Revealed: Etihad’s new Boeing 787 business class

Etihad Airways is following up the debut of the Airbus A350 Business Studio suites with spacious private suites for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and now we’ve got first photos and details of Etihad’s new Boeing 787 business class.

As previously and exclusively reported by Executive Traveller, Etihad is adopting the Elements suite from Collins Aerospace – a model that’s already broken ground on Taiwan’s Starlux A350 jets, where our Starlux A350 business class review described it as the foundation of “a suitably stellar business class offering.”

Etihad’s 787 version will take wing in the third quarter of 2023 with the delivery of three new Dreamliners of out a larger order of 11, and they’ll all be crowned by 32 of these private business suites.

Etihad's new Boeing 787 business class boosts both personal space and passenger privacy.

Every suite has a sliding privacy door, and there’s added seclusion compared to the A350 sibling (which is based on the Collins Elevation platform) through slightly higher walls plus a small lip wrapped over the top of the suite.

Other design and engineering tweaks unlock more personal space inside the suite.

A revised seat mechanism allows the seat to be positioned “closer to the back of the shell”, says Collins Aerospace’ Alistair Hamilton.

Etihad's new Boeing 787 business class seats recline to a fully lie-flat-bed 78" bed.

“The bed now goes lower, we’ve raised the food tray so it’s more out of the way when you enter bed mode, everything lets us use the space more efficiently,” Hamilton tells Executive Traveller.

The process of carving out more ‘living space’ also opens up more room for your feet under the 17.3” 4K TV screen, which has Bluetooth headphone pairing for use with travellers’ own headphones.

Etihad’s 787 business class suite is also decked out with multiple AC and USB charging ports plus wireless device charging and handy storage nooks.

Everything that opens and shuts: Etihad's new Boeing 787 business class boasts all the mod cons.

The 787s will also be fitted with high-speed WiFi with free chat and messaging (for apps such as Messenger, WhatsApp and WeChat) for members of the Etihad Guest loyalty program and unlimited Internet on a paid basis of US10 for flights under seven hours and US$20 for flights over seven hours.

While the A350-1000 takes Etihad’s extra-long haul routes under its wings, the Boeing 787s will remain the workhorse of Etihad’s international network.

From July 15 those A350s and Boeing 787s will be joined by the return of the Etihad Airbus A380, with four of the superlative superjumbos making a comeback on the busy London route.

However, Etihad is not offering its extravagant three-room Residence with its own private bedroom and shower for bookings on those A380 flights; instead, the airline says it plans to offer The Residence as an “optional extra” upgrade for passengers booked into any of the nine first class Apartment suites.