Review: WESTJET 787-9 Dreamliner LONG HAUL Inaugural Flight, NEW Business Class

Hello guys and welcome to another video today. I'm doing something absolutely incredible. I'm flying on WestJet's

inaugural

787 Dreamliner with some friends and we're headed to Calgary. Enjoy the video. The arrival of WestJet's new 787 Dreamliner marks a turning point. Point in the airline's fortunes WestJet has historically operated older Boeing 767 aircraft and has been a strong low-cost option between London and Canada for some years now; However, on those planes the best class of travel was premium economy, but with new lie-flat seats WestJet is transforming into a premium airline and I'm very excited to see it. The West Jets check-in area is in the North Terminal at Gatwick Airport, on the ground floor.

Check-in is quite easy and straightforward, there are no staff desks per se. You can do it yourself through these kiosks, but it's pretty easy to do and self-explanatory, even if you haven't done it before. The North Terminal is lucky to have a lot of good lounges to choose from. WestJet

business

class passengers can access club lounges. which from the lower floor is a small and exclusive lounge that offers a short a la carte menu. This is one of the most exclusive lounges in Gatwick's northern terminal, so it's nice that jet West is partnering with them. Our status was brief because I wanted to head to the gate early after the gate.

I've heard some rumors that there will be something special at the gate for us for this

inaugural

787

flight

. Let's check it out and see what's in it for us. There was a welcoming committee of interested staff on hand to see this new aircraft land at Gatwick for the first time. Our plane today is named after Clive Beddoe. He is actually an Englishman and one of the founding shareholders of West Jet. The airline had also introduced some special things to welcome passengers on this inaugural

flight

. The real centerpiece was this WestJet 787 cake that looked absolutely Fantastic and the attention to detail was extraordinary.

This is the first time I have made a

long

-

haul

maiden flight and I will definitely do it. do more if there is cake and champagne in each of them, shortly before boarding there were a couple of speeches from two people, so we want to say that it is a great day for all of us because playing simply demonstrates the demand when customers and in These fun old Brexit days we have, so thank you for your now, that's enough for me. I want to deliver it to bring. Come on, please, the CIO or WestJet, who will introduce himself, team.

Good morning, welcome to what will be the same. first flight from London to Calgary aboard one of our new 787 Dreamliners. How many have flown the Dreamliner before? I can tell you that it is a real pleasure. They've never targeted a 787 before. It's a beautiful airplane, but more than that, it's one of the most technologically advanced airplanes ever made and you'll love it. It also represents the Westchester airline's continued transformation into a world-class, full-service global network. The airline will be able to connect people, companies and crew transportation networks and drive. Economic growth everywhere we fly with this plane, we're also bringing the world to Canada.

In fact, the United Kingdom is the second largest source of visitors to Canada and although we are still, it's time to board, cheers and I hope you enjoyed this video as much as I enjoy raining on our way down the catwalk. WestJet staff were on hand to hand out some goodie bags. These were great. I definitely think the highlight of the aisle here are these cute socks from WestJet, see you later. Thanks to all the cabin on the right. from the main boarding gate is economy class in configuration eight three three three just in front there is a premium economy configuration and two three two which looks very elegant, in fact at the front of the plane it is

business

class, it is arranged in a configuration one-to-one with inverted herringbone seating, meaning everyone, including people with window seats, has direct access to the aisle and does not have to step over their neighbor to access the aisle.

Having only seen promotional photos of this cabin, my first impressions were extremely positive when I boarded. Everything was done. in an elegant and understated way and I really loved the color palette that WestJet used on this plane waiting at my seat when I boarded was a pillow and a blanket. I tried them later in the flight and found them both to be very good WestJets. Call these capsule seats business class and I must say they are very cozy, although the layout is not much different from the competition on Air Canada. After a quick take-off, we will soon be heading towards Canada and now is a good time to take a look at today's route London Gatwick to Calgary is four thousand three hundred ninety-four miles and we cover this distance in just eight hours and twenty minutes, That's thanks to some favorable headwinds.

After takeoff, we took our drink orders and I went to the signing. cocktail which is green tea, vodka and cranberry juice, it was served with truffle oil popcorn, it was absolutely delicious and definitely not something I have tried on any other airline, it was quite unique on board. The onboard Wi-Fi was free for business class passengers and was reasonably good, so good that I could use Flightradar24 here on my phone to identify this Milan – Los Angeles flight operated by Air Italy. A growing trend in inflight entertainment is the ability to take a look at the food and drink menu.

To mainly be

long

to the economy class, the inflight entertainment also has other functions: you can call a crew member directly from the inflight entertainment or check the weather at your destination. Another thing I found really useful was the ability to control the electronic blinds on this Dreamliner directly from the seat there are five settings and they will automatically dim or brighten depending on the setting you choose any change you request will be made slowly the windows will dim or brighten very slowly so that it can adjust to the glare or In the dark, this panel on the right side of the seat is a touch screen that controls the seat recline and some lighting functions.

