At the end of June 2016 I was able to enjoy Air Canada's 787 Business class product from Vancouver to London Heathrow. As always I made a video trip report of it.
https://youtu.be/Vz9np265Frg
and here is the classic trip report format.
I had just arrived on a dash 8 from Seattle which was a short hop, but we had been delayed in departing and that gave me just just thirty minutes to clear Canadian immigration and make it to this flight, thankfully someone met us from the Seattle flight and got us through customs quickly in order to make this flight.
This would be my first time flying the 787-8, I have flown the 787-9 a few times, which Air Canada also operates. It was nice that the business class cabin had just 20 seats on this short version of the dreamliner, Air Canada's 787- has 30 seats, So my first impression is that this would make the cabin a bit more exclusive.
I was able to take a quick picture of our plane before I boarded
Upon entering the cabin and turning left I was greeted and directed to my seat, I had picked seat 2A for today's flight which gave me direct aisle and window access.
I really do love this business class seat, it's almost the same as the reverse herringbone seat, but I do find the seat with Air Canada to be a little bit better for storage.
The cabin was near full when I got on the plane and I sat down quickly and took some pictures and made myself comfortable, the crew then came around and asked me what I would like to drink, I went with some champagne which is something I always like to enjoy before a flight.
Here are some pictures of the seat area,
To my left are the electronic seat controls and light controls
I had a nice large TV screen
Legroom was fantastic with additional lower storage space to my left
For some bizarre reason I was given in ear headphones to start with and also a bit later another pair of noise cancelling headphones, not sure why.
I then checked out the amenity kit,
The actual amenity kit case was the best part of the amenity kit, the contents were a bit lackluster and nothing special or outstanding.
Before we pushed back I took a good look over the menu and the crew came by and asked me what I would like to order. Here is a look over the menu.
Breakfast was listed on a separate menu and you could fill it out and pass it back to the crew and it would be served 75 minutes before arrival.
Here is a quick look at our flight path today, we would be flying high over Canada on this late June day, meaning that the flight would be light out for most of the way.
We pushed back just 10 minutes late and I caught a glimpse of Qantas 747, which did surprise me, as I did not know that Qantas flew non-stop to Vancouver.
We then passed a lot more Air Canada 787's waiting to depart.
It was a short taxi to the runway and the General Electric GEnx-1B powered up and we took off into smooth skies as the sun was setting. It was a really nice sunset departure.
About an hour into the flight the dinner service started, it was fairly dark inside the cabin, so I apologize for the night time pictures.
To kick things off I was given the usual hot towel to freshen up with,
I then had another glass of champagne to start with,
and that was served with some warmed cashews
So far the flight had been incredibly smooth and the sun had been setting most of the way, which made for some nice views out of the window, even though it was a night flight, it remained light outside the entire way.
I'm not a big fan of eating during turbulence, but as it was a nice smooth ride today I decided to try out all the dishes.
To start with I had the Smoked trout Nicoise salad with roasted garlic aioli.
The salad was OK, a bit more crisp than the normal wilted dead salad I get to enjoy, however the trout was very fishy, I mean I know its fish, but it was a bit too fishy for my taste.
So I did have my fingers crossed As I had ordered the Salmon for my main course.
The salmon was very tasted and I enjoyed the potatoes and Bok-Choy that came with it, overall it was a very well cooked main dish.
I then had the cheese plate to follow up and accompanied it with the Dow's port from Portugal which smooth and sweet.
The three cheeses on the plate are Oka, Camembert & Medium cheddar.
The main part of dinner service finished up about three hours into the flight and at this point we were almost over Churchill.
After finishing dinner I decided to check out the IFE and watched deadpool, which I have seen before, but I found it a bit more fun than the normal Marvel / DC films that have been coming out lately.
You can also browse and read about the entire Air Canada fleet on the IFE, which for an aviation geek passed the time nicely.
I had previously asked if I could have the dark chocolate fondant later in the flight and it was indeed served up to me later on. It was very rich and tasty and just the right amount.
As always I very rarely sleep on planes even though I have a bed, so after watching deadpool I took a wonder around the cabin and spoke with some of the crew, though half of them had gone to take a break.
I found an old tray of cashews left out for people to pick at
At this point we were approaching daylight and I could see it getting brighter outside of my window, this 787-8 features the older electronic dimming windows which you can still see out of a lot when its light outside, only the newer 2nd generation dimmer windows goes almost fully black.
I kicked back and relaxed in my seat watching a few TV shows, taking walks and passing the time.
Before I knew it, breakfast time was upon me, I sort of went all out with the card and ticked almost everything on it to get a full spectrum.
The omelette and sausage dish was pretty good for an airplane omelette and I enjoyed the fresh fruit. The croissant was dry and chewy, and well...you know what cereal taste's like.
After breakfast we had just 40 minutes remaining until our arrival into London Heathrow.
Our approach was smooth and we had some light cloud cover to pass through.
Touchdown was very smooth and we taxied to our gate in no time at all.
It had been a very nice flight on Air Canada and I did feel a little bit more refreshed than normal compared with flying on other aircraft.
The crew were very friendly and the service spot on, though the dinner service did start a little later than normal.
The seat and flat bed was fantastic and I really enjoyed it and would try to get it again compared to other Air Canada business class seats that are still around.
I also really enjoyed that the flight was light outside during the entire journey, a unique experience.
A very nice flight indeed.
I snapped a quick picture of my seat before leaving the plane.
CHECK OUT MY OTHER TRIP REPORTS
ETIHAD FIRST CLASS APARTMENT
https://youtu.be/ATPN5BCpe5A
KLM BUSINESS CLASS
https://youtu.be/Yv3Nx_I8RI0
BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS
https://youtu.be/Y_MGp7z3beo
VIRGIN ATLANTIC UPPER CLASS
https://youtu.be/OvXEP3QtO28
AIR FRANCE ABOVE & BEYOND BUSINESS CLASS
https://youtu.be/dEk3Kd-DnTk
