EL AL Business Class, 787- Dreamliner

Although we really enjoyed the business class on one of EL AL's older planes, we were excitedly anticipating our flight on their brand new Dreamliner.  Currently, there are four Dreamliners in EL AL's fleet.

We breezed through check-in at Ben-Gurion airport since there is a separate business and first class check-in area, in a smaller room to the right of the large departures hall.

Within minutes we were walking into the quiet lounge that had plenty of comfortable seats, a well stocked food area with salads, breads, a few hot options and drinks.

We boarded the plane with great excitement.
There are 32 lie-flat seats in the business class cabin which is arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. In the center section the odd numbered rows have seats that are close together, while seats in the even numbered rows are positioned further apart for more privacy.

A pillow, blanket, bottle of water and an amenity kit were waiting for us at the seat.

The spacious bin for magazines allowed for a convenient storage all of my reading materials.

There is a privacy screen in between the seats if you don't like the guy sitting next to you:)

I am 5'9" and this is me with my legs completely stretched out.  The seat is 21" wide and 78" long in the lie-flat position.

This is the seat in the lie-flat position.

The control panel for the seat and the remote control for the TV are on the right side. The armrests are padded and adjustable.

The noise cancelling headphones are inside the little cubby.  This extra storage area is great idea, and it let me be somewhat organized during the almost twelve hour flight.

Each seat has a USB port and a power outlet.

We were not served drinks upon boarding, but were offered champagne, water, and juice once we've reached cruising altitude.

I snapped some photos of the flyer which explains all the features.

There was a great selection of movies, TV shows, games and music.  There is also seat-to-seat communication.

Our dinner choices (can I still call it dinner even though it is almost 2am?), consisted or turkey with pineapple and asparagus as an appetizer, beef with sweet potatoes and chard, and chicken with potatoes and carrots.

After the meal service, the lights were dimmed, and I got almost seven hours of sleep in the very comfortable bed.

 Before landing in Newark, we had a nice breakfast of fruits, veggies, yogurt and an omelet.

This panna cotta with strawberry juice was terrific.  I found that I have zero self control at 35,000 feet.

The Ferragamo amenity kit included all the typical items,

but the cool case itself will definitely be used on my future trips.

 And here is the plane after we landed in Newark.

This was a terrific experience, and I am looking forward to many more flights to and from Israel.  EL AL is not cheap, it is very difficult to score a flight using MATMID points due to massive blackout periods, but occasionally they do discount their fares.  As long as you don't have to fly for Pesach, Hannukah, High Holidays, Summer.................



Joanna