British Airways 72 Muscat (MCT) - London (LHR) Departure: 0000 Arrival: 0604 Duration: 8:57 Aircraft: Boeing B787-9
Registration: B-ZBKH Seat: 1A (First Class)
On this flight to London from Muscat, I made a huge mistake with the connecting time from Dubai. My flight LX242 was schedule to arrive at Muscat 22:30 local time and BA72 was departing 23:35. Given that taxiing to the gate took us about 15 minutes and there were no jet bridge at Muscat airport, it took me more than 40 minutes to deplane, clear the immigration and retrieve my baggage. That was around 23:30, the time I realized I was in trouble with my BA flight.
I went to the check in area and looked all the displays to see where was BA counter but I was late and the check in system had been closed an hour ago. I searched and found one representative and asked whether I can get my boarding pass. She tried to print out my boarding pass but since the check in system for BA was over, she kept saying she could not print the boarding pass. After a while struggling, I was able to get my boarding pass but I was not able to check my two heavy bags instead I had to carry with me which was about 80 pounds. Luckily, I was able to clear immigration with a blink of an eye and went to the gate where the agent was desperately calling my name though the speaker. In the end, I was on board but the flight was delayed and I've got aches and pains all over my body. Not taking a lot of photos due to camera error, I made this review simple.
Delivered on February 2016, this Boeing 787-9 was a brand new aircraft British Airways operated. I have tried couple of B787s in the past but they were all -8s and this was my first time trying out the stretched version: -9 series. Boeing is currently developing more stretched version of Dreamliner family- The -10 series, and now it is on final assembly which will be delivered to Singapore Airlines in 2018.
British Airways currently operates 22 Dreamliners to various destinations in two-class(B787-8s) and three-class(B787-9s) configurations. The flight I took was in three-class configuration and had 8 open suites First class in 1-2-1, 42 front and rear-facing, direct aisle Club World Business class, 39 World Traveller Plus seats in 2-3-2, and 127 World Traveller Economy seats in 3-3-3. That makes it total of 216 seats.
The First Class seats have a pitch of 73 inches and 22 inches of width, 72 inches and 20 for Business, 38 and 18.5 for Traveller Plus and 31 and 17.5 inches for Economy. First class looks similar to Reverse herringbone seats on Cathay Pacific or American Airlines but the high partition around covers most of seat for more privacy and more personal spaces.
The Cabin:
The First class cabin was pretty decent product with direct aisle accessible, overhead storage spaces (not available on the middle section) and mood lighting. I am not sure how Club World and World Traveller class exactly looks like but I think except the front and rear-facing seats on business class, the rest of the cabin will be similar to those other B787s. The cabin also much silent and compared to conventional planes, where the cabin pressure simulate an altitude around 7800ft, the 787 Dreamliner is set around 6000ft reducing the effect of jet lags. Well done! It also has this large metallic BA logo in the bulkhead which adds luxury to the premium cabin.
Having only 8 seats in the first class compared to 14 seats in B777s which makes the cabin comfy and less crowded however, the 787s are still smaller in size than 777s so there might be some drawbacks such as narrower aisle. But a bigger and high tech suites with added privacy are there to make you forget of those small inconveniences. The constantly changing mood light also plays a good role throughout the flight to reduce stress.
British Airways B787-9 First Class Cabin.
British Airways B787-9 First Class Cabin: Door 1L.
British Airways B787-9 First Class Cabin: Row 1.
British Airways B787-9 First Class Cabin: BA logo.
The Seats:
The seat is half-closed suite with excellent touch but the most interesting item on the seat is the Seat Control Unit. There is a seat guide on each seat to familiarize oneself with the seat. Unlike other first class or business class which has 'set position' seat adjusting buttons i.e. takeoff/landing, dining and bed, British Airways' seat control is a wheel type where passengers can rotate the wheel to adjust the seat into endless various positions and it could also control the intensity of the seat lights.
