businesstraveller.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
AVIATION
which opted for the A350 XWB, has been
using its Airbus planes on new routes like
Düsseldorf (since dropped), restarting its
Hong Kong to London Gatwick f lights and,
next year, using it on new routes such as
Dublin and Brussels.
There are currently two Dreamliner
variants – the B787-8, and the larger B787-
- A new one – the B787-10 – is coming
in 2018 (the launch customer will be
Singapore Airlines). Every airline configures
its aircraft differently, and so the number of
passengers that can be carried varies. If you
want to know who gets the most on, or the
fewest, go online to businesstraveller.com
and our feature “The B787: how the airlines
compare”. (We also have the same format for
the A350 and the A380.)
As for the A350 XWB, the extra-wide
body tag seems to be a dig at the B787, and
is an illustration of the irony of these new-
generation aircraft. At launch, the B787
was supposed to
have only eight seats
across in economy,
but although
launch customer
ANA followed
this, most other airlines went for nine-
across (as did ANA with subsequent
deliveries). Responding to negative
feedback from the
B787 passengers, when
Airbus debuted its own
new-generation aircraft,
it made a big point of
the extra 13cm of cabin
width, giving the aircraft
its“XWB”tagalongwith
a “feel the space” advertising catchphrase.
To business class passengers the difference
is imperceptible, but to the vast majority
of passengers who f ly economy, every inch
matters. British Airways quietly increasedthe economy seat
width by a centimetre
on the B787-9.
Whether this half
an inch is enough is
debatable (see our
online article “Missed
opportunity: Why the
B787 fails the comfort
test in economy”). As
our consumer editor,
Alex McWhirter, pointed
out back in February 2015 in
his feature entitled “Economy
cabin: Feel the squeeze”, “travellers
are getting bigger but economy cabins
are becoming tighter”. So while the
new-generation aircraft f ly to new places
and, in many cases, help airlines offer us
competitive fares, the final promise of f lying
in new levels of comfort probably only
applies if you’re not in economy class.There are currently two
Dreamliner variants – the
B787-8and largerB787-9.
A new one – the B787-10- is coming in 2018
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