Latin American powerhouse LATAM is refitting some two thirds of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet with new seats throughout, adding business class mini-suites and the new seats previously announced in economy, as well as an updated inflight entertainment system from Panasonic Avionics.
Up front, LATAM is installing the Recaro R7 mini-suite, formerly known as the CL6720, which offers fully flat beds with direct aisle access in a compact staggered and slightly angled configuration. This looks set to replace older fully flat seats without direct aisle access, in a 2-2-2 layout, which LATAM operates on the 787-8 version of the Dreamliner and on some of its older 787-9s.
Sliding doors will be installed for each suite, and the cabins will be laid out in a honeymoon-divorce arrangement, where alternating rows have seats immediately next to each other versus immediately next to the aisle.
The honeymoon arrangement, used with LATAM’s previous staggered Thompson Vantage XL seats (on the Brazil-focussed Boeing 777-300ERs and Chile-focussed 787-9s), is popular with couples and anyone travelling with children, who are often otherwise sometimes poorly served by modern business class seats’ pod effects, where adults can’t reach the kids to strap them in, change their movie, or help with meals without getting out of their seat.
If these renderings are accurate, LATAM has an updated version of the honeymoon seats compared with previous R7 CL6720 products. Image: LATAM
Notably, the LATAM version of the R7 honeymoon product appears — in the renderings released by the airline so far — to be an upgraded and improved version compared with earlier iterations such as Iberia’s, thanks to an improved retracting mechanism for the centre divider.
Aesthetics aside, the LATAM version of the R7_CL6720 product is more functionally refined than the older Iberia A350 version seen here. Image: John Walton
It’s still not a full double bed, though, with non-retracting structural vertical separators at the shoulder and at the hip. Also of note is the additional shrouding behind the head of each passenger, which should break up the cabin a little and slightly improve privacy.
Based on the height of the renderings so far, however, this is still a mini-suite and not a maxi-suite if the height of the doors, headrests and cabin sidewalls are accurate.
Renderings suggest that the suites are private, but not quite ‘maxi’-suites which feature much higher walls. Image: LATAM
Aesthetically, LATAM is leaning towards its PriestmanGoode Boeing 777 interiors collaboration from 2019, with the signature gold effect thermoplastic, Andes-inspired stone-effect table, and deep red headrests. The airline is, however, plumping for a textured recycled leather seatback this time.
The biggest changes come to LATAM’s ten Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which are upgrading from the Safran (previously Zodiac Aerospace) Aura Lite fully flat bed without direct aisle access. Twenty of the Recaro R7s will sit between doors 1 and 2 on these aircraft, according to US DOT filings first spotted by Seth Miller of PaxEx.Aero. A similar hard product quantum leap will be on the cards for the early LATAM 787-9 aircraft that also offer the Aura Lite seating — the upgrade will presumably focus on those earlier 787-9s that do not already have the Thompson Vantage XL seats already installed.
“Of the 24 aircraft to undergo retrofit, 10 are Boeing 787-8 — exclusively for the Chilean domestic market — and 14 are Boeing 787-9, operating in Chile, Brazil, and Peru. The first planes to be retrofitted will be the Boeing 787-8, which will begin commercial flights on March 1, 2025,” says the airline.
Overall, the upgrade is a major boost to LATAM’s consistency of product — and to its overall quality. As the airline starts this retrofit programme, expected to last through 2026, it will begin with the 787-8, with a planned launch date of 1 March 2025.
It’s notable in this refit, though, that LATAM isn’t taking this opportunity to install a proper premium economy cabin. Instead, LATAM will rely on its Economy Plus extra-legroom product to try to bridge the “comfort canyon” between the new R7 suites and what look to be a late-model Recaro economy seat (likely the R3, formerly CL3810) down the back.
Related Articles:
- Recategorising business suites into the mini-suite and maxi-suite
- Recaro renames product range to R1-7 numbers… with R8 on the way?
- New doored suite; now what? Iberia’s NPS A350 business class
- Getting the honeymoon seat right for premium leisure travel
- LATAM brings Paramount+ content to embedded and wireless IFE
Featured image credited to LATAM
