First photos: Qantas Boeing 787 premium economy seats

Unfortunately it looks like the revolution has failed.  This looks OK but it is hardly revolutionary.  It doesn't progress the W product past what is already offered by airlines such as SQ, doesn't have the legroom of VA and is nowhere near as innovative as what AF has put on their 789s.  Overall it is a bit disappointing.

It seems to be a good step forward but not revolutionary. QANTAS set the expectations too high by calling it revolutionary.

A swing and a miss.
38 inches of leg room?? Going to be difficult for those in the window seat and middle seat to get out. yuck.
Using the business toilets? Now know not to get a seat in the second business cabin!
Nice design. But not revolutionary. 

Still prefer the VA premium option - need those few extra inches for comfort.

Had to get that nasty burnt orange in there somewhere. Oh well they spared the armrests from it. Not exiting - It would be VA for me. Now that VA are direct LA from Melbourne soon I can avoid the very unreliable A380 with dated Business class and inconsistent cabin crew

I like the look of them in aesthetic terms. However the pitch and leg room are a bit disappointing. I'm staggered at the toilet situation as well especially on long haul! It's not a bad product and the proof is in trying it out, hard to know true comfort levels without sitting in the seat!, but it's not as amazing as expected. 

After such a build up and so much hype, that looks disappointing and incredibly tight. It will be interesting to see people try and get out of hte window seat

Wow.. what a crashing disappointment.  Talk about over promising and under delivering.  At 38 inch the experience is going to feel a lot less than premium when the person in front traps you in your seat for hours on end. The extended shroud around the seat probably only serving to increase the claustrophobia when it comes back in your face.  Both VA and Air NZ has markedly superior products here.

Hard to comment without actually flying in it, but agree this is certainly not revolutionary. Legroom is disappointing. 

Looks like a great seat and an improvement on what is in the market now. But by promising revolutionary i think they were going to fail with anything less that an angled or lie flat bed. 

I think QF oversold this a bit, but it looks like one of those things where the proof will really be in how it feels.

A fully supported cradle-like position is the most ideal position for premium economy, in my opinion, and even AirNZ's new seats (with 42 or so inches of pitch) don't really accomplish that.  It looks like these seats might, so I am cautiously optimistic.

Nothing "revolutionary" except of big screen and yes, I rather have few inches less screen and few inches more legroom. Also they do recline back in face of rear passenger. Though "lazy Z' may be quite comfy for day flight.

I err on that the seat would need to be tried to be understood. But so far it looks like a fail, there are so many ways they could have created a "value" sleeping seat which remains distinctly inferior to business. 

I am curious to know though, did they test it by having people sit in the prototype for 17 hours?

Much moaning on the board today. Proof of the pudding or rather the sitting in the seat. Until then its all conjecture. Being a QFF fanboy I'm looking forward to trying it. 

This would be good enough for a 3 hr flight. but anything longer...

I can see the design hints from their exceptional A330 business class seat in this PE seat here but it is a shame about the leg room. I am worried about the hopping over the other passenger aspect when the seats are reclined during the middle of the night. Otherwise the product looks slick, just not revolutionary.

Lack of decent extra space between seats is a deal breaker for me.

I still hate the thought of someone reclining into my space, that's why I love the Air NZ PE Spaceseat, well for as long as it continues ot be around anyway.

Nothing really revolutionary about this new seat at all. In fact by the figures they provide there are many other seats currently being used by other airlines with 1. more leg room 2. better recline 3. better use of a foot rest. Poor effort Qantas! The worst part is they will jack up the price and make it double the price of the original premium economy.

At first glance this looks like it would be okay if you had the front row in PE, but looking closer at the seat map it appears there are bassinets on both outboard pairs. I don't know how they are going to manage the IFE screens, cubbyhole and footrest if this is the case. Perhaps back to in-arm screens ??

Come on Qantas, seriously your toilets for Business Class pax is becoming an insulting joke. Please gather your brains trust and re-visit that again. Paying Business Class passengers shouldn't have to queue behind Premium Economy pax to go to the toilet. This is especially an issue with pyjamas needing to be put on and taken off. I thought this aircraft was being configured for the ultra long hauls.....so far fail from lav perspective and Premium Economy seat pitch of 38". You got Business class and Economy seats right however, which is some saving grace.

Not as revolutionary as Qantas had originally claimed. It's probably a step up from its current design, but the seat pitch leaves much to be desired. 

