Airbus A380 vs. Boeing 787 Dreamliner

You are correct. Forgot about the China Eastern. IIRC, China Southern is in midst of converting to the angled seats for their biz-class too. I am never much of a fan of ANA. Don't get me wrong, they try really hard; sort of like Hertz vs. Budget on the car rental world; some of their flight attendants do put in extra efforts to make the passengers feel special. But ANA's cabin config are always weird (as noted by you) and their schedules often conflict with their most ideal connecting flights; sometimes even at the wrong airport. There's an inside joke about ANA's name in Japanese which renders them never able to reach the top; but that's another story...

 

Hong Kong Airlines just took delivery of an A350 yesterday; the first of their 21 A350 fleet. Hopefully, I'll get to try it in the not-so-distant future. Regrets for the OT.

 

That's what I read about ANA, it's a mix bag but most of the negativity is towards the J cabin. I'll be flying ANA in Nov to Tokyo/Sydney but unfortunately for me my plane got switched to the 788 with the infamous cradle seats to and from YVR.

 

I don't know too much about HK airlines, they sorta popped up in YVR with Jackie Chan lol. Have you flown the CX A350 yet? Which A380 cabin did you fly?

^HK Airlines is relatively new. They started servicing the SE Asia region but had recently expanded to YVR. I would not recommend them on long-haul flights as their business model is based on a budget airliner. Perhaps a short flight from HK to Bangkok and only when the plane is new; beyond that, I'll pass. Nope, have not tried the CX's A350's yet. I was on Korean Air's A380 Prestige Class (biz class which takes up the entire upper deck).

^HK Airlines is relatively new. They started servicing the SE Asia region but had recently expanded to YVR. I would not recommend them on long-haul flights as their business model is based on a budget airliner. Perhaps a short flight from HK to Bangkok and only when the plane is new; beyond that, I'll pass. Nope, have not tried the CX's A350's yet. I was on Korean Air's A380 Prestige Class (biz class which takes up the entire upper deck).

 

That's what I thought about HK Airlines because there fares are fairly cheap.

 

Oh really, I actually flew the Korean A380 in Feb from Seoul to Sydney. The J cabin on my flight was 20% full so the upper deck was basically empty with a few people sprinkled all around the cabin. Surprisingly with such a lightt load the service was top notch.

Oh really, I actually flew the Korean A380 in Feb from Seoul to Sydney. The J cabin on my flight was 20% full so the upper deck was basically empty with a few people sprinkled all around the cabin. Surprisingly with such a lightt load the service was top notch.

 

My flight was quite a bit shorter so it was quite full. Korean Air's service on their international route has always been satisfactory; can't say the same on their domestic routes but I guess that applies elsewhere too. Have you flown on Japan Airlines before?

My flight was quite a bit shorter so it was quite full. Korean Air's service on their international route has always been satisfactory; can't say the same on their domestic routes but I guess that applies elsewhere too. Have you flown on Japan Airlines before?

 

I had no issues with the service on Korean but I did have an issue with the pilots smoking, lol. I've read pilots smoking is somewhat common among some Asian based carriers.

 

No, I haven't flown JAL yet but I would love to experience their sky suite. Have you flown them?

No, I haven't flown JAL yet but I would love to experience their sky suite. Have you flown them?

 

Perhaps more often than I care to admit. The Sky Suite is nice as long as you are not claustrophobic as it's almost an enclosed cubical with privacy being ensured. You also won't get disturbed by your neighbours getting in/out of their seats and vice versa. The 23" screen is nice. The coolest thing is a control pad which resembles a smartphone complete with touch screen display. Aside from controling the movies & tunes, it also display the full menu of drinks, snacks and meals. You use that to place your order of food & drinks at you own chosen time (including the major meals) and the attendant will deliver your order after a few minutes. The same applies if you wish to patronize their duty-free goods as well. You can even order them gift-wrapped. The supplied cotton PJ's and sweater that you can change into are also a nice touch.

 

Regrets Fellippe for going OT on your thread.

 

Perhaps more often than I care to admit. The Sky Suite is nice as long as you are not claustrophobic as it's almost an enclosed cubical with privacy being ensured. You also won't get disturbed by your neighbours getting in/out of their seats and vice versa. The 23" screen is nice. The coolest thing is a control pad which resembles a smartphone complete with touch screen display. Aside from controling the movies & tunes, it also display the full menu of drinks, snacks and meals. You use that to place your order of food & drinks at you own chosen time (including the major meals) and the attendant will deliver your order after a few minutes. The same applies if you wish to patronize their duty-free goods as well. You can even order them gift-wrapped. The supplied cotton PJ's and sweater that you can change into are also a nice touch.

