BA brings first class to, well, first class on their 787-9

Just got back from a trip where I flew both Virgin Atlantic and British Airways 787-9, which also accounted for my first two flights on that aircraft. Before I post a full review of these flights I wanted to share these two VR shots of the BA first class cabin and my seat (1K) since I finally figured out how to upload them here.

I have historically been pretty hard on British Airways first class, and while I would like to see some more improvements to make it feel more like a traditional suite, I have to say that I really like this new seat design from them. Some details feel a bit like an incremental improvement, but the seats are both stylish and comfortable as you can see below.

Perhaps my biggest gripe with BA F is that it feels like there are a bazillion seats in their 777 and 747 F cabins when compared to other airlines (Cathay, Emirates, Singapore, Thai, Korean, Lufthansa, etc…), even United!! Fortunately, they seem to have fixed that issue on the 787-9, which I was glad to see after they first announced the updated cabin to be delivered on their 787-9 orders. Sure enough, this flight ended up feeling like a proper first class experience and less like a business class one. I sound like a horrible seat snob, I know, but the reality is that when you spend those extra points/miles/dollars to get into first, you want to feel like it was worthwhile, and part of that includes a small, private cabin with what feels like attentive if not individualized service IMHO.

Anyway, I’ll have more on the experience in a longer seat review next week, but for now check out the 360 VR views I captured before other people boarded. Just click and drag to move around, and use the scrollbar on your mouse to zoom.

VR view of BA’s New first class seat

VR view of British Airways 787-9 First Class Cabin