British Airways Will Have First Class On to Their New 787-9 Fleet Arriving Next Year

Current Boeing 787s (787-8 aircraft) operated by British Airways are configured with business class, premium economy, and economy seating.

However according to Australian Business Traveller,

British Airways is planning a new first class cabin for its forthcoming Boeing 787-9 fleet in a further evolution of the current design seen on its Airbus A380s.

…Van der Post has now confirmed that the long-range Boeing 787-9, which it will begin flying next year, will also have a small number of First suites at the pointy end.

“It may not be a full cabin of 12 to 14 seats, it will be a little bit smaller” van der Post told Australian Business Traveller.

The A380 seat is an evolution off of the 777/747 seat.

I like first class more on their 777 than their 747. I flew both products last year.

These photos are from the 777:

The 777 feels a bit more private, the 747 more open. They have perhaps the most stylish first class cabin, at least to my tastes. In both the 747 and 777 the seat is somewhat narrow.

I’m truly unimpressed by BA’s first class ground experience (including the Concorde Room). Their pajamas are good and the amenity kits are as well. Their champagne selection is thoughtful though not close to my top choice. Service and food are British.

Nonetheless first class is better than business. And I like to see more planes with more first class seats in a world where many airlines are dropping first class products and beefing up their business class offerings.

British Airways has improved the seat on their A380 (same basic seat, but the surrounding suite is larger). So hopefully the space surrounding the seat will be similarly better on their 787-9s.

(HT: Traveling Better)


About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. The food out of SFO in FC is horrible…..the food out of LHR FC was ok…….I loved the Cabana rooms and enjoyed my visit with Dr Kissinger………but the companion pass availability out of SFO is non-existent so I may pass up the ability to pay $2500 for 2 or a three legged trip………..Hawaii is ok BA…..

  2. I flew BA F on B474 LHR-JFK and I thought it was great. The seat is small-ish but the suite is nice and bedding very comfortable. Food was decent.

  3. This four class configuration is so much better that the United 2 class configuration on the 789. Having no premium economy or first class to up sell means those who want a bit more go to the other carriers. It’s a bit like Safeway vs Wholefoods. And please don’t call E+ a premium cabin, some of us want a bit more width than 17 inches on a plane that can fly for 18-19 hours.

  4. None of the European airlines beat the First Class of Lufthansa, especially if you are flying out of Frankfurt. The LH First Class lounge there really does meet all expectations.

  5. @Justsaying… I hear what you’re saying about Sfo first class companion tickets avails. ( I’m assuming you’re talking Sfo to Lhr?) I have been able to find much better two person inventory from Sea to Lhr which isn’t too far out of your way. Does any one else have any BA first class “award seat for two” tricks they could share with the class?

  6. @Howard I have been searching periodically 11 months out from SFO, SEA, LAS, and LAX……….virtually none of these have two FC companion tickets……..so I am sitting on 180k in miles and looking at a $2550 fuel surcharge and pondering “Is this the company I want to give my business to after they have pulled the bait and switch with their credit card offers? I’ll sly SFO-LHR direct in May on UA for 135k and $145 in taxes and fees……returning from CDG via FRA……you can say all you want about UA not being as hoity toity as LH and the other over the top carriers and I won’t argue that point but non-stop from SFO to Europe for those miles and fees are a lot better than constantly searching for BA space and then then flying 3 legs to get to my destination………So I just don’t see why I shouldn’t just use the BA miles to fly SFO-HNL or SFO-OGG without all the surcharges and then focus on Starpoints or Barclay’s to get to Europe on LH…………what am I missing BA?

  7. I think this may be one of the first occasions where I have seen a picture of you on board, and obviously enjoying yourself. Kudos!

  8. @justsaying I have to agree with you in regards to UA, yes, they are not as polished as LH or BA, having flown BA out of PHX in all service class’s, I’m using my Avios for the short flights, I just don’t want to pay the fuel surcharge…

  9. I understand the issue of fuel surcharges but if you compare the cost to actually buy a business class ticket- which some of us would do- first with a free companion is cheaper than paying business(i value miles at 2 cents). Availability for me out of mia is reasonably decent if you are flexible and NYC isn’t that far. Actually don’t mind fuel charges as most people won’t pay them which means more availability.

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