Review: Air Canada 787-9 Economy Class from Calgary to Frankfurt

In addition to flights from Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, Air Canada also offers a connection from Calgary to Frankfurt. That came really handy when I needed to get from Yellowknife in the north of the country to Europe during my recent around-the-Northern-Hemisphere trip.

Continue reading this review to see what the economy class transatlantic flight on Air Canada’s 787-9 was like.

Booking the Flight

Quite a while back, I bought Aegean Airlines miles during a promotion. As I still had some left, I used 35,000 Aegean miles to book an economy class ticket from Calgary to Vienna via Frankfurt. In addition to this flight, the ticket also included an Austrian A320neo flight from Frankfurt to Vienna.

On top of the miles, I had to pay 116.82 EUR in taxes and fees.

Transfer, Lounge & Boarding at Calgary Airport

Originally, I was supposed to have over two hours to change planes in Calgary. However, that shrunk to about an hour and a half because my Air Canada Q400 flight from Edmonton was considerably delayed.

As such, immediately after getting off the domestic flight in Concourse A, I walked over to the international Concourse D. With the walk being fairly long, I skipped the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in Concourse C that I planned to visit. Instead, I made my way straight to the Aspire Lounge which is in Concourse D and as such much more convenient location-wise if you are taking an international flight out of Calgary.

I stayed in the lounge for less than 20 minutes before heading out to gate 74 where my flight to Frankfurt was departing from. With the Aspire Lounge’s convenient location, it took just a couple of minutes to get to the gate.

Inside, a not-too-long and organized queue was formed. Outside, the newest of Air Canada’s 30 Boeing 787-9s – C-GWUU – was waiting. In fact, at the time of my flight, it was less than a month after the airframe had entered into service.

Boarding started on time, at 5:05PM, and a couple of minutes later, group 2 which included Star Alliance Gold members was called. As such, I had my boarding pass scanned and headed down the jetway. I didn’t get very far, though, as the aircraft was not ready yet.

It took another ten or fifteen minutes of standing in the jetway until I was finally able to get on board.

Air Canada 787-9 Economy Class Cabin & Seat

With the aircraft having done just a dozen or so revenue flights before my flight, the cabins were in immaculate condition and the aircraft smelled brand new.

Like all other Air Canada 787-9s, the aircraft that took me to Frankfurt was equipped with 298 seats in three classes.

Between the first two pairs of doors was a business class cabin with 30 reverse herringbone seats in a 1-2-1 layout. Behind that was a small premium economy cabin with just three 2-3-2 rows for a total of 21 seats. Past that were 247 economy class seats in a 3-3-3 layout.

While the economy class cabin didn’t stand out as much as the one on WestJet’s 787, I liked the combination of the dark striped seats with the light wall and the Air Canada logo at the back of the cabin.

Standard economy class seats – like 44G that I selected – on the Air Canada 787-9 offered average legroom.

Emergency exit row seats offered great legroom at the expense of not being able to store a bag under the seat in front of you. They also cost 118 EUR to select.

As for the seat itself, there was a – for today’s standards – small in-flight entertainment screen on the seatback in front of me. That said, it offered a decent resolution. Under the screen was the audio output and a USB-A charging port.

There were also two universal power outlets under the seats in front for each group of three seats.

The tray table was a simple one that could not be folded in half.

The seat pocket was a simple one with no extra pockets as well.

Inside it were a waste bag, a safety card, a “Bistro” buy-on-board menu, and a donation envelope.

Last, but not least, it’s worth mentioning here that there were individual air vents on the overhead panel.

Air Canada Flight 848 Departure

Upon boarding, a standard economy class blanket and a generic small pillow were waiting at each seat.

Boarding was completed around 5:35PM and – at that point – I was happy to find that I would have the entire row of three seats to myself. Around that time, one of the flight attendants also welcomed us onboard and introduced the crew which spoke a good array of languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and even Japanese.

Soon after that, a safety video that also introduced Canada’s provinces and territories was played (that video has since been replaced with a Disney-themed one) and the captain welcomed us onboard. He mentioned that we were expecting “good flying conditions,” a flight time of 8 hours 30 minutes, and an on time arrival.

We were pushed back at 5:49PM – a minute ahead of schedule – and at 6PM, we took off quietly and smoothly into the Canadian skies.

Air Canada Transatlantic Economy Class Dinner

Less than ten minutes after take-off, the seatbelt signs were switched off.

Soon after, the cabin crew distributed simple earphones. From there, it took another half an hour or so until the meal service started. While no paper menus were distributed as is the standard in economy class nowadays, it was possible to see the menu on the in-flight entertainment system. I especially appreciated that there was a drink menu listing all the options too.

For the meal, Air Canada partnered with French chef Jérôme Ferrer. Two choices of mains were available:

• Chicken with creamy sauce, roasted potatoes, and vegetables
• Portobello macaroni and cheese

For drinks, there was the usual array of soft drinks including juices (orange, apple, tomato), Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, ginger ale, sparkling water, tonic water, and still water. Hot drinks included Lavazza coffee and decaf coffee, and Tetley Orange Pekoe tea. There was also a complimentary selection of wine, beer, and spirits.

