Tag: LAN 787

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What It's Like to Fly for 10 Hours on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Where: Santiago, Chile
January 14, 2013 at 12:05 PM | by | Comments (0)

It flies! It actually flies!

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a headline hog. You can read all about it and its drama (lately more than ever) throughout major media, but there's nothing better than actually stepping onboard with a ticket to ride.

After more than a year of hanging out with the 787 on the tarmac, we finally flew the darned thing as South American airline LAN celebrated the inaugural flight of their new Los Angeles-to-Santiago, Chile 10-hour non-stop with the spiffy new bird.

So, what actually happens onboard a 787 flight? Is it really so different from any other airplane? Having just stepped off of this, our first 787 flight, we can finally answer those questions: lots of stuff and yes.

To describe a 10-hour flight is akin to boring neighbors with photo slides of a water park vacation. Instead, we're breaking it down into the hourly highlights ("the short of it") and, for those rapt with pleasure for every detail, the long of it, in first-person:

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Celebrating LAX's First 787 Flight: LAN 603 Non-Stop to Santiago, Chile

January 11, 2013 at 1:50 PM | by | Comments (0)

While this week hasn't exactly been all sunshine and rainbows for airlines flying their Boeing 787 Dreamliners around the world, last week sure was. On January 2, we stepped onboard aircraft CC-BBC, the gleaming new third 787 delivered to South American airline LAN for what would be a monumental inaugural flight, non-stop from Los Angeles-LAX to Santiago, Chile-SCL.

Our ticket read seat 1L. As the first row, first window on the right, that's practically a cockpit jumpseat (though our legroom and recline would be better). This would be more than a first 787 flight from LAX; it would be our own, personal first 787 flight. To say we were psyched is a gross understatement. The energy and optimism rippled through the line of waiting passengers in all classes, holding all types of tickets, as a special party for the full flight began at the gate.

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How to Say '787 Dreamliner' in Spanish

Where: Santiago, Chile
January 7, 2013 at 5:24 PM | by | Comments (0)

How do you say "787?" Seven-eight-seven or seven-eighty-seven? Though technically both are perfectly acceptable, the language may vary depending on the country to/from which you're flying the new airplane. And, since United is the only US operator of the airlines with Boeing 787 Dreamliners, the international names for the bird are more prevalent.

Before we set off on last week's LAN inaugural flight from LAX-SCL on their newest Dreamliner, @PointstoPointB tweeted us to ask: "how do they call the plane in Spanish onboard? Siete Ocho Siete? Siete Ochenta y Siete? El Sueñoliner?"

Well, dearest @PointstoPointB and future flyers of the LAN Dreamliner, we cleared up the issue firsthand with LAN's flight attendants. Their answer:

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Even the Toilets of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are Futuristic

January 4, 2013 at 12:29 PM | by | Comment (1)

This is the future.

There may be no personal jetpacks or hoverboards or even cheesecake in pill form, but at least we have advanced enough as a civilization to install self-closing toilet lids in airplane lavatories.

This miracle of modern engineering we only just discovered after @jonk tweeted us to ask if, after having seen auto-close lids on United's new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, LAN's new birds had them as well.

Onboard the inaugural flight of the LAN 787 from LAX non-stop to Santiago, Chile earlier this week, we had 10 hours to explore the 787 in-flight, in both Economy and Premium Business class, and made the question of the lavatory a priority. Check back Tuesday for our full review and photo galleries of the flight, but let's resolve this important issue right here and now.

The answer:

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Follow Along on the First Boeing 787 Dreamliner Flight from LAX

January 2, 2013 at 3:18 PM | by | Comments (0)

Hello from LAX! Today we're off to Santiago, Chile (our 2012 Destination of the Year), though this time it's not the city we're checking out; we're flying 10-ish hours each way simply for the airplane taking us there. That's right—it's the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and this is yet another huge entry on its history timeline as LAN inaugurates a fresh route with their spanking new wings.

LAN Airlines was the fourth carrier to receive a Dreamliner, but first in the Americas. Today they tack on a few more records, as this inaugural flight—LAN 603 LAX - SCL—is...
· The first 787 scheduled service from LAX
· LAN's first 787 route to North America
· The first 787 service overall between North and South America
· The first non-stop service from LAX to Santiago, Chile (a new route that'll operate 3x/week, Wednesday-Friday-Sunday)

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Chasing LAN's Boeing 787 Dreamliner with the Aerial Photographers of Wolfe Air

September 5, 2012 at 3:40 PM | by | Comments (0)

New airplane alert! On Saturday, September 1, LAN Airlines picked up its very first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, becoming the first in the Americas to operate the aircraft. From the factory to the runway at Boeing's Paine Field in Everett, WA, we were there to kick the tires, put the seats back and get a feel for her. Stay tuned the next couple days for more Dreamliner dispatches.

