Air Canada: first hints of new Boeing 787 business class

Air Canada is preparing a next-generation business class for its Boeing 787 jets with a spacious ‘business plus’ suite at the front of the cabin.

That detail comes from a layout for the Boeing 787-10 revealed at the Star Alliance member’s 2024 Investor Day held earlier this week, where Air Canada talked up its shift towards a “premium product leadership position.”

On its aircraft, this will take the form of new seating layouts to “reflect our focus on premium revenue” by an “increase (in) premium seating capacity” and “new layouts to optimize revenue.”

Showcasing the layout of its forthcoming Boeing 787-10 jets, due from 2026, Air Canada revealed the first row of its Signature Class business class cabin boasts additional space compared to the seats behind.

Air Canada's Boeing 787-10 layout (left) vs that of the 787-9 (right).

This suggests Air Canada will follow the lead of several other airlines – including Air New Zealand, JetBlue, Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic – in transforming the first row of the business class cabin into a series of upgraded suites.

These ‘business plus’ suites give passengers more privacy, more space, more features, ranging from personal wardrobes to bigger video screens and dining for two.

Travellers have to pay for this privilege, of course, with airlines adding a special surcharge on top of the standard business class fare.

For example, Air New Zealand will sell its 787 Business Premier Luxe suites “as a buy-up product at NZ$820” for long-range flights.

Air New Zealand's 787 Business Premier Luxe suite.

Each of the suites will offer:

• full privacy, with a sliding partition between the suite and the aisle
• additional space where passengers can stretch out
• a ‘buddy seat’ where a companion can sit and share a meal, a glass of wine or a game of cards
• a larger meal table, also made with companion dining in mind
• ‘exclusive’ accessories such as a Merino wool throw

Lufthansa’s take on a front row ‘business plus’ product is the Allegris Business Class Suite, for which travellers will pay ‘from €400’ extra on long-range flights.

Lufthansa's A350 Allegris business class suite.

Then there are the two centrally-located Retreat Suites on each of Virgin Atlantic’s A330neo jets.

Virgin Atlantic's A330neo Retreat Suite.

Each Retreat Suite combines a 2m bed with a 27” screen, massive legroom, additional storage space, and companion dining, all for an additional £200 on routes between London and the US.

Air Canada says its Boeing 787-10s will have 11 rows of 42 business class seats compared to the eight row 30-seat Signature Class cabin of the 787-9, for a 40% uplift in that class.

(There’ll also be an additional row of premium economy, up from 21 to 28 seats for a 33% increase in capacity.)

The 787-10s are expected to debut a new Signature Class to close the gap against other airlines which are adopting doored private suites, large 4K HD screens with streaming Bluetooth audio, wireless charging and other mod cons.

Part of this will be what Mark Nasr, Air Canada’s Executive Vice President Marketing and Digital, last year described to Executive Traveller as “a new design standard for our cabins, our interiors, our lounges, really for all facets of our customer-facing experience.”

Air Canada's new 'Glowing Hearted' design standard.

The Air Canada investor deck desctribes this as a “New Glowing Hearted design standard (which) will elevate the customer experience throughout the entire journey.”

The Star Alliance member launched its current Signature Class seats in mid-2018, with flatbed business class pods based on the popular Collins Aerospace Super Diamond platform.

Air Canada says it's time for a new Signature Class.

Collins has since evolved that product line into the Elements suite, which combines sliding privacy doors with improved passenger space and amenity, and appears on the Starlux Airbus A350 and Etihad Airways’ newest Boeing 787s.

Etihad's new Boeing 787 business class seat is based on the Elements successor to the Super Diamond used by Air Canada.

Of course, there’s no shortage of alternatives from seat-makers in a highly-competitive market estimated to be worth some US$10 billion annually.

Air Canada is also developing a single-aisle Signature Class for its forthcoming Airbus A321XLR jets due from 2025, with those suites being developed by London-based studio Acumen and the airline’s in-house design team.