Here is LATAM’s new business class
It’s a ‘mini-suite in the sky’, but not all LATAM jets will be upgraded...
By David Flynn, September 9 2024
South America’s LATAM isn’t the most consistent carrier when it comes to business class – the Chile-based airline still flies a mix of old and new business class on board its Boeing 787s.
Now there’s another new business class entering the mix: this time with sliding privacy doors, which have become almost a must-have for modern business class (although Emirates seems to disagree, having foregone doors on its own ‘Next-Gen’ 777 business class seats).
LATAM's new 787 business class.
LATAM’s latest 787 business class suites offer direct aisle access for every passenger, with a staggered layout in which:
- window seats are alternatively next to the aisle or next to the window
- middle seats are alternatively close together or apart, but always with a movable dividing panel between them
As a customised version of Recaro’s R7 platform, which Recaro calls a ‘mini-suite in the sky’, the LATAM 787 business suites are expected to feature high-tech touches such as USB-C and wireless charging, along with HD video screens with Bluetooth audio streaming through the LATAM Play inflight entertainment system.
LATAM's latest 787 business class will be built on Recaro’s R7 platform.
The US$360m investment will sweep across LATAM’s 24-strong fleet of Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners.
According to filings made by LATAM to the US Department of Transportation (as reported by PaxEx.aero), LATAM’s 787-8s will move from 30 business class seats in a 2-2-2 layout to 20 seats in the new 1-2-1 configuration.
LATAM’s larger and longer-range 787-9s will retain their 30-seat business class cabin.
LATAM's new 787 business class.
However, LATAM’s Boeing 767s and Boeing 777s won’t see these new seats – after all, they already boast a current-gen model with the same passenger-friendly 1-2-1 layout.
LATAM's current 767 and 777 business class.
Latin American blog Pontos pra Voar cites LATAM’s 787 business class upgrade timeline as starting in the first half of 2025 with the 787-8s.
There’s no word on when the upgrade program will move onto the newer 787-9 jetliners, which currently fly from Santiago to Sydney and Melbourne.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
18 May 2017
Total posts 37
These airline seats of today, even here in business class, look so hard and uncomfortable. I thought it was just in regular economy, but no, it is throughout the different cabin classes. Go back a few decades, I remember the seating to have a more softer fabric material and padding to be used where you actually sat into the seat rather than just on it. This is not a complaint against LATAM, as it seems that all carriers are using this type of seating nowadays.
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