One of the meal carts got to me just past 7PM – about an hour after departure. I asked for the chicken dish and was told to wait for a few minutes while it was being “cooked.” In the meantime, I was served the tray without the main. Then the chicken followed, and then, I got my drink – Diet Coke. It was nice to be provided with the full can rather than just a cup.

Overall, I enjoyed the meal which came with a side of salad, a small piece of bread, some cheese, and a brownie.

The salad was quite fancy for economy class. It included apples, potatoes, and celery – all of which worked together really nicely. The chicken was tender, the potatoes weren’t too mushy.

While the cutlery was wooden, it actually was (unlike the one provided by WestJet) usable.

During the dinner service, the cabin was lit up in a nice orange and blue mood lighting.

Trays were picked up about twenty minutes after the meal was served. Another ten minutes or so later, hot drinks were offered.

Air Canada 787-9 In-Flight Entertainment System

As mentioned earlier, soon after take-off, simple earphones were provided.

Unfortunately, they weren’t as good as the headphones provided by Emirates or Qatar Airways, for example. That said, they did the job and were about average when it comes to economy class earphones.

While the content selection wasn’t the most extensive in the world, there were still dozens and dozens of movies old and new. There were also quite a few TV shows, each with at least a couple of episodes. Some like Young Sheldon even had a full season available.

I liked the fact that there were also some business shows like Shark Tank, The Profit, and The Diary of a CEO. I also liked that there was a “Coming Soon” section which Air Canada frequent flyers might appreciate.

In addition to video content, there were also some games, a selection of music and podcasts, and news.

Lastly, there was a fully customizable in-flight map which could either be played in a small window in addition to other entertainment or in a full-screen mode.

No onboard cameras were available.

Air Canada 787-9 Onboard Wi-Fi

While in general, Air Canada 787-9s are equipped with onboard wi-fi, the airframe that I was flying on was not.

I loved the very Canadian way in which the cabin crew explained the situation over the PA right after take-off: “Because this is a new plane that just entered service, we do not have wi-fi installed yet. If you are, however, interested in the hockey scores we will be able to find that out for you.”

Cruising Onboard an Air Canada 787-9

After the meal service, I watched an episode of The Profit briefly before going to sleep. After all, I had three seats to myself so it would have been a waste not to try to get as much shut-eye as possible.

Except for briefly waking up at 6:10AM Frankfurt time just as we were flying off the coast of Iceland at 39,000 feet, I managed to sleep until 9AM – for about five and a half hours.

Once awake, I went to the lavatory which was pretty standard. The one thing that stood out, though, was a very large (perhaps the largest I’ve seen) sign instructing passengers not to throw garbage into the toilet.

On the way back to my seat, I stopped by the galley where a flight attendant happily poured me a cup of orange juice from a drink trolley that was there.

Air Canada Transatlantic Economy Class Breakfast

Breakfast was served about 90 minutes before landing. It consisted of a plastic box with a packaged croissant and a yogurt. The yogurt was fine and the croissant was about as normal as it gets for a packaged croissant onboard a plane.

Considering that this was a nine-hour flight and not a shorter transatlantic flight from the East Coast, the breakfast was very underwhelming. It would have been nice if there was at least a side of cut fruits or similar, or at least some butter and jam to go with the croissant.

About fifteen minutes after the breakfast box was served, drinks were offered. I got some tea. I was also offered water or juice by another flight attendant – I took the former. Then another flight attendant serving the other aisle offered me a drink which I kindly said no to considering I already had two.

All in all, while the breakfast was subpar, the cabin crew was very nice throughout the flight. At the end of the flight, one of them even chatted with a passenger near me who was having a headache, offering suggestions on what the flight attendant does when she has migraines.

Arrival at Frankfurt Airport

Once I finished breakfast, I spent the rest of the flight organizing photos from the trip.

We started descending at 10:12AM and another ten minutes or so later, the seatbelt signs were switched back on.

We landed on Frankfurt Airport’s runway 07L at 10:36AM. At 10:42AM – 13 minutes ahead of schedule – we came to a full stop at a remote stand.

From there, it took another ten minutes or so for disembarking to start and to get on the bus to the terminal, and another few minutes for the bus to start the seven or eight-minute ride.

While from a practical point of view, I prefer arriving at a gate with a jetway, I didn’t mind the bus ride at all considering how many Boeing 747s and Airbus A340s I could see along the way. Frankfurt truly is a quad jet heaven!

Air Canada 787-9 Economy Class Summary

The Air Canada 787-9 economy class hard product was about average – the legroom was fine, there was a decent in-flight entertainment system (although the screen could have been larger), and there were both USB charging ports and power outlets.

In terms of the soft product, while the crew was nice and friendly and the main meal was tasty, the second meal left a lot to be desired.

All in all, I wouldn’t avoid flying Air Canada on a transatlantic flight in economy class again. That said, I also wouldn’t look to be taking Air Canada specifically either.