Latam a350-900 business class review

In 2018, South American mega-airline LATAM announced it would spend $400 million updating the interiors of its fleet. To me the most exciting aspect of this was the introduction of a new business class product, given that the carrier’s offering has historically been pretty lackluster.

It has now been nearly five years since LATAM announced its cabin retrofit project, so I wanted to take an updated look at how the airline is doing with this, especially since a lot has changed since then — LATAM has gone through bankruptcy, LATAM has retired all of its Airbus A350s, etc.

LATAM’s new business class product consists of Vantage XL seats, similar to what you’ll find on many other airlines, including RwandAir, Qantas, and SAS, among others. These are fully flat staggered seats with direct aisle access and 18″ personal televisions, so it represents a huge improvement to the passenger experience.

I had the chance to fly LATAM’s new business class from Lima to Miami in 2022, and you read my review here.

LATAM’s new business classLATAM’s new business classLATAM’s new business class

Below is a video giving a tour of the cabin of these new jets.

When the project was first announced, LATAM did an amazing job with the pace at which it reconfigured planes. How’s that project looking at this point, given the impact of coronavirus and bankruptcy? Let’s look at where things stand by aircraft type.

Which LATAM planes have new business class seats?

LATAM’s long haul fleet consists of Boeing 767s, Boeing 777s, and Boeing 787s. Since LATAM is an airline with several bases, these fleets are split up between airlines, with the two biggest bases being in Brazil and Chile. Let’s take a look at progress with the new business class installation, ranked by the percent of planes that have the new business class seats.

All LATAM Boeing 777s have new business class seats

LATAM has 10 Boeing 777-300ERs, all of which are based in Brazil. Fortunately all 10 of these planes feature the new business class product. That’s fantastic news, since these were also the planes most in need of a refresh — they previously had angled seats in business class.

LATAM’s reconfigured Boeing 777-300ERs feature 38 business class seats, spread across 10 rows in a 1-2-1 configuration. The only bad news is that LATAM has seen a huge reduction in premium seats when reconfiguring these planes — they used to have 56 business class seats, but now have 38 business class seats.

All LATAM Boeing 777s have the new business class

Most LATAM Boeing 767s have new business class seats

LATAM has 13 Boeing 767-300ERs:

• Four Boeing 767s are based in Brazil, and none of them have the new business class seats; rather these planes have fully flat seats in a 2-2-2 configuration
• Nine Boeing 767s are based in Peru, and all nine of them have the new business class seats

For reference here are the registration codes of the nine Boeing 767s based in Peru, all of which have the new product:

• CC-CWF
• CC-CWV
• CC-CWY
• CC-CXC
• CC-CXF
• CC-CXG
• CC-CXH
• CC-CXI
• CC-CXJ

If you fly with LATAM Peru, you’re guaranteed to get the new business class seats on the Boeing 767. LATAM’s reconfigured Boeing 767s have a total of 20 business class seats, spread across five rows in a 1-2-1 configuration.

Most LATAM Boeing 767s have the new business class

Some LATAM Boeing 787s have new business class seats

LATAM has a total of 26 Boeing 787s, including the following:

• There are 10 Boeing 787-8s, flying for LATAM Chile
• There are 16 Boeing 787-9s, flying for LATAM Brazil and LATAM Chile

The bad news is that LATAM Boeing 787s delivered before late 2019 don’t feature the new business class product, and there are no plans to retrofit the new business class on these jets. Since all Boeing 787-8s were delivered before 2019, none of those planes feature the new business class.

Meanwhile the Boeing 787-9s with the following registration codes feature the new business class:

• CC-BGP
• PS-LAA

As you can see, you have a chance of getting the new business class on the 787-9, while you don’t have a chance of getting the new business class on the 787-8. Still, the odds aren’t good. LATAM’s reconfigured Boeing 787-9s have a total of 30 business class seats, spread across eight rows in a 1-2-1 configuration.

LATAM’s original Boeing 787-8 business classLATAM’s original Boeing 787-9 business class

Bottom line

LATAM announced its new business class product back in 2018. The airline initially made great progress with rolling out this product, though not surprisingly the pandemic slowed things down a bit.

What are the best seats in A350 business class?

Fellow travel bloggers and reviews have mentioned that the best seats in the A350 business class are the bulkheads and I wouldn't disagree. There are only 8 of them — 11 & 19 A, D, F, and K, and only 4 window options (11,19 A&K) so they are limited. Comparatively there are 34 regular business class seats.

Is the Airbus A350

In terms of performance, the A350 is ultimately a heavier aircraft with more fuel capacity and more powerful engines. The aircraft's increased fuel capacity also allows the aircraft to fly 2000 nm further than its Boeing rival.

Why did Latam get rid of A350?

In April 2021, South America's LATAM announced that it would retire its entire fleet of 11 Airbus A350-900s. That came after the airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, given the impacts of the pandemic on the carrier's business. The airline instead chose to focus on maintaining Boeing 787s and Boeing 777s.

Which is better A350

The A350-900 accommodates 352 passengers in a 3-class configuration. The 7m longer A350-1000 fuselage increases the seating capacity by 50 seats reaching over 400 passengers in 3-class arrangement. This provides from 15% to 25% lower seat-mile cost compared to competing products.