Boeing 787-9 (789) Layout 2

Horrid seats. Only 17.2" wide on a flight that is about 13 hours. Pitch and elevation of tray table also were unfavorable. Not recommended; I intend to avoid this situation in the future. Shame on Air New Zealand for providing such an unpleasant product.

High traffic, very noisy with hearing toilets flushing and water running

787 is a nice aircraft but seating down the back is horrible. Anything more then 4 hours becomes extremely uncomfortable . As soon as the seat in front is reclined you are penned in and it's difficult to move at all and even view your screen if your taller . Try and get front economy cabin skycouch rows for additional charge , slightly more legroom and a footrest which also helps .

These biz class seats are awful for sitting. There is limited in seat personal storage space, the sides are too close making it cramped. The designers of this cabin failed. Angled seats facing people is weird. The only saving part is the lie flat bed is decent, but its either upright seat or bed.

Horrible experience. Window seat without a window made it very claustraphobic! Also adjacent to the toilet. Despite the rear wall, the recline was the only positive thing I can say about this seat. Felt penned in for 10hrs! Unfortunately being a codeshare flight, I was allocated this seat by Air NZ.

I flew this plane from NRT-AKL on 1/14/19. The business class seats are narrow and claustrophobic. The seats are not well cushioned, and there are no foot or leg rests except for the ottoman, which this 5'10" man could not even reach unless the seat is substantially reclined, when the seat bottom slides forward. The recline is also limited, because it does not go completely flat. Instead, the seat back flips forward to create a flat bed. This means that the FAs are busy making and unmaking beds in the evening and morning, and you cannot easily oscillate between flat and upright. Once your'e down, you're down! In bed mode, everybody’s feet stick out into the aisle. The “mattress pad” is stored in a large cavity behind the seatback, which is space that could be put to much better use. There is virtually no personal storage space in the seat, so both my tablet and my water bottle remained either on my lap or next to me on the seat. Even in full recline, the sole drink tray is actually BEHIND the seat, which is ridiculous. The only time the drink tray is not behind the seat is in bed mode. Because the seat pod is so narrow, it is difficult to see and touch the controls, as they are immediately adjacent to your body. I spent a long time just searching for the power outlet (no USB), which was basically touching my left hip. For some reason, the floor of the seats is elevated about ½ inch above the aisle, which creates a trip hazard when you visit the bathroom in the dark. While the 787 is known for its over-sized windows, Air New Zealand positioned all seats to face AWAY from the windows. What were they thinking??? Most reviewers recommend the A seats to avoid staring at your neighbor across the aisle. However, I am sitting in 3A as I write this review, and I can see almost every person in the cabin. I honestly do not think there is a “good” seat in the entire business cabin. Understanding that 90% of passengers are stuck back in cattle class, I am reluctant to complain about any business class seat. Talk about first world problems! However, this is absolutely the worst imaginable seat design and configuration for a business class cabin. There are many domestic first class seats that would have been more comfortable. It is hard to believe that a committee at NZ actually looked at this design and concluded, “Yes! This is the one we’re going with!” Have they even seen business class cabins on other airlines? I flew this plane immediate after flying the United 787-800 from DEN-NRT. Even without Polaris seats, the older UA plane was leaps and bounds ahead of the NZ version. UA also had better food, drinks, and service, as well as comfy pajamas on long-haul flights, which NZ no longer offers. This all reinforces my opinion that SkyTrax is a pay-to-play service, and their ratings are meaningless. It is ridiculous to give NZ a 4-star rating, while UA, AA, and DL are all rated 3-star. There is absolutely nothing special about the NZ product.

Seat 2K is a window seat on the right (starboard) side of the cabin. It is row two of the nine rows in Business Class on version 2 of ANZ’s 787-9. Three seats abreast herringbone configuration. The crew walks past this seat, over and over, delivering food and drinks to the seven rows of business class passengers behind me. There is no overhead storage for the first three center seats, thereby increasing demand for the limited space above my seat. Overhead storage for this seat is consumed by bedding. The first three rows of the center section have zero overhead storage, so the passengers in those seats used the storage space that would have otherwise been available to passengers in the window seats. Space is limited to begin with, and there is no usable underseat space. I pulled the mattress and pillow out of the overhead storage bin so that the fellow across the aisle and I could both stow our carry-ons. It had been a long day, and when the F/A told me I couldn't put the mattress in the sizable, yawning cavity behind my seat, I told him he should try to find a space for it . . . So he took it away into the nether regions of the forward galley. As I sit here, there's a pillow and blanket on the floor where my feet are supposed to be. There's no armrest for my right arm. Crew is really nice in dealing with my concern the lack of storage space. Probably as exasperated about it as I. They are as pleasant, tactful, and as helpful as they can be. Really delightful people. They served champagne before departure, and that was nice. There's a little fold-out shelf behind my right arm and shoulder, but I don't know that it has any practical use. It is also lit, for some reason known only to Boeing and, presumably, ANZ. It's certainly not a place to put an empty champagne glass. The ANZ headphones suck. I'd advise travelers to bring their own headphones. There's a jack to plug them into, and a USB charging port. The plane has large windows but they are behind you, so looking out of them requires turning your head more than 90 degrees. The view out the window would be better than the view of the legs and feet of the person across the aisle. Food is delicious and plentiful. Snacks are available any time.

Row 9 are probably the best seats in business class. They have a shelf where you can put things (I think only the seats in the last row have these), and since it's at the back of the cabin you only have to deal with other passenger on one side - not two. Proximity to galley and rest rooms was not a problem. The window is more-or-less behind the seat, but since this flight is entirely at night, and mainly over water, there was nothing to see anyway. The seats are comfortable, but I had trouble seeing the electrical and headphone outlets (in addition the the ones in the monitor frame). Ended up using my phone to take pictures, with the apparatus made visible by the flash. Plenty of good food. Cabin crew was friendly and helpful. Bed is comfortable and I actually slept for several hours. But there must be a heat source under the bed, and it could feel sweltering until I sat up to cool off. Storage space is awkward, to put it mildly. Amenity kit includes lip balm, hand lotion, eye mask, earplugs, a ballpoint pen, toothbrush, mouthwash, and toothpaste. But couldn't they include a comb?

While I think there is more privacy in this seat versus the starboard side, it is all a bit cramped. I prefer a fully flexible mechanically operated lie flat seat rather than the lie flat that involves the flight attendant converting the seat to a bed. Our flight experienced some pretty rough turbulence for a couple of hours. I would have much preferred being able to sit upright rather than struggling to scramble with the bed situation. We preferred the 777 B/C seat. It seemed to have a bit more recline. Cabin service was very good although we thought waking the cabin up 3 hours out of Houston to serve breakfast was a bit early.

Terrible . Sorry AirNZ but feeling was that the whole Economy set up was as cheap as possible. Narrow seats , poor in flight TV with rather limited choice , and you had to ask for water. Food,nothing special, delivered on narrow trays that slid about. Sorry but would not use you again. Flight 2nd Feb 18 Auckland to Singapore. (NB just as bad NZ029 Houston to Auckland 5th Jan 18 )

Terrible seating arrangement, cramped, what is that footrest thing, whose idea was that, no overhead locker at this seat

While these seats (Row 45; Seats H, J & K) have a normal recline, the wall behind, the missing window, and the lavatory to the left gives a claustrophobic feel. You can open the lavatory door from 45H without leaving your seat.