American Airlines has announced more details of their new Boeing 787-9 aircraft with the Flagship Suite seats. The airline shared that it will go on sale starting next Monday (but tickets are already available in the previous configuration). Here are the routes:
- Chicago (ORD) – London (LHR): service begins June 5
- Philadelphia (PHL) – London (LHR): service begins August 6
- Philadelphia (PHL) – Zurich (ZRH): service begins September 3
- Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) – Brisbane (BNE): service begins October 26
The inaugural international flight for the Flagship Suites will be on June 5, on the Chicago – London (AA98) flight. The airline also notes that there will be an inaugural Chicago – Los Angeles (AA2012) flight on the same day before Flight 98 leaves for London later that night.
Again, although the airline has said that these will go on sale this coming Monday, they’re already available with the previous configuration.
American had two 787-9s delivered on Tuesday, which I talked about here. The airline states that they are expecting a total of 30 by 2029. Thanks to the premium-heavy configuration of these new planes, they will grow their lie-flat and premium economy seating by 50% by the end of the decade.
The new Airbus A321XLRs will also include Flagship Suites (with a different seat type), and the current Boeing 777-300ER fleet will eventually be retrofitted with these new seats.
Although we had delays, I’m just happy to see something new on American flights. The current business class seats are falling behind the industry trend, and the new doors and modern design of the new Suites should be an improvement.
The route announcements were also cool to see. Although many of us expected the Chicago to London and Philadelphia to London flights, it’s interesting that Zurich and Brisbane will get these Flagship Suites as well. It’s way too early to say for me, but I may check these Flagship Suites out on the Brisbane flight later this year.
Featured image by American Airlines.