 

Regrets Fellippe for going OT on your thread.

 

Nah, it's fine dude. I enjoy hearing about all the various airlines and how they configure planes!

 

This description above of JAL is very nice. I just looked at some pics, it's pretty plush.

 

I wonder if anyone will have the courage to do an entire plane as 1st/Business Class?

Perhaps more often than I care to admit. The Sky Suite is nice as long as you are not claustrophobic as it's almost an enclosed cubical with privacy being ensured. You also won't get disturbed by your neighbours getting in/out of their seats and vice versa. The 23" screen is nice. The coolest thing is a control pad which resembles a smartphone complete with touch screen display. Aside from controling the movies & tunes, it also display the full menu of drinks, snacks and meals. You use that to place your order of food & drinks at you own chosen time (including the major meals) and the attendant will deliver your order after a few minutes. The same applies if you wish to patronize their duty-free goods as well. You can even order them gift-wrapped. The supplied cotton PJ's and sweater that you can change into are also a nice touch.

 

Regrets Fellippe for going OT on your thread.

 

 

Awesome overview and it actually sounds like a F cabin rather than a J cabin with all the amenities that are offered. And I can't remember any airline I've flown recently that offers PJ's and sweaters in J, pretty impressive. I definitely have to try out JAL at some point.

My trip to Tokyo -> Sydney from couple weeks ago aboard ANA's 787. Stayed in Tokyo for 5 days, Sydney for 2.

 

The first leg was on the 788 which had the cradle seats (see below). Awful seats for a long haul flight because it's impossible to sleep if you're 6ft+ but plenty of leg room.

 

 

Second leg was the 789, much better seats, more private and lie flat. One thing I noticed on both aircraft's was the lack of seat storage. Barely any seat storage to store your items.

 

 

Live TV:

 

 

Overall I was very happy with the service I received from ANA. The planes were in immaculate condition and the FA's were extremely friendly. In fact they were so friendly they randomly gave me and my wife some ANA keychains which was a nice gesture.

 

 

 

 

Bonus picture from my room at the Peninsula in Tokyo with an amazing view of the Imperial Palace. Had a wonderful time in what has to be one of my fav cities in the world.

 

 

Tokyo is fantastic!

I did a few long hauls recently. All of them are done economy, btw, because frankly, I can't afford the $5-10K increase in costs of a vacation for the flights vs economy. I'd rather spend it at the destination then on the way there. Anyhow.

 

October 2016: Montreal to Doha; Doha to J-Burg, South Africa. 777ERs the whole time. Great experience, as always on the 777. Probably my favorite long haul plane. Qatar Airways service and planes were top notch, so was the Doha airport actually.

 

Cape town to Doha (787); Doha to Montreal (777ER). The 787 leg was my first trip in the 787. I was very impressed with the lighting at first, and how silent it was on takeout. The experience was actually very good on that trip. It seemed like the seats were quite comfortable, screen/infotainment was much better than average. Ride was quite uneventful. The 777 leg of the trip was probably the longest I've ever done (Doha to Montreal with headwinds was around 13-14 hours non-stop). The 777 really shined here... I came out of the plane as fresh as you could be after sitting for 14 hours in an economy seat. I was pleasantly surprised from that aspect. Service, once again, was top notch from Qatar Airways.

 

November 2017: Montreal to Casablanca; Casablanca to Marrakech. Same but reversed to come back. 787s for the long flights. I don't know if it was the Royal Air Maroc configuration but I thought the seating was cramped AF compared to Qatar Airways. It was not a super pleasant flight from comfort levels (and the food was atrocious; I'm not a whiner honestly so coming from me tells you a lot on that aspect). Nothing really overly positive about the airline or the experience. The 787 was super silent, as always, on takeoff, but I felt more beat up than on the big recent 777 trips I've made.

 

I've actually never flown first or business class yet so looking forward to report when I do!!

^Qatar and Emirates are likely the most luxurious commercial airliners for the public at the moment. Your trip sounds adventurous!

 

 

ANA, as mentioned from the previous page, is like Hertz in the car rental world (as oppose to JAL being Budget). They always have the "we ain't #1 but we sure damn try" mindset so they have their own strong clientele base. Their domestic flights are better though; some are better than JAL in fact by using larger and newer planes. Their international routes, however, have pretty weird schedules.

