Xiamen’s first Boeing 787 conducting test flights at Paine Field – Photo: The Boeing Company
On Friday, another airline took delivery of their first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner; Xiamen Airlines.
This event was special for the airline, since the 787 is the first wide-body to join their fleet. The airline currently operates Boeing 737-700s, 737-800s and 757-200s.
“We are excited to receive our first 787 Dreamliner, which is also the first widebody airplane of our all-Boeing fleet,” said Che Shanglun, president and chairman of Xiamen Airlines. “With the innovative technology and exceptional efficiency, the 787 Dreamliner will be key to our further growth and international expansion.”
The 787 is part of the airline’s plan to grow their fleet to 150 airplanes. On top of the 787, they also have over 65 737-800s, 30 737 MAX 8s, and six Comac ARJ21s on order.
Xiamen’s first class product on the 787 Dreamliner – Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren | Airways News
Their Dreamliner is configured with 236 seats in three classes: four in first, 18 in business, and the remaining 214 in economy. The interior, other than color, is very similar to China Southern’s, which makes sense since they are the parent company of Xiamen.
First class is set up with a 1-2-1 layout, giving aisle access to each passenger. They also sport a 15.4″ IFE screen and 76″ of pitch.
Business class in Xiamen’s new Boeing 787 – Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren | Airways News
The business class has a 2-2-2 configuration and the seats are fully reclinable. Each seat has a 14″ screen, allowing passengers access to the Panasonic eX3 in-flight entertainment system.
The very blue economy class in the Dreamliner – Photo: Jeremy-Dwyer Lindgren | Airways News
Economy class is in a 3-3-3 format and each seat has 33″ of pitch. Each seat also has a 9″ touchscreen IFE system and USB ports for charging.
Like many other airlines taking delivery of the Dreamliner for the first time, Xiamen will fly the aircraft first domestically before putting it on long-haul flights.
BONUS: Video of Xiamen’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner Taking Off from Paine Field by Tom Sheehan
The airline has another five Dreamliners on order and plans to use the aircraft to replace their 757s. They plan to put the 787 on routes from the Fujian Province to Europe, North America, and Australia.
Another triumph for our friends at Boeing. Even with the fleet expansion plans, Xiamen Airlines will maintain an ‘almost all’ Boeing fleet. While few significant airlines can manage a One Airframer fleet, those who do enjoy a few perks that likely save them some serious bucks. I’m not greatly impressed by this airline’s powerful RED theme in their small first class cabin, but Jeremy’s pic may have over-shot Boeing’s Mood Lighting. The crisp blue of the Business and Cattle-Class cabins is still harsh, but more comfortable to my eye. (Personal taste? Of course.) I’ve never flown Xiamen Airlines. I have to wonder about only four FC seats and what soft product will support them; at least the retaining the cabin. With only four seats, the supporting soft product will be 1) a larger screen, longer pitch and a better seat for an otherwise BC service – or it might be a major step up. Time will tell and I’ll await the eventual reviews. With so many carriers eliminating genuine FC, in favor of more BC seats, one simply does not know. Has anyone reviewed Xiamen Airlines’ FC and/or BC food? Catering only four FC seats must be a difficult calculation: Double and treble catering of provisions can get expensive, but telling a FC (revenue) pax that they are out of something (after serving only three others) can be a seriously poor response with some customers. (Those seriously tiny FC cabins of 4-6-8 seats can still be highly profitable when half or more are sold, but with a sample size that small, the general rules of statistics simply do not apply. I really do wonder how they will manage with but four Bright Red seats. Nice post, ‘staff.’