Have you ever been on a flight and spotted another flight off in the distance? It's just the coolest thing to see another plane in midair; they become your friend for a few minutes, as if you're sharing the delicious secret that 38,000 feet is the place to be. And it is. Now imagine that flying alongside other airplanes was an everyday occurrence for you—even better, that it's your job. This is actually the case for the badass pilots and aerial cinematographers at Wolfe Air.

Thanks to our buddy David Parker Brown of AirlineReporter.com and the team at Wolfe Air, we were able to go beyond watching the LAN Boeing 787 Dreamliner delivery flight to participating in it while discovering how Wolfe Air makes their magic—the magic of capturing the Dreamliner on film, in flight, from a few hundred feet off the raked wingtip.

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Photos and Video: Inside and All Around LAN's Very First Boeing 787 Dreamliner

September 4, 2012 at 1:21 PM | by | Comments (3)

New airplane alert! On Saturday, September 1, LAN Airlines picked up its very first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, becoming the first in the Americas to operate the aircraft. From the factory to the runway at Boeing's Paine Field in Everett, WA, we were there to kick the tires, put the seats back and get a feel for her. Stay tuned the next couple days for more Dreamliner dispatches.

It's been nearly one year since the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner flew off into the blue skies above Boeing's factory on its way into commercial service. And, in that year, not one airline in the Americas has gotten their hands on the American-made aircraft. Until now. Until Chile's LAN Airlines signed on the dotted line, picked up the (ceremonial) key and said hasta luego before heading down to Santiago with a shiny new 787-8.

Why's it such a big deal anyway? Oh, well, aside from years of hard work and billions of dollars behind it, the 787 has some nifty features passengers will notice right away. For one, there's ginormous auto-dimming windows made possible by the plane's construction of composite materials. Another: the 30% increase in overhead bag storage space. Yet more: less engine noise, less CO2 emissions, the addition of humidity to that horribly dry cabin air, and the ability to pressurize the cabin at a lower altitude to cut down on headaches and fatigue. Enough—let's go inside already!

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Follow Along with Us During LAN Airlines' First Boeing 787 Dreamliner Delivery

August 30, 2012 at 5:59 PM | by | Comments (0)

You know what happens when you buy a brand new airplane from Boeing? It's not as simple as signing a contract, doing a massive money transfer and picking up the plane out back. Nope—a new aircraft delivery involves ceremony, months and months of planning for a single flight to start the plane into service, and yes—even a little key.

Tomorrow, LAN Airlines becomes the fourth carrier to receive a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and first in the Americas. It's a pretty big deal and, as the United States will be seeing routes down to Chile on her before 2012 is over, we've hightailed it out to Everett, WA to check out what LAN has in store for their fresh bird.

Here's how to follow along for all our hot and bothered LAN 787 Delivery excitement:

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Inside LAN's Engine Shop at Their Santiago Airport Maintenance Base

Where: Santiago, Chile
April 13, 2012 at 10:03 AM | by | Comments (0)

General Electric. Pratt & Whitney. Rolls Royce. Sound familiar? Sure, as appliances and cars, maybe, but these companies are also very much into the business of manufacturing airplane engines. And just like when airplanes go into a hangar for maintenance, so too do their engines have a special work area.

Welcome to the Engine Shop for LAN Airlines, located right nearby Santiago, Chile's Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport.

It's really odd to stand in a room so clean it's almost sterile, and be surrounded by machines that not only cost something like $13 million each, but are responsible for hundreds or thousands of lives every day, each again. You know, we could walk into Harry Winston on Fifth Avenue and look at velvet-lined trays of jewelry worth just as much and more, but the pendants and tiaras don't do anything. Next to an engine, however, we were left with a profound sense that here, right here, is a real machine, something worth every raw cent spent on it and every cent (sometimes $3 million) spent to keep it in tiptop condition.

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There's Something Sexy About LAN...

Where: Santiago, Chile
February 27, 2012 at 6:04 PM | by | Comments (0)

Is there a such thing as a sexy airline? Many have tried, most have failed; only Virgin Atlantic and the small assortment of other Virgin airlines seem to pull of seduction-by-air-travel these days—that is, until we managed a closer look at the red line in the logo of LAN Airlines.

Just look at it above. You've likely already spotted the star and line logo gliding around tarmacs on LAN's blue plane tails, but what does it all mean? The short answer, according to Fernanda Toro, LAN's Vice President of Travel Experience (awesome title), is that the star embodies the warmth and confidence of the airline, or "Encanto" (enchantment). That line though, that red swish that appears everywhere from the in-flight china to the cabin design? That's pure sex.

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