Thanks QF... always behind the 8 ball! nothing revolutionary about it and having to share the Lavs with business when they only have 3 toilets - not acceptable. Looks like Virgin Australia for pacific routes and Qatar or Emirates for Atlantic routes and Singapore for Asian routes for me. 

Upgrade the A380's with new product as is likely to happen and give me the A380 over the 787 all day!! The feeling of so much more space.

Am in agreement with 'RealKid'.  Slightly overhyped, (but hey, that's nothing new in the world of advertising),  Of course my 'judgement' (at the moment) can only be based on pics and descriptions/info provided. So on that basis, I like the features/design/look of this seat, but as stated, 'the proof will really be how it feels'/performs. The same 'space' can be manipulated/used to achieve better efficiencies than previous 'versions' of that space.  Anyway, that's my 2cents worth.

Looks good and will be interesting to try, which I'm doing out of LA in Dec (going up in economy to compare the difference).  The bottom line is it's Premium Economy not Cheap Business, and I think people get hung up expecting far too much from what essentially is just a level above cattle class. Like so many things I'd suggest people give it a go before launching into criticisms from an untried perspective. But people do like a good whinge...

As a self-paying Business and First Class international traveller, I can't accept the paucity of toilets for J Class on such a long haul flight. I'll be giving the 787 a miss.

The concept of PE using lavs in J is fine, much more sensible than PE going to Y, BUT only if there are sufficient lavs in J.  3 lavs to 70 premium passengers ?

Finally someone has figured out that you can create extra seat width just by lowering the outer armrests!  I don't know why this isn't a standard feature, especially in economy where every cm counts.

I think the help of inclining the backrest of the seat to certain level, then the inner seat itself recline more and elevates the position and angle your body it makes a big difference, because you don't recline the backrest too much as LH, AC or BA but the inner seat reclines more and angle to give a great Lazy Z position... I think is an improved version of AF, NH, JL has today...the reclining in those seats is not very comfortable... here it looks much better. The main issue for me is the 38" of legroom... I think should be a bit more to make it mroe comfortable for those on windows and middle seats. Not sure yet... probably will love to have a window seat but with this one probably only in the Bulkhead only for a very long flight...otherwise the aisle.

What an absolute let down, I desperately want to support Qantas but they don't make it easy... 

Simply not enough pitch, and the lav situation is a real concern. As for the seat, well as feared it's not a revolution. However, I think It needs to be tried first before the ultimate judgement can be made. A valiant effort, however an increase of a few inches in the pitch and an extra lav (things that are pretty easy to address) would have made it a knock out. Oh and I like the tv screen!

Nah. Doesn't do it for me. Looks cramped and you still get assholes reclining their seat backs into your space. Will stick to Business Class. And has anyone else noticed how HARD cabin interiors are these days with all the plastic mouldings and faux-metal plastic trims and whatnot and office-like decor? Call me old-fashioned but I yearn for the good old days of big fat squashy seats that were like a little island you sank into. That's flying luxury to me.

It looks fine, and having a foot rest is excellent. I'm a biggish size person, however, and older, and having the ability to extend my legs fully means I will always fly business or first on flights greater than 7-8 hours. 

Wonder if this W seat will become the "revolutionary" new QF Domestic J Class seat in time?

Disappointing. 

I like the lazy Z concept, sitting in one in a backyard recently made me a convert. So that's clever, but if you are going to have a reclining seat in front of you then surely more legroom is needed. Couldn't the lazy Z concept have worked with the seat sliding down within a shell?

The only real problem I see is the layout of the toilets but other than that it looks like a good Premium Economy product. Standard legroom, above-standard width, cradle recline and generous seat amenity. Not revolutionary but certainly an upgrade over the current product..

This looks quite similar to CX's 'regional business class' - which is average...! 

Someone might be able to answer this but with the space reserved for premium economy would they have been able to fit an angled flat bed like EK 777's or even the old VA A330's/current FJ A330's?

Joyce has been listening too much to his marketing guys.   Certainly not "revolutionary"   Biggest fault is that the seat reclines.   Unlike JAL whose PE seat reclines within its own space, therefore not intruding on the passenger behind.   Back to the drawing boards. 

I quite like these seats. Maintains differentiation between classes and focuses on width and ergonomics. Considering they gave an extra in of pitch for Y  I would of thought having this cabin at 40in would have been better as it sounds much better and takes into account the seat recline.  I wonder if it was kept at 38 because any more would not allow the best use of the legrest. An extra 8 inches surely would be easy to facilitate.

Premium economy needs an upgrade or price decrease as the current offering on most airlines isn't worth the large price jump from an exit row economy seat & gets too close to business.

