I love flying, and one of my hobbies outside of my freelance work is to find new airplanes and new cabin products that I can try out. Over the years, I’ve developed a love for some specific aircraft more than others. I’ve got preferences in terms of the experience (particularly when I’m flying in premium economy, the cabin that I cover the most), and here are the planes that best cater to those preferences. I’d also love to hear what yours are.
I haven’t flown every major commercial aircraft out there – notable exclusions are the 757 and 767. If these are your favourite aircraft to fly, I’d love to hear more.
The A380: The Passenger Experience Superpower-jumbo
Out of all of the aircraft I’ve flown, the A380 is the unquestionable winner, in my opinion. The A380 is a joy to fly – the plane is quiet, the cabin (and thus the economy seats) are wide, and sometimes you forget you’re on a plane when you’re on one of these jets. One of my favourite things about the A380 is that airlines get creative with them, particularly in premium cabins – for example, Emirates and Qatar Airways have a beautiful bar at the back of the upper deck, Lufthansa has a urinal in their A380 first class lavatory, etc.
Qatar Airways A380 business class bar
Lufthansa A380 First Class Urinal
But I’d like to highlight how great the A380 is even when you’re flying in economy or premium economy. On the lower deck, the ceilings are by far the highest I’ve experienced on any plane. While this is less so the case on the upper deck, I absolutely love the side storage compartments, which you’ll even get if you’re flying in economy (not that many airlines have economy class on the A380 upper deck anymore).
Emirates A380 Premium Economy Cabin
Qantas A380 Premium Economy Seat and Side Storage Compartment
I’m sad the A380 is no longer being produced, and will definitely take opportunities to sample A380 products in the future.
The A350: The Prince Raccoon Of The Skies
If the A380 and the 747 are respectively the king and queen of the skies, the A350 is the prince, in my opinion (the 787 can be the princess). The A350 and 787 completely reimagined airline economics – without these planes, we’d have a much bigger crisis with Europe-Asia flights, given the current geopolitical situation with Russia.
I have a preference for the A350 over the 787. Firstly, the A350 looks so much sleeker – how beautiful is this!?
China Airlines A350 at Tokyo Narita Airport
However, on a more relevant note, the A350 features wider seats in economy – both the A350 and 787 have a standard 3-3-3 layout, though the A350 fuselage is wider. I also love the large windows, as well as the generally modern cabin ambience.
Finnair A350 Economy Class
In addition, I find the A350 is more likely to have avgeek features such as a tail camera (which no 787s feature).
A350 Tail Camera on Japan Airlines
Many of my longhaul flights over the past few years have been on A350s, and I still get excited every time I book a flight on one.
The 787: A Modern, Comfortable Ride
While most people prefer the A350 to the 787, I feel like the 787 doesn’t get enough credit, in my opinion. The 787 was introduced a few years before the A350 was, and while some 787s are definitely starting to age, I overall find the plane still to be a joy to fly.
Virgin Atlantic 787 at Heathrow Airport
Let’s start with the major gripe – while the 787 was designed to fit eight seats across in a 2-4-2 configuration, every major airline (except Japan Airlines) now has a nine-abreast configuration in economy. This means that the standard seat width went from 18.5 inches wide to 17.2 inches wide (as opposed to 18 inches wide on the A350). That’s quite tight, especially on a longhaul flight, where every inch matters.
Etihad 787 Economy Class
However, I still find 787s to be modern, quiet, and comfortable to fly. I don’t personally mind the dimmable windows (although I recognise that the technology isn’t amazing), and particularly in premium economy I find the standard 2-3-2 configuration to be very spacious.
KLM 787 Premium Economy Class
I’ve never come off a flight on a 787 and thought “I wish that was an A350 instead” (whereas I have come off an A340 flight and wished I was on a more modern aircraft).
The 777: A Magnificent Beast
So of course I’m just going to name the most modern aircraft and call them my favourites, right? Let me throw an older aircraft in the mix – I’ve always been, and still am a fan of the 777. The 777-300ER was my favourite aircraft growing up, and while I think I now prefer the A380/A350, there’s still a special place in my heart for the 777.
Firstly, the 777 can go far – prior to the A350 and 787 coming into the picture, the 777 was so much more fuel-efficient than the equivalent A340.
Emirates 777 at Hong Kong Airport
Additionally, the 777 has such a wide fuselage, and I’m always amazed by the amount of space I have whenever I’m flying the aircraft in a premium cabin. The 777 was an experimental ground for airlines to really get creative with business class seats (such as Qatar Airways’ QSuite), given that there was more width to play with compared to the A350 and 787. I also find premium economy to be less tight on the 777 compared to the A350, though that varies from airline to airline.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite
While economy class on the 777 used to be quite wide as well, most airlines have moved from a 3-3-3 configuration (which the plane was designed for) to a 3-4-3 configuration in economy class. A couple of airlines have chosen not to do this, and the 777 on those airlines is particularly delightful to fly.
Thai Airways 777 Economy Class
I generally also find the aircraft to be less old than other last-generation aircraft – the overhead bins are larger, the bathrooms are less antiquated, etc.. However, this varies a lot from airline to airline.
The A220: The Supreme Narrowbody
Generally I far prefer flying a widebody to a narrowbody aircraft. However, if I had to choose a narrowbody aircraft to call my favourite, I’d hands down choose the A220.
Air France A220 at Heathrow Airport
The jet is much sleeker and more modern, the windows and overhead bins are large, I really like the 2-3 configuration (as opposed to 3-3 on the A320 and 777), and the bathrooms are the sleekest I’ve ever seen on a plane. I flew Air France in their A220 economy class, and even though it was the best intra-European economy flight I’ve ever flown (and my preceding equipment swap from an Air France A220 to an A319 in business class was one of the biggest downgrades I’ve experienced in the region).
Swiss A220 Economy Class
Honourable Mentions
The A330 to me feels like a big narrowbody aircraft, particularly due to the noise and the size of the windows. However, I know that some enjoy the 2-4-2 layout, which I also enjoy whenever I’m flying economy. I don’t remember my first flight on an A330neo being particularly memorable, and it wouldn’t draw me to fly the plane again – however, that was on Cebu Pacific and in a 3-3-3 layout (one of the tightest planes in the world), so I probably should give the A330neo another try to give myself a fair impression.
The A330 as a plane doesn’t generally do it for me, though I don’t mind the 2-4-2 configuration (particularly the duo seats by the windows), which you won’t find on the more modern jets
I’m not a fan of either the A320neo or 737 MAX – they’re not differentiated enough from their last-generation counterparts for me. However, I do appreciate the new A320neo/A321neos with Airbus’ new Airspace cabins. They’re not materially any better than the older aircraft, though I at least appreciate the effort to make the cabin look sleeker (and appreciate the extra cabin width compared to the 737 MAX, despite the fact that 737 MAXs look pretty).
Transavia A320neo with new Airspace cabin interiors
I also appreciate that people enjoy the 2-2 configuration and the relatively expansive cabin on E175s and E190s, compared to other regional jets. However, I’m not in love with how old or small the cabin feels, especially compared to the similarly-sized A220. I’ve not flown the new “Profit Hunter” E195-E2 jets that airlines are increasingly starting to operate, though, so perhaps I should try and fly one of those.
Finnair’s E190 cabin
Conclusion
As a huge aviation nerd, I have preferences for what aircraft types I enjoy flying the most. The A380, A350, 787, 777, and A220 are some of my favourites. I’m keen to know what yours are, and I’d also love to know whether there are planes I haven’t flown that would fit well into this mix.
What are your favourite aircraft? What are your favourite narrowbody aircraft? How did you develop this preference?
