British Airways’ New 787 Premium Economy: Looks Awesome!

(Thanks to my friend Danny Lee for pointing this out)

British Airways seems to be quietly introducing a new premium economy seat onboard its 787s. While the airline already has a couple of different premium economy seats onboard their 777s/787s and A350s, the airline has seemed to have gone for yet another premium economy product with enhanced winged headrests and in-seat storage.

British Airways’ New 787 Premium Economy

British Airways’ 787-9s are getting refurbished with Club Suites (see my review of the Club Suite on the 777 and A350 here), and during refurbishment, these planes were introduced with a new premium economy product. The Director of Marketing at British Airways took to LinkedIn to share some photos of the new cabins, which I’ve shared below:

British Airways new 787 Premium Economy Class

Here are some observations I can see of the seat above:

• These seats seem to be the most similar to Recaro R4 seats, which ANA is also introducing on their 787s next year
• The seats have legrests and footrests, as well as very substantial privacy wings between seats
• There seems to be good in-seat storage, including a storage nook below the TV screen, as well as a further holder for small items under the armrest, and a water bottle holder

British Airways really is going from strength to strength

British Airways used to be one of the worst options to travel longhaul out of Europe, though I don’t think that’s the case anymore. I do think that the carrier is a long way from when most of their flights were operated by their old business class product (though perhaps their lounges at Terminal 5 are still quite behind the times in that regard).

To start, a large part of their Heathrow-based longhaul fleet now features their Club Suite. Not only is that product consistency, though the seat itself is quite good as well. Compare that to Lufthansa, where a huge part of their fleet still features their uncompetitive 2-2-2 seat, and their Allegris cabin overhaul has been a complete mess.

British Airways Club Suites are pretty nice!

Meanwhile there’s less fleet consistency when it comes to premium economy (this is the third premium economy seat that British Airways is introducing), though even then the airline is making strides to upgrade their seats. Their current “new” premium economy seats feature legrests at all seats and some in-seat storage in the seat in front.

British Airways’ current “new” premium economy

There are still a few things I don’t like – I don’t like that you have to pay an exorbitant amount for seat selection in premium economy and business class, and I don’t like the lack of dedicated check-in desks at outstation airports. However, generally I find British Airways’ premium economy to have a very good soft product, and the hard product is gradually being upgraded to match as well. I’m looking forward to my next flight in British Airways premium economy, and hope that it’s on one of these 787s.

Conclusion

British Airways is introducing another premium economy product on their 787s, and this new product looks great. I’m looking forward to trying this product out soon – I don’t think it’ll make one of the world’s best premium economy products, though I think that this may be one of the best in Europe, along with KLM.

What do you make of British Airways’ newest 787 premium economy seat?