The ANA Business Staggered Seat.  This is the "C" seat with the storage window side giving true Aisle access.  Chose "A" if you love a true window seat - Photo: Mal Muir | AirlineReporter.com

The ANA Business Staggered Seat. This is the “C” seat with the storage window side giving true Aisle access. Chose “A” if you love a true window seat.

During my ANA Ambassador trip, I was given the chance to fly three different types of All Nippon Airways (ANA) Business Class seats and I wanted to share my thoughts on them. For my story, I will be concentrating mostly on the hard product (the seat) vs the ’œsoft’ product (meals, service, amenities), which is common across all the aircraft.

The current generation of Business Class seats are fitted to ANA’s 787 as part of the Inspiration of Japan series. There are two different versions: international and domestic. The long haul (international) 787 seats are called ’œBusiness Staggered’ and are similar to a small pod. This is currently the airline’s premium product. The seats lie fully flat and, with a length of over 6ft, allows passengers to easily get some rest. The Business Staggered seats can also be found in some of ANA’s 777s (though the 777 version is slightly larger).

This new Business Class product will soon be soon on Singapore Airlines. Image from Singapore.

This new Business Class product will soon be soon on Singapore Airlines. Image from Singapore.

Singapore Airlines history can be traced back to May of 1947 and since then, they have been an airline that represents leadership and many firsts. They were the first airline to launch satellite-based inflight telephones  & the first to take delivery of the Airbus A380 — just to name a few.

Sixty-Six years later, Singapore Airlines (SQ) is proud to introduce their Next Generation of First, Business and Economy Cabin Products. They currently operate a fleet of 102 aircraft which have an average age of less than 7 years — one of the youngest and most fuel efficient fleets in the industry, but that doesn’t mean they can’t keep innovating.

This September, the new cabin products will be launched on select flights on the airline’s Singapore (SIN) to London (LHR) itinerary. The new seats and in-flight entertainment (IFE) will be rolled out to other routes as additional new aircraft enter service. Let’s take a closer look at what the new product will look like.

Employees of American stand around a Boeing 777-300ER in new AA livery.

Employees of American stand around a Boeing 777-300ER in new AA livery.

A while back, I was invited to fly on a 777-300ER (77W) delivery flight for American Airlines. In a previous story, I talked about all of the events leading up to the delivery ceremony and flight and now I will continue with sharing my experience.

I was pulling a very long night after the dinner event, working on photos and the writing up the first part of my story. I was up late when I got a tip about a second American Airlines 77W that arrived at Boeing Field in the cover of darkness from Dallas. This was surely not usual and I began researching and found that the aircraft N719AN was flown up, but why?

CS100 FTV1 at Mirabel Airport, during engine tests.

CS100 FTV1 on a beautiful summer day at Mirabel Airport, during engine tests. Photo: Bombardier Aero

Well, it isn’t up in the air — at least, not yet.

Engine and Auxilliary Power Unit (APU) testing has started, but so far, we don’t think CS100 Flight Test Vehicle 1 (FTV1) has yet moved under it’s own power.

FTV1 was supposed to be flying by the end of July. That was the date given by Bombardier after the previous first flight date at the end of June slipped by a month.  Last Wednesday was one week before the end of July, and Mike Arcamone, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, made the announcement about the further delay.

Now, FTV1’s first flight is “to take place in the coming weeks.”

This could be the last Boeing 777-200 built. Reg #HL8284. Credit to, "A Little Friend Who's Better At Photography Than Me."

This could be the last Boeing 777-200 built. Reg #HL8284.

This Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER took off from Paine Field on Friday a little bit before 10:00am heading to South Korea. Typically a 777 being delivered is not a huge deal, but this could turn out to be the very last Boeing 777-200ER ever built.

“At the present time, there are no 777-200ERs in the production system,” Boeing spokesperson Elizabeth Fischtziur confirmed to AirlineReporter.com. However, Boeing is still offering the model to airlines and the 777-200LR still have deliveries set until 2014.