All 8 seats recline 180 degrees fully flat and when doing this, the armrest too, will go down to make it perfectly flat. The table lamp which is iconic on BA's B789 fleet, is a LED lamp which is opulent with its brushed aluminum trim and metallic glass table.
With multiple personal storage spaces, you can easily store and access your belongings. There is one storage space by your side with a mirror inside which is mainly to keep your amenity kits and small items. Overall, the seat design has this feeling of luxury car seat with high quality leather and finishes.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: 1A.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Seat Control Unit.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Seat Control Unit and Table lamp.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: IFE unit and storage space.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Seat guide.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Seat guide.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: IFE unit and storage space.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Table lamp.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Storage space.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Reading lamp.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Front storage space.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Front storage space.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Leg rest.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Wardrobe.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Wardrobe.
British Airways B789 First Class Amenities.
British Airways B789 First Class Pillow.
British Airways B789 First Class Seat: Spotlight.
In-flight Meals:
First of all, I was really late in this flight so there was no time for pre departure snacks and drinks instead I only had a glass of water. Second, after takeoff, I had a small appetizer and few glasses of champagne and after that my camera got was somehow disabled and not working. So there are no photos of in-flight meals, snacks and other things. I will try the B777 soon with BA, I will get some pictures of how the first class meals are on BA!
British Airways First class pre-departure drink.
British Airways First class tray table.
British Airways First class light snacks.
British Airways First class champagne.
British Airways First class champagne and appetizers.
In-flight Entertainments:
British Airways B789 Dreamliner uses Thales Avionics 23 inches touch screen IFE display monitor and a touch-screen remote controller. The remote controller is similar to the one in Qatar Airways B787 economy class. Although it is a fast and simple designed controller, on such luxurious cabin, I was expecting it to be something like Panasonic Avionic's eX3 IFE because Thales remote controllers are sometime freezes and its glitchy. But BA chose Thales, I can't do nothing about that..
The display monitor has a sharp pixel with high resolution and smooth imaging. All monitors are in fixed position which you don't have to get up and press to unlock towards you. There are a lot of entertainments in the IFE: From new movies to songs, you will definetely not get bored. Also a noise cancelling headphone will is by your seat and the combination of quiet cabin + quiet GEnx engines and headphone, you barely here any noise but only the sound from your movies.
British Airways First Class IFE: Touch screen remote controller.
British Airways First Class IFE: Touch screen remote controller.
British Airways First Class IFE: Touch screen remote controller.
British Airways First Class IFE: Noise cancelling headphone.
British Airways First Class IFE: Noise cancelling headphone.
British Airways First Class IFE: Touch screen display monitor.
British Airways First Class IFE: Touch screen display monitor.
British Airways First Class IFE: Touch screen display monitor.
Lavatories:
As it is standard to all B787 Dreamliners, the lavatory has a motion activated flush system where you just have to swing your hand near the sensor and the toilet will flush automatically. Other than that, there is a full body mirror on one side and a large mirror with lighting on the other, a sensor type faucet and basic skin care amenities inside.
British Airways B789 First Class Lavatory.
Summary:
This was my first premium cabin experience on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and I am very satisfied although there were all this events before the flight. From takeoff to landing, I would like to praise the entire cabin crew for their exceptional services throughout the flight and truly thankful for waiting me at Muscat!
The IFE remote controller had some glitches but it did not affect that much, really comfortable atmosphere in the cabin made me less jet lagging and the yummy in-flight meals too. As I was the only passenger and there was one off-duty flight crew in row 2, I did not experience how much privacy the open suite provides: That, I have to try to see on my next 787 flight with BA. Also the seat controller and the table lamp was impressive to me where I can set the seat to whatever position I want and whatever brightness I want!
I am planning to try out either BA's B747 jumbos or B777s to London this coming month but am still undecided. Having '14' open suites on B777s will surely be another interesting experience. Still, after writing a review on this flight, my head is full of the episode that happened at Muscat Airport...Never going to forget that day!