With the launch of the new blog, it’s time to tread some familiar news territory.
On Sunday, Virgin Atlantic took delivery of their first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner into their fleet.
The first of the Boeing 787-9’s – “Birthday Girl” arrived into the fleet at London Heathrow Airport.
Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 “Birthday Girl” – Image, Virgin Atlantic via Twitter
This Boeing 787-9 is the first of the -9 subtype to be delivered to a European operator, and first of 16 of the type Virgin Atlantic will receive.
Virgin Atlantic will be deploying these aircraft on various routes with Boston being the first route. The aircraft will also feature on other Virgin Atlantic long haul routes from London Heathrow, including:
- Washington DC (Washington Dulles)
- New York JFK
- Newark International Airport
- New Delhi
Whilst US East Coast destinations are the first hit for these planes, it will give times to learn and adjust to this new aircraft.
Seating installed on these planes is a three class format, split into:
- 31 Upper Class seats – another iteration of the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Seat in a 1-1-1 style
- 35 Premium Economy – A refreshed version of the current Premium Economy Seat in a 2-3-2 layout
- 198 Economy seats – Based on the Recaro 3620, these are crammed in at the back of a plane in a 3-3-3 layout. Expect slimline seats.
It’s good to see more new planes arrive, although I do wish airlines chose 2-4-2 over 3-3-3 seating layouts in economy class to improve customer comfort.
Still, these new planes will be flying from 28th October 2014, on the London Heathrow – Boston Logan, and tickets are available for those who want to fly the inaugural.
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – The new name for GhettoIFE (and a lot more pronounceable). Expect in-depth coverage, analysis, route news as well as humour and madness as I only know how.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates!
Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European readers.
Technically the inaugural flight is LHR-ATL on October 23rd where Gorgon City and Rudimental will be playing a concert that will be streamed live in the air. There was a social media competition of their fans a few weeks to go where a lucky few were invited to go to that inaugural flight.
However, the first commercial flight is indeed LHR-BOS on October 28th.
an 787-8 or 787-9??? not clear as it’s described above as both.
Boring 787-9