B787 Dreamliner promises passengers a more comfortable experience
By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 11 July 2007 2220 hrs

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Flying has become more common and easier these days, but for many, the experience has become worse.

Cramped seats, insufficient luggage space and a feeling of dryness and headaches on long haul flights are common complaints of passengers.

But Boeing, which launched the 787 Dreamliner over the weekend, says its new design should help alleviate some of these problems.

Enter the plane and a high entrance archway takes away that claustrophobic feeling.

Seats are at least 4 centimetres wider in economy class and more spacious luggage cabins means your shopping will not get crushed.

But the thing many will get a kick out of are probably the electrochromatic windows - about 40 to 65 percent larger than usual.

One of the most unique features of this plane are the individually-controlled windows.

This means that instead of having just two options - shutters up or shutters down - you can now control the amount of light coming in throughout the day.

And at night what will happen is that the stewardesses will shut it down to a maximum tint of 95 percent.

This means you can still look out of the windows while the people sleeping inside are not disturbed.

But the one thing that makes a big difference is the material used for making about half the plane - a more flexible and durable carbon-composite material rather than aluminium.

It is not new, but has not been used so extensively in commercial planes before.

Jeff Hawk, Director, Certification and Environment, Boeing Company, said: "The sports industry is probably the most broadly known. Golf clubs, skis, many sporting equipment is made of composite materials... And we're starting to see the use of it in automobiles."

This means cabin pressure can come down from 8,000 feet to 6,000 feet - meaning less "thin air" and fewer headaches. It also means higher humidity levels, and thus a reduction of dry eyes and throats.

With over 40 customers, including Singapore Airlines, expecting delivery of these planes over the next six years, one could be experiencing such flights sooner rather than later. - CNA/ch