Good morning from Dublin, Ireland!
My name is Alex, and welcome to this trip report.
Today, I’m here at Dublin Airport’s Terminal 1 to fly back across the Atlantic to Calgary,
Canada, on board WestJet’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
On this flight though, I’ll be flying in their transatlantic business class!
This was an upgrade courtesy of WestJet - I paid for an economy ticket and they very generously
bumped me up a few weeks before the flight.
However, nobody at WestJet has pre-screened this video, so these are still my honest thoughts.
In Dublin, WestJet Business Class passengers have access to a dedicated priority check-in
line, as well as fast-track security.
After security, it was off to the Terminal 1 lounge, where WestJet is one of multiple
airlines with access.
This is the only lounge in Terminal 1, hence the name I suppose, and it isn’t bad at all.
There’s lots of seating and plenty of food, although there’s no view out the window.
As far as airport lounges go, I’d say it’s on the higher end of average.
It’s certainly not a bad place to kill some time!
Eventually, I left to get some footage of the inbound arrival, and the gate for today
was gate 104, which is a brisk…
15 to 17 minute walk.
Or, in tall person walking speeds, about half that time.
Now, given recent events, I quite honestly, almost didn’t want to upload this video.
But after some thought, in what’s a really lousy time for the industry, I think it’s
important to remain positive, look back on good times, and remember that things will
get better, hence why I’m uploading this now.
That might sound cheesy, but I don’t want to be one of those people who’ve been uploading
videos taking advantage of the global fear and insecurity just for YouTube views, so...
*tsk*
... let’s get back to it.
After winding my way through Terminal 1’s assorted duty free stores and restaurants,
I quickly realized that gate 104 has a distinct lack of a jet bridge.
Now, I’m no stranger to ramp boarding, it’s done for regional aircraft in Calgary and
at small airports across Alberta, but not so much for a widebody.
Here’s our Dreamliner for today, arriving from Calgary - Charlie Golf Uniform Delta
Oscar is WestJet’s 3rd 787, and was delivered in March last year.
Way back in October 2018, I was actually the very first person to book a flight between
Calgary and Dublin.
Long story short, I flew here on the inaugural flight from Calgary, and after a week in Europe,
it’s time to head home.
Flying in Business means that you’re right at the front of the line for boarding, so
let’s head out across the apron, and onto the WestJet 787 back to Calgary.
My seat for today is 4K, in the last row of WestJet’s Business Class cabin.
Business Class on their 787 is arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, with 16 seats in total.
Row 4 however, easily provides the best wing view, and there are pillows and blankets waiting
at every seat.
Each seat comes with plenty of storage, including two compartments on the side, as well as one
near your feet.
In the larger side compartment, there’s a built in power outlet, remote, and USB charging
port, which is surprisingly fast and in a very useful spot for charging GoPros!
One of my favourite features of the seat is the movable armrest, which has even more storage,
as well as headphones and a water bottle.
There’s also plenty of privacy as well.
Not long after sitting down, a crew member came by with amenity kits, as well as the
menu for today’s flight.
I was told there were a few substitutions, probably thanks to a catering mix-up, but
nothing major.
It’s also printed in French on the other side.
My pre-departure drink was soon served, my personal favourite on their 787, the WestJet
Signature cocktail.
As you can see on the screen, there’s a personal touch at every seat that I really like.
However, we were soon told we’d be on the ground for a bit longer.
“...looking at your watches and saying 'hey, we should be in the sky right now' and I
couldn’t agree more.
Funny story, unfortunately we are missing one signature on one piece of paper that we
need for this airplane to fly, and because WestJet’s all about safety and making sure
that we cross our Ts and dot our lowercase Js, we want to get that last signature before
we’re able to fly, I apologize for the inconvenience and we’ll try to get underway as quickly
as possible. Thank you.”
“... we’re new with the 787 into Dublin, it’s our fourth flight over with this aircraft,
and our maintenance personnel just missed signing off on one document, and it’s gonna
take them about 15 minutes to get back to the aircraft…”
While we waited, hot towels came around.
During delays like this when you’re stuck on the aircraft, communication is obviously
super important.
I’m glad to say the crew here was phenomenal, with constant updates every 10 minutes, and
we were soon on our way about 2 hours behind schedule.
Although there are certainly worse seats to be in, for one, I was totally fine with this.
Calgary was my final destination, so not having to worry about a connecting flight for once,
was wonderful!
Nearly every time I’ve gone to Europe, I’ve always connected through some airport in between.
As an Albertan, this beats connecting through Toronto any day!
Here’s our departure from Dublin, with some gorgeous views as we take off from runway 28.
After that beautiful view of the Emerald Isle on our way towards the Atlantic, let’s take
a look at the amenity kit that WestJet’s provided.
These include a pair of socks, an eye mask, earplugs, a wet wipe, some lip balm, and a
tube of lotion.
