Virgin Atlantic has just announced plans to update the cabins of its Boeing 787-9s, which has to be one of the most overdue cabin overhauls out there, at least among reputable airlines. Separately, the Heathrow-based SkyTeam carrier has also revealed it will introduce free Starlink Wi-Fi.
Virgin Atlantic plans Boeing 787 cabin refreshes
Virgin Atlantic will be fully overhauling the cabins of its fleet of 17 Boeing 787-9s. With this project, we’ll see all classes of service full redesigned, with a completely new layout. In terms of the configuration, the plane will go from having 258 seats to having just 227 seats, representing a capacity reduction of 31 seats.
Here’s how the layout will be changed (unfortunately we’ll also see the famous inflight bar eliminated with this project):
- Business class (Upper Class) capacity will increase from 31 seats to 44 seats
- Premium economy (Premium) capacity will increase from 35 seats to 56 seats
- Economy capacity will decrease from 192 seats to 127 seats
The plan is for the new cabin design to be inspired by the Airbus A330-900neo fleet, so you can expect seats across cabins to be pretty similar, perhaps with some slightly upgraded tech (given how quickly technology changes).
In Upper Class, Virgin Atlantic’s A330neos have Vantage XL seats, which are staggered seats in a 1-2-1 layout.
Eight of the 44 seats will also be Retreat Suites, which are the front row business class seats featuring a bit more room, at an extra cost.
Virgin Atlantic is a lovely airline in general, though there’s no denying that the Dreamliners are not nearly as nice as the A330neos and A350s, and it’s also the carrier’s single most common aircraft type.
Virgin Atlantic’s 787s have herringbone seats in business class. These were cutting edge a couple of decades ago, but at this point, simply aren’t competitive.
Virgin Atlantic’s 787s are an average of 10 years old, with the first jet having joined the fleet in 2014. Even then, Virgin Atlantic’s herringbone business class was already quite outdated. But even now, those planes are still flying.
It’s interesting to see that Virgin Atlantic isn’t just updating these cabins to introduce new seats, but is also becoming significantly more premium in terms of the layout of the plane. That’s hardly surprising, and reflects a larger industry shift.
For what it’s worth, Virgin Atlantic has 10 more A330neos on order, and the airline has also announced that those will have a more premium layout, with 48 business class seats, 56 premium economy seats, and 128 economy seats (compared to 32, 46, and 184 seats, respectively).
We’ll have to patient for these new cabins, though
Virgin Atlantic updating its Boeing 787 cabins is exciting news, but when will it happen? Well, unfortunately we’re going to have to be patient. The project will only start in 2028, and is expected to be completed by 2030.
So expect that it’ll be around three years until the first of these reconfigured jets is flying, which is quite some time to wait.
On the one hand, that timeline isn’t too surprising, given current supply chain constraints, and I imagine that just reflects the lead time required. On the other hand, it’s frustrating that Virgin Atlantic has waited so long to make a decision, since virtually everyone has agreed for years that these cabins needed an update.
I guess Virgin Atlantic maybe wasn’t in a financial position to plan for its long term future a few years back, as the airline really struggled coming out of the coronavirus pandemic. I know at one point, the airline was also deciding how many of its Boeing 787s to keep long term. With the planes only getting new cabins by 2030, I think it’s safe to say that the planes are around to stay.
Bottom line
Virgin Atlantic will be refurbishing the cabins of its Boeing 787s, in a project that’s going to start in 2028 and wrap up in 2030. With this, we’ll see the airline introduce new seats, based on the Airbus A330neo cabins.
Not only will the cabin feel fresher, but it’ll also be a lot more premium, as Virgin Atlantic is massively increasing the size of its business class and premium economy cabins.
I’m happy to see this announcement, but I’ll be even happier over five years down the road, when the project is actually complete. 😉
What do you make of Virgin Atlantic’s plans for its Dreamliner fleet?
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