We recently travelled to Baltimore on a British Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Transatlantic flights can be tedious, and usually by the end (especially when flying back to the UK) I can’t wait to get off. However, on the Dreamliner I was comfortable, well fed and certainly well entertained by the inflight media system.
I used to swear by Virgin Atlantic as the best transatlantic carrier from the UK, but I must say my experience on-board a BA Dreamliner 787 set a new level. There was a little more leg room in World Traveller (economy); also the seatbelts were longer than usual, allowing you to close them over a blanket if you wanted to sleep. The overhead bins are 30% bigger for hold baggage than the Boeing 777. Alas this meant that some passengers brought on-board luggage the size of a steamer trunk! Yes, this is a criticism – it doesn’t take long to pick up a case from the carousel.
The British Airways cabin staff were brilliant and they certainly went the extra mile, especially for our 8 year old Toby. He didn’t like his grown up dinner on our return flight. A steward noticed this and took him to first class to raid the chocolate, crisps and biscuits for him and big-sis!
The entertainment system was fabulous and I retreated into my own little world and watched three films back to back on each leg of the trip. The children watched (and loved) the latest Ghostbusters movie, along with Trolls, Storks and the BFG. My wife watched Absolutely Fabulous and Bridget Jones’ Baby (again!), along with Ghostbusters. I too really enjoyed Ghostbusters, and also Magnificent Seven (new one), Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Terminator, The Usual Suspects and other ‘golden oldies.
Tracey and Toby discovered Battleships and Tetris on their screens too, so I noticed them being played frequently as I sat behind them. Tracey was particularly taken by the navigation map that plotted our location, told us what what height/speed/outside temp we were travelling at. You could zoom in to see what cities you were flying over, and zoom out to see the entire journey to work out how far you’d travelled.
Another notable mention were the restrooms. The Dreamliner has the largest toilets I have ever come across on a flight! Especially the bulkhead ones. No more reversing in and being pinned against the wall as you close the door!
The Dreamliner is one of the most advanced long-haul, mid-size wide-body, dual-aisle, twin-engine jet to be launched in recent years. First entering service in October 2011 the aircraft is 60% less noisy than other planes of its size and range. The Dreamliner 787 fuselage is manufactured from lightweight composite materials that allow it to use less fuel. It can fly 15,200 km without refuelling. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is much more environmentally friendly: it has low nitrogen dioxide emissions. It carries around 250 passengers in comfort to the majority of long-haul destinations without refuelling.
Our time spent on a Dreamliner 787, to and from Balimore, US, was a positive experience. We would definitely fly with BA, on this plane, again.