 

In all honesty, I am not a fan of the 787. As afore-said, I see it as a 21st century version of the 767. It has its merits but it's not THE plane to be in for long-haul flights.

 

Has anyone flown on an Airbus A350 yet? I haven't so I don't know what it's like. But judging from its exterior appearance, it is one beautiful looking aircraft. The curved and swept-back wings, the cockpit window etc... Many denounced the A380's appearance as compared to Boeing's 747-8 & 9 which I tend to agree. But the A350 is simply gorgeous. Would love to hear from those who had flown in one. Would be interesting to compare this to the 787.

^Qatar and Emirates are likely the most luxurious commercial airliners for the public at the moment. Your trip sounds adventurous!

 

 

ANA, as mentioned from the previous page, is like Hertz in the car rental world (as oppose to JAL being Budget). They always have the "we ain't #1 but we sure damn try" mindset so they have their own strong clientele base. Their domestic flights are better though; some are better than JAL in fact by using larger and newer planes. Their international routes, however, have pretty weird schedules.

 

In all honesty, I am not a fan of the 787. As afore-said, I see it as a 21st century version of the 767. It has its merits but it's not THE plane to be in for long-haul flights.

 

Has anyone flown on an Airbus A350 yet? I haven't so I don't know what it's like. But judging from its exterior appearance, it is one beautiful looking aircraft. The curved and swept-back wings, the cockpit window etc... Many denounced the A380's appearance as compared to Boeing's 747-8 & 9 which I tend to agree. But the A350 is simply gorgeous. Would love to hear from those who had flown in one. Would be interesting to compare this to the 787.

 

 

You're already seeing airlines use the 787 on 12+ hour routes and it's only going to get worst when Emirates receives their 787's. Also the 787-10 is going to enter service soon so you know airlines will convert them to high density long haul sardine cans. And news keeps on getting worst because Boeing is looking to start production again for the pax 767 which stopped a few years ago.

 

That been said, my flights on the 787 were under 10 hours, HND-YVR was less than 8 hours so it wasn't bad. A few things I did like about the 787 was the lower cabin pressure, larger dimming windows and much quieter engines which made for a quite cabin.

 

I'll be flying the SIA A350 in Feb, looking forward to the aircraft and also the J product on SIA which I've read is pretty outstanding.

I am with VCR, I did not enjoy the 787 the ride was so bumpy, I need something with more flex LOL

So just booked EK F from LAX-DXB-MXP in March. I've flown J on EK but first time flying F. Hopefully it lives up to the hype.

 

Once in Milan I'm going to visit Lambo HQ and check out the new tour for owners plus visit the ad personam studio before I submit my ad personam specs. Also going to take a side trip and check out the Geneva motor show.

I am with VCR, I did not enjoy the 787 the ride was so bumpy, I need something with more flex LOL

 

Not sure if serious.

 

 

The 787 is probably the most flexy airplane ever built.

 

If your ride was bumpy it was more global warming's fault than the airplane you were riding in.

Not sure if serious.

 

The 787 is probably the most flexy airplane ever built.

 

If your ride was bumpy it was more global warming's fault than the airplane you were riding in.

 

I don't think Fortis meant the physical flexibility of the 787 but rather its resilience and resistance to turbulence. The fact that it's so light that it's subjected to react to the lightest unstable air whereas planes like the 747-400 and the A380 are so big and heavy that they will cruise through minor rough air like it is literally non-existent.

Did anyone see the new suites on Singapore Airline's A380?

 

It is a bit bigger than Emirate's first class and if you have two tickets side by side, you can roll the partition down for a full size bed with partner.

 

Will try to get the video.

 

http://uk.businessinsider.com/expert-revie...e-suite-2017-12

I don't think Fortis meant the physical flexibility of the 787 but rather its resilience and resistance to turbulence. The fact that it's so light that it's subjected to react to the lightest unstable air whereas planes like the 747-400 and the A380 are so big and heavy that they will cruise through minor rough air like it is literally non-existent.

 

This, thank you VCR

 

StoleIt when the 787 was flying smooth it was the best ride ever for me but when it started shaking it was very unpleasant and annoying and it was behaving like that most of the time, the A380 on the other hand was very smooth, not many things seem to unsettle that plane, it feels extremely robust.

 

Side note, I hate flying and I am kind of on the edge all the time so I pay attention to every minuscule detail LOL