Shortly after the seatbelt sign turned off, the crew came around with a bowl of savoury
popcorn, and my post departure drink.
Popcorn may not seem like the most Business-Class-y thing, but it’s not like it’s movie theatre
popcorn, it’s actually really good.
A little while later, a crew member came back with a tablecloth, and the table settings
for the meal service, as well as some warm, yes, actually warm bread and butter to start.
That was followed by the appetizer, and I had the butternut squash soup.
Naturally, there were a few bumps at exactly this moment, so not the ideal soup-eating
environment, but regardless, this was very tasty.
That was followed by the main course, and I went for the braised beef-cheek.
Now I’ve said this a couple times, but really, I’m an aviation enthusiast first and a food
critic, much much further down the list, so what I will say is, this was absolutely delicious.
It melted in my mouth, and I could not have enough of the sauce.
As we approached Greenland, more drinks were given out, as well as dessert, and I went
with the bowl of fresh fruit with some added chocolate sauce.
I can confirm, it was indeed fresh, and very tasty as well.
Overall, the meal service in WestJet’s Business Class is fantastic, the quality of the food
was amazing and it’s worth noting their service can be done at any time during the
flight, it doesn’t necessarily have to be right after takeoff.
The only thing is, it finally wound down about 2 to 3 hours into the flight, which I’ve
heard was a common issue when WestJet first started flying the Dreamliner transatlantic.
That said, it has been…
9 months since this took place so I’m sure they’ve ironed things out.
It also depends on where you sit, row 4 is the last to be served, so the meal service
does go by a lot quicker in row 1.
We were treated to some incredible views as we passed over Greenland and the fjords below.
I would love to visit Greenland and the rest of the Arctic someday, it’s honestly a bucket list item.
For now, I’ll have to stick with the aerial view.
The stunning views continued as we flew over Baffin Island in Nunavut, while I got some
editing done on the video from the first half of this trip.
In Business Class, WestJet provides a pretty solid pair of noise-cancelling headphones
for the in-flight entertainment system.
The system itself works very well, and has a good selection plus a moving map, but it
also has a few hidden features that I really like.
One of these is the ability to control the window shades from the screen, along with
connecting flight information readily available.
You can also use the remote if you’d like, although it’s a touch slower than using the screen itself.
Being able to control the moving map with it is pretty cool too.
On the 787-9, WestJet opted for a less premium heavy configuration, choosing to put four
rows each of Business and Premium Economy between the first and second set of doors.
Up front, WestJet has 3 lavatories - one for Business, and two for Premium,
all of which aren’t a bad size.
They could be bigger, but they’re still pretty roomy.
Behind Premium, WestJet has this fold-out snack bar, with a selection of complimentary
snacks for passengers in Premium and Business.
As if all the food from the meal service wasn't enough!
The introduction of Business Class was a big deal for WestJet.
Previously, their highest class of service used to be “Plus” on the 767s, which is
essentially Premium Economy, with wider recliner style seating.
For any Business Class seat to be competitive in this day and age, it’s gotta be able
to lie flat, and WestJet’s does so very nicely.
If you’re taller than the bed is long though, in my case, the foot room is a little bit restrictive.
For the pre-arrival meal, I went with one of the substitutions on the menu, which was
a small bowl of poutine.
French Canadians will no doubt have their own take on this, but this was shockingly good!
It was warm, flavourful, and a very Canadian choice that I hope WestJet keeps.
Before I forget, here’s my obligatory look at the literature pocket contents, including
the safety card, air sickness bag, and the WestJet Magazine.
"... 18 degrees, a couple of summer-style clouds in the area, perhaps a bit bumpy on our descent,
so we will turn on the seatbelt sign just as we start our descent in 10 minutes,
so if you do need to be up, this would be a good time to so..."
Hot towels were soon given out as we approached Calgary, as well as some maple candies, and
there was indeed some pretty interesting weather ahead.
Here’s our arrival onto runway 17L.
WestJet’s Business Class overall is phenomenal.
It’s got so many personal touches that I really like, from the name on the screen,
to the usual WestJet hospitality, and everything in between, really.
The cabin speaks for itself, from the colour palette right down to the tiniest details
in the stitching of the seats.
It’s very clear to me that WestJet’s decision to add a Business Class was not without some
serious thought and work put into the passenger experience.
As a long-time Calgarian, WestJet’s long haul expansion offers some frankly, amazing opportunities
for Western Canada.
The easy access to Europe, especially with their simple one-way fares, is definitely
something I’ll be taking advantage of.
And actually, since filming this video, I’ve already done that!
I’ll be sharing that experience…
hopefully not as late as this one was! *chuckle*
Once again though, I owe a massive thank you to WestJet.
It was an absolute privilege to be a part of their inaugural festivities, and to get
to experience their Business Class on such a special trip is a show of generosity from
them that I won’t soon forget.
Stay safe, take care of yourself, and thanks for watching.