There is also a small storage bag near foot level. There is a nice bright reading light just over the shoulder on these seats. and down on the left side is a pop-up armrest that also contains an important storage bag in addition to the color scheme. What I like most about this seat is the enormous amount of storage it gives you. Here is another silver panel where you can store a couple of small items and yes, it even includes a small vanity mirror and just in front of it is another pop-up pouch which contains the USB and charging points and also the remote control to control the entertainment via board next to the window. a literature pocket that comes with an attractive light and there is also a clothes hook on the back of the front seat.

The table slides out from under the fixed entertainment screen and has an attractive gray faux wood finish, even when still It is deployed pushed back securely so you can get out of the seat even when the table is lowered. WestJet also provides a fairly basic toiletry kit which is from Matt and Net, not a brand I've heard of before. Personally, I don't use toiletry kits too much. on long

haul

flights so I wasn't too disappointed that the amenities kit was a bit lacking as we get closer to Iceland, time to think about buying something for lunch, like everything else on the flight, the menu and the wine list are beautifully presented.

Canada is a bilingual country and therefore there is a French menu if you turn it over, as is common on most long-haul airlines, a hot towel service precedes the business class meal service. There are two meals on this flight, one of them served shortly before landing, the light fare in the right column is the second meal service. I thought Westjet's food choice was quite good and there is something for everyone on the menu. I'm not a big alcohol drinker and I don't really care that much, so let me. Let me know what you think of the wine and beer list in the comments below, the food service starts with warm bread and butter and soon after I am served the curried chicken terrine, it was beautifully presented and absolutely delicious, a starter perfect, the service on the board was quintessentially Canadian, it was friendly, warm and sincere, yet WestJet was operating this as an inaugural flight.

This is the first handcuffed long-haul business class service the airline has ever operated. This caused some initial problems with the service, which was very slow. Some catering services. the options had not been loaded at all, some were underrated and the staff seemed to be struggling with a new way of providing business class service, as a result we were in Greenland and even Canada, their Baffin Island before my beautiful dessert of bread. and butter pudding was delivered, the service took almost five hours from take-off to completion, which is far too long on any transatlantic flight, however I am happy to excuse these as simple teething problems.

I am confident that WestJet knows these problems and will transform them. service and improve speed and delivery in the coming weeks the screen in business class is quite substantial and there is a good selection of movies, games and TV shows for you to choose from; You certainly won't be bored on any of WestJet's flights. There are no noise-cancelling headphones, nor are they provided with the entertainment. I visited the bathrooms several times during the flight and each time they were very well maintained and spotlessly clean which is always a good deal and Premium Economy passengers can visit the social area which is located between premium economy and economy on the West Jet Dreamliner However, this is a really small space and I'm not really sure why WestJet calls it a social area.

The snacks were good, but I'm not sure I want to stay here for long. What WestJet continues to improve is their route network when I landed in Calgary, they were actually operating an inaugural flight to Portland in Oregon. WestJet now serves more than one hundred destinations in 24 countries. Paris and Dublin will receive Dreamliner service later this year, as expected. the seat converts to a completely living flat bed, the blanket and pillow were very comfortable and I think you will have absolutely no problems in this bed unless you are taller than 6 foot 2, there was at least 6 inches at the end of my feet when Los was moving here and I am 5ft 8in when I woke up the second meal service was being served and I opted for afternoon tea.

It was interesting to see that WestJet had partnered with McDonald's for their hot drinks on this flight, I thought. The tea and coffee on board was quite good and I was also quite impressed with the good selection of cakes and sandwiches we were served for afternoon tea during our descent, which began near Edmonton, Alberta. Maple syrup flavored candy was handed out and I had never tried it before. one of these before and thought they were quite interesting, although I bought a pack of them and I will, so my final thoughts on the inaugural flights of WestJet's new Dreamliner are rarely easy, something is bound to go wrong there.

There were two things that went wrong on my flight: firstly, when I got into my seat, it was slightly broken and one of the whipped cream mechanics had to come and fix it, which was attended to with the utmost urgency by Westjet, very Well done to them for delivering it. That situation took ten minutes. The second thing that went wrong was the service, which was the same for everyone. This was unfortunate and was mainly due to the crew being less familiar with the aircraft than they probably should have been. This will inevitably improve over time. so I have no hesitation in recommending WestJet as a compelling option for crossing the Atlantic to Canada.

It's a wonderful country and I'm glad WestJet is providing much-needed competition on routes between the UK and Canada. I paid £882 for one. I walk for my ticket between London Gatwick and Medicine halfway via Calgary thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video. I'll close it here, but until next time I'll see you around.