Boeing was notable this year at the Farnborough International Airshow for its lack of visiting commercial aircraft. An exception, though, was a Qatar Airways Boeing 787-9 on display throughout the show.

Simple Flying took a tour onboard this aircraft, which had just entered service a few weeks before. It is not equipped with the QSuite product in business class but features a new Suite-based layout based on this game-changing design.

Qatar Airways Boeing 787 at Farnborough

Only one Boeing commercial aircraft was on display at the 2024 Farnborough International Airshow, and none was flying. This was a Boeing 787-9 aircraft from Qatar Airways. The airline currently operates 18 of these aircraft, with 12 more still on order. It also operates 30 Boeing 787-8 aircraft.

This particular aircraft, with registration A7-BHQ, is one of the newest in the fleet. It was delivered to Qatar Airways in December 2023, but did not start service until June 2024. At the time of the airshow, it was the newest in the fleet, but another was delivered to the airline at the end of July.

Photo: Justin Hayward | Simple Flying

The Business class cabin on the 787-9

The 787-9 aircraft are configured with two cabins – business and economy class. Qatar Airways does not offer a premium economy cabin, and first class is only offered on the Airbus A380 currently.

None of the Boeing 787 aircraft feature the new QSuite cabin. This excellent and innovative product is found on all Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, and some Boeing 777 aircraft.

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The airline offers quad-suites for work or socialization among travel groups.

Instead, the Boeing 787-9 features a new business cabin, often referred to as a ‘mini-QSuite.’ This is a different seating product from other aircraft types. The 787-8 has a very different layout, with 22 open-style business class seats. This is still a good product, but it offers less storage and seat features and significantly less privacy with a very open cabin.

To see the cabins on the 787-8, take a look at our earlier trip report on the type

Qatar Airways launched this new business cabin on the 787-9. It is designed based on the popular QSuite, but heavily modified to fit the narrower cabin of the 787. There are 30 seats arranged in a 1-2-1 layout. This is the Adient Ascent seat, newly introduced on the 787-9.

Overall, the design is excellent, and the cabin looks stylish and feels spacious. The seats (or suites) all have doors for increased privacy, but the walls are not as high as with QSuite. This gives slightly less privacy, but adds to the open feel of the cabin. There is no bar or lounge area on this aircraft – you will only find that on the A380.

Seats, of course, convert to a fully flat bed. Storage options are good – but not as much as with QSuite. There is a two-level table to the side, and a storage unit on the floor.

Although not as flexible as QSuite, all the central pairs of seats can be joined together – although they do angle away from each other. This is a great option for pairs traveling together and a good move from Qatar Airways. The new QSuite NextGen (unveiled at Farnborough and planned for the Boeing 777X) will take this idea even further with pairs of seats at the side able to be connected as Duo.

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Qatar Airways said that the new QSuites will once again raise the industry benchmark for business class cabins.

The economy cabin on the 787-9

The economy cabin has 281 seats, arranged 3-3-3 across the cabin. This is the same configuration as found on the Boeing 787-8 and Airbus A350. On the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 777 it is pushed to 3-4-3.

The crew area and cockpit on the 787-9

One of the advantages of touring an aircraft at a show or other display event is that you can often explore areas that are not normally accessible to the public.

On this tour, we got to see inside the crew rest area. This is located above the rear of the economy cabin. There are six bunks here, in a layout and space common to many Boeing widebody aircraft.

It was interesting to compare this with the newly designed rest area on the Virgin Atlantic A330neo on display at the show. This is located on the lower deck, accessed through a door in the galley in the mid-economy section. It has eight bunks for crew and pilots (there is a separate rest area for the flight deck on the 787). To me, the Airbus layout seemed much more claustrophobic, but the crew note that it is quieter in flight.

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It is always good to have a look inside the cockpit – especially on an aircraft as new as this one. It was especially good to have a look at the (operational) heads up display, fitted as standard on the 787-9.