Etihad has been making waves today with its Airbus A350 introduction, with many delighted to see the new aircraft in the skies at last. While the introduction of the A350 is reason enough to be excited, the launch of a brand new business class product doubles down on the fun.
But the A350-1000 is not the only place we’ll be seeing a new and improved business class product. Etihad’s Executive Director of Guest Experience Brand and Marketing exclusively revealed to Simple Flying in an interview today that the incoming Dreamliners will have a new and improved business class product too, one which is based on the Super Diamond seat we’ve seen on the A350 for the first time today.
Etihad has orders in for 71 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The order is between the -9 and the -10, with 41 of the former and 30 of the latter on the books. It has so far taken delivery of nine 787-10s and 30 787-9s, leaving 32 to be delivered. Some of those will be flown with a new business class product onboard.
Etihad’s Executive Director of Guest Experience Brand and Marketing Terry Daley spoke to us on board the inaugural A350 flight this morning and confirmed that ‘elements’ of the A350’s business class cabin would be taken through to the new incoming Dreamliners. Although he didn’t go into specifics, he did confirm that all seats would be forward-facing, rather than the ‘dovetail’ arrangement seen in today’s premium cabin.
Dreamliner Super Diamonds have been done before
The Super Diamond, as it is in the A350, would not be a great fit for the 787. However, the 787 has sported the Super Diamond, quite a few times actually. American Airlines, Air Canada, Aeromexico and Qatar, to name but a few, have installed the product in a 1-2-1 configuration on various versions of the 787.
But to drop what’s on the A350 straight into the 787 would be tricky, if not impossible. Posing this problem to Daley, he commented,
“We have a solution for that.”
It will be interesting to see what must be sacrificed in order to get the Super Diamond on the 787. Our money would be on some of the passenger experience modifications implemented by Etihad to stay – for example, the sliding door, the wireless charging and the bucketloads of storage space. In fact, most of the suite could stay, just with a reduced angle to allow for the 1-2-1 layout.
As Daley explained, the A350 is the poster child not just for having a great product itself, but also a showcase of where Etihad is going in the future. As Daley explained today,
“This is the launch of what our future products look like. So, we're here in business class right now, and this is about direct aisle access, privacy doors, and a wonderful ambience - it's very elegant and stylish. We’ve added features that probably aren't on that many airplanes like wireless charging, good, generous stowage, and the very smooth IFE screen as well. And of course, the beauty of being able to close the door for optimal privacy while you sleep.”
Ch-aviation lists one 787-10 set to be delivered soon, and at least four 787-9s that have had construction numbers assigned. Of course, the world is waiting on Boeing to begin delivering the Dreamliners once more, but once they do resume, we can start to look forward to a brand new business class product.