LATAM launches new business class dining and celebrates first 777 with new cabin products

This week saw LATAM unveil the final phases of its upgraded ‘Premium Business’ service by showcasing to press the first Boeing 777 in its fleet to feature the group’s new cabin product.

The new business class service and hard product is part of a $500 million investment to improve the passenger experience and includes US$400 million in cabin renovations. In comparison to the existing product, this is a leap-frog ahead.The premise is simple, a new hard product paired with catering and soft-product upgrades. “Our new Premium Business service offers more comfort and privacy so that our passengers can rest and arrive refreshed at their destination. We have transformed our service, starting with a new culinary concept as well as new cabin crew protocols and service elements,” stated Paulo Miranda, VP of Customers.

While the seat has already been flying for a few months on certain routes, the new Premium Business concept includes a new gastronomic proposition designed by renowned Chilean and Brazilian chefs Pamela Fidalgo and Aninha.

These menus, paired with new bedding and amenities allows passengers to rest well and wake-up revived on long haul flights.

True to LATAM tradition, the menu will showcase South American ingredients and will also be accompanied South America’s best wines, hand-selected by Héctor Vergara, the continent’s only master sommelier.

Anyone who has visited Sao Paulo’s GRU airport in the evening will be aware that LATAM has a relatively unique inflight proposition with many of their long-haul flights flying overnight, in both directions, so sleep is an increasingly important factor in its product offering.

Therefore, LATAM has implemented new service initiatives for cabin crew to ensure fewer interruptions. It has also introduced new premium pillows, bed clothes and mattresses with temperature-regulating and pressure-point technology for every flat-bed seat to maximise comfort.

Roll-outs of new products can take time, and BA’s new Club Suite will take many years to become the standard across its network. However, LATAM ambitiously wants to retrofit over half of its fleet over the next 2 years – that’s no less than 200 aircraft.

That mean all the aircraft will feature the new all-aisle access Premium Business seats, a renovated Economy cabin and LATAM+ Seats, which offer greater space, a dedicated overhead bin and premium services such as priority boarding. Yet the carrier has opted against premium economy, partly due to the fact there has only been a handful of carriers operating with the product to South America, meaning the exposure to passengers has been a longer process, and therefore, potentially, less of an uptake.

In the new Premium Business cabin, each Priestmangoode designed Thompson seat offers more privacy and direct aisle access, in a honeymoon-widow configuration. The seats recline into a fully-flat bed, feature the latest generation in-flight entertainment with an 18” Panasonic personal screen and have ample space for personal items.

LATAM’s Boeing 777 also features a revamped Economy cabin, offering passengers a new look, improved comfort and a state-of-the-art inflight entertainment system with an unrivalled selection of content.