Thai has long been seen as a premium airline offering good value airfares and a premium product at both ends of the aircraft. In the second part of this Thai Airways 787 Dreamliner review series I put Thai’s new Business Class product to the acid test between Perth and Bangkok. The first words that spring to mind to describe the experience?  Delightful and excellent value.

Seat and Cabin

The business class seats, arranged in three sets of two across the cabin, are slightly angled or staggered to give passengers a little more privacy. Seats on the window do not have aisle access but there is enough room to step over your travelling companion when the seat is being used as a bed. The oversized windows, unique to the 787, with dimmer function create a relaxing, light and bright cabin. There are 5 levels of darkness available from no filter to “dark” which isn’t pitch black like a window shade provides but it creates more of a soft dark blue aura in the cabin giving a more relaxed feel. At each seat you will find in seat power, USB connection, an amenity kit, very large quilt, pillow and plenty of storage space. All airline business class seats have multiple recline options but I found the Thai Airways seats to be the best of any I’ve experienced. When you are ready for a sleep, the seat easily converts in to a fully flat bed. There was no mattress cover so if you are wearing short sleeves the seat fabric can be a little scratchy but bear in mind this is a brand new aircraft so that’s to be expected. The bed was long and would comfortably fit anyone up to 180cm or 6 ft tall and the pillow fits nicely over the head rest which cannot be removed from the seat.

Food and Beverages

Prior to take off, passengers are offered a welcome drink and shortly after another drink and nuts. At every seat is a food and beverage menu (see image) and orders are taken soon after departure. The drinks service was outstanding and commenced immediately after takeoff and didn’t stop until landing. Passengers are given a hot towel prior to the start of the meal. The meals, generous in serving size were of a high quality and if Thai fish cakes are your thing you’ll love these for the starter - my only criticism was that there weren’t more!

The actual delivery however lacked the finesse of competing premium airlines. For example, the main meals come out in dishes covered in foil and are unwrapped in front of you. Mind you this does keep them hot! Plates or serving dishes are handed to you rather than being placed on the table and the plating wasn’t overly decorative. These are small insignificant “first world, upper class problems”  that do not affect the experience at all but those that travel Business Class a lot may notice a slight difference.

In flight entertainment

The seat back screen was large and clear while the noise cancelling headphones are effective. As is often the case in Business Class, distance and big screens mean it’s very easy to see what your neighbours choices in entertainment are.  The hand piece to operate the screens is a bit like a small tablet and wasn’t as easy to use as the one in Economy Class to the point where I just ended up just leaning forward to use the touchscreen. My neighbour however was more patient than me and figured out how to use it properly. Unlike in Economy we were unable to find a descriptive summary of the movies and TV shows when selecting them using this entertainment system. 

Final word

When choosing to buy a Business Class ticket, you need to look at both the in-flight product offered and the price. Thai Airways’ return, Perth – Bangkok  costs  about $3179. Perth to Hong Kong return on Cathay Pacific  (an extra 60-90 minutes flying each way)is double the Thai Airways fare at $6248 and Singapore Airlines offers fares between Perth and Singapore for nearly $1000 more  than Thai Airways at $3994 with a 2 hour less flight time each way. Thai Airways wins straight away with price and it definitely competes in the in-flight product space too.

With very comfortable seats, efficient service, an extensive beverage selection, delicious in flight catering and all the little luxuries you would expect in business class, Thai Airways, just like it did in Economy Class, wins the value for money award for me yet again.

For more information about the Dreamliner experience and how it makes a difference to jetlag, read the Thai Airways Economy Review here.


Sharon flew as a guest of Thai Airways in October 2014
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