Qatar Airways: New Business Class seat for new 787-9s announced

There has been a lot of speculation around the choice of seat, as the 787-9 body, although only a few inches narrower than the A350 and the B777, apparently is too narrow to accommodate the existing QSuite seats. Its also speculated that they needed a lighter product, and this, the Adient Ascent business class seat with doors fits the bill.

Here’s the promo video for the seat from Adient:

Obviously it has been tailored to Qatar’s textures and brand colour scheme.

About

The configuration is 1-2-1, herringbone with seats that recline into a 2 metre (200cm/79″) bed – which is pretty good. Notionally you get a double bed in the centre seats – but that only counts if you tend to sleep head to head at an angle!

“The new Business Class Suite sets yet another industry standard with a uniquely private experience for premium passengers travelling with us, which is becoming increasingly valuable during this pandemic, while showcasing Qatar Airways’ 5-star standards of excellence and Qatari hospitality that are quintessential on all of our flights.”

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al-Baker

Certification for this seat only occurred earlier this year, which may account for the reported delays. Other airlines that intend to use this Adient product include Hawaiian and it is rumoured – American Airlines on their 787-9s. So while Qatar and Al-Akbar might be able to boast about its ‘uniqueness’ at the moment, that won’t last for long.

The seats are very customisable. Have a look at this video which shows that you can even make this seating system staggered or even with a combination of herringbone and reverse herringbone:

I’m not sure that these new seats will be better than QSuites, but they will be a step up from the current seats, because they have doors!

Routes

No need to get too excited. We won’t be seeing these new 787-9 planes here in Australia for a while. They are being initially scheduled for European, and one Asian route out of Doha:

• Barcelona (BCN) from July 13, 2021
• Kuala Lumpur (KUL) from July 6, 2021
• Madrid (MAD) from July 1, 2021
• Milan (MXP) from June 25, 2021

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

I’m not a huge Dreamliner fan, and would far prefer to travel on an A380 (no chance at the moment) or an A350, but this seat will lessen my regret at being assigned to a B787-9.