So the footrest is "latched" onto the seat in front. I wonder how "strong" the latch is because if you need to forcefully push the footrest to store it, it's going to annoying for the person in front as the seat shakes while you move the footrest around.

Not sure if this has already been suggested, but perhaps the reason the seat isn't too revolutionary is that QF don't want to canibalise their Business Class demand. This PE product is good but it won't make many people want to trade down from Business especially now that Business offers direct aisle access for everyone. 

I like where they were going, but they ultimately screwed it up with the legroom, and foot rest.

Sorry but the original PE product is a much better design (I'll miss it), especially when it comes to shoulder width. Those side wings on the new PE don't allow your shoulders and chest/arms to spread out, especially if your tall. In regards to recline? I'm stunned they didn't copy the Japan Airlines/Air France type of PE, whereby, the seat retracts down and not back. So not that revolutionary. 

The more I look at it, the better I like it. Qantas have come up with the goods on the Business Suite so I'm prepared to extend the same confidence to this new product. Hard, though, to make a judgement call on something that really needs to be experienced. I like the drop down armrests. I'm guessing this makes it easy to swing legs into the aisle to allow someone to exit next to you. 

Agree with all the comments above regarding aesthetics, over promising under delivering and can't judge it properly until fluing in it etc etc. 

The lazy Z  compared to the market it is some what revolutionary. I think it is great. PE is designed more for passengers going up from economy rather than down from Business. A fixed shell would have been better at that pitch though. Looking forward to trying it out

I can't believe that they have repeated the same mistake that Air NZ initially made with their genuinely revolutionary SpaceSeat. Too little pitch between rows destroying a promising design.

Complete and utter waste of time and energy.  Why do they even bother.  They just don't get the message - LEGROOM, LEGROOM, LEGROOM.  This is basically no better than what cattle class used to be just a few years ago.  On a long flight you need to be able to get out of your seat, to go to the bathroom, to stretch your legs etc.  Well nigh impossible with this stupid seat. Granted it will be marginally more comfortable that Cattle, but at the price, it is not worth it.  I am bitterly disappointed.  Been saving my QFF points for a trip to London for my partner and I. Can only manage enough for 2 PE seats - provided they don't "improve" the QFF scheme before then.  That dream has gone up in smoke, unless the A380 is better.  I won't ever being doing the 18 hour flight from Perth, but I would still struggle with the 13½ hours to Dubai etc.  One can only hope we get some new enlightened management at Qantas soon.

Nice but not a revolutionary product - an totally agree that 38 inch pitch just doesn't cut it on ultra long haul flights. For the sake of an extra two inches they've disappointed many rather than wowing them. :-(

I guess the negativity of a lot of comments confirms it was oversold.  There is definitely some worthy innovation there with the Z seat concept, which seems to be overlooked because it doesn't measure up to expectations set by the "revolutionary" claim.  Being a taller person, I often find that features such as foot rests do not provide any comfort gain.  If the footrest on this seat has some element of adjustment, maybe it will work for the longer legs.   I have reservations about knee clearance as the seat base pitches up and the seat in front reclines back.  It would be informative to see a 2.1m (or even 2m) person in there with all the seats reclined.  Happy to volunteer! 

Business has lost amenity with this configuration. PE will be difficult for people squished behind fully reclined seats especially those not on an aisle and Economy has been fitted with the extra narrow 3-3-3 configuration. What a sad undermining of what might have been.

The 2 class JAL configuration would be much better: Business with its own lavatories, no PE and decent Economy with 2-4-2 perhaps at a slightly higher price but people who see advantage in non-stop ultra long distance flights would pay for that convenience.

As it is with PE on board Qantas have had to create a reason for  the PE price point by making Economy uncomfortable and a reason for the Business price point by making PE unattractive, but still make Business share its lavatories. All for just three rows of PE.

Looks like the Qantas 787 will be an aircraft to avoid for all three classes.

As someone who pays for his own flights and loves Qantas, this looks great, and I do like the "Z" seating as well as the foot rest. However, the price gap between PE and Economy is too large to justify the personal expenditure - PE is about $4000 when Economy is around $1400. At this point, as much as I despise United, I'd purchase Economy on their 787 then pay $200 to upgrade to Economy Plus and enjoy the extra leg room and Wi-Fi (which is quite good). 

QF needs to add 1 more toilet for business class and add an extra 3 inches for pitch to 41. 

Glad to see a reasonable foot rest, which is sorely missing in the current PE. Ergonomics and support will tell the tale, and that will require an actual test-run before judgement.