the A350? Can’t say it feels as spacious horizontally. But vertically it is in a different league. More akin to F on most other planes.

[MartynSinclair]

@Ahmad – haven’t tried any 350’s yet. Had a near miss with Cathay, but they changed to a 777 at the last minute…

[Ahmad]

@MartynSinclair, do let us know how it compares once you’ve tried it. I don’t fly the A380 much so would be really interested in the comparison by someone who does.

[JohnHarper]

I’ve flown the A380 and A350 regularly. They are very different aircraft and I’m not sure it’s right to compare them and I like both of them.

Pitting the A350 against the 787 is more valid I think and the A350 wins every time in terms of space, atmosphere and cabin comfort.

As ever much depends on the cabin an airline has fitted though I’ve yet to see a poor C cabin on the A350, I’ve flown SQ, QR and CX on that aircraft.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

If going to SCL – then consider Iberia as had good reports on the new Business Class seating on offer – considerably better than BA.

Otherwise AF in the Business (provided on the new seat version) would also be a more pleasurable experience (in the air – maybe not CDG).

[Ahmad]

@JohnHarper, I agree pitting the B787 against the A350 in terms of size is perhaps more of a comparison. But in terms of interior space and cabin atmosphere they are poles apart. This is why I didn’t even consider the comparison.

[seasonedtraveller]

I flew the BA 787-8 from LHR to Seoul yesterday in CW – I’ve flown it to and from EWR before and it wasn’t too bad but, on a flight lasting 12 hours, I was cramped, light starved and pretty uncomfortable – and, there’s nowhere to put anything!
My seat and table were dirty from the previous occupant & the IFE had to be reset 3 times.
I did think that the food offering was somewhat improved however, since I last flew BA back in December.

Compared with the recent long haul business class offerings from CX, SAS and Qatar, they are streets ahead of BA especially with the 1:2:1 seating.
I’m on the 787-9 to KUL in a few weeks – we will see how that compares…

[Author]

Posts