After constructing my dream journey to Australia this winter (summer time Down Below), I booked a singular itinerary dwelling to Boston from New Zealand’s capital metropolis, with a stopover in Nadi, Fiji. The routing concerned an thrilling Fiji Airways flight in enterprise class on the service’s flagship long-haul plane, the Airbus A350. Listed below are some fundamental flight particulars to get began with the overview:

Airline/Flight: Fiji Airways, FJ 810
Route: NAN-LAX — Nadi, Fiji to Los Angeles, California
Flight Date: February 6, 2023
Scheduled Departure/Arrival: 9:40 p.m. / 11:50 a.m.
Scheduled Flight Size: 10 hours, 10 minutes
Plane: Airbus A350-900
Registration: DQ-FAJ
Seat: 18K

Fiji Airways deploys its Airbus A350 on plenty of routes between its Nadi hub and cities together with Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sydney and Auckland. The A350 is a mainstay on the Los Angeles route, and I used to be excited to expertise the service’s premium enterprise class providing.

How I booked the flight

This flight was the second leg of a bigger itinerary that took me from Wellington, New Zealand to Boston, Massachusetts, with a stopover in Nadi, Fiji and plenty of connections in the US. I bought the ticket with Alaska Airways frequent flyer miles, with the entire value being 55,000 MileagePlan miles plus $68.37 in taxes and charges.

To be taught extra about how I booked and paid for this unbelievable journey, learn my expanded article, How I Booked Enterprise Class Flights to Australia with Airline Miles. Should you’re new to the factors and miles sport, it’s an incredible place to begin to perceive the unbelievable alternatives accessible by award journey.

PRO TIP: You’ll be able to guide this flight with American Airways AAdvantage miles! By opening an American Airways co-branded bank card, you will be effectively in your solution to reserving flights with miles thanks to those engaging sign-up bonuses:

• Citi® / American Airways AAdvantage® Mile Up® Card — Earn 10,000 American Airways AAdvantage® bonus miles and a $50 assertion credit score once you spend $500 in your first 3 months of card membership. (Discover ways to apply)
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Fiji Airways Airbus A350 Seating Format

Fiji Airways launched its flagship Airbus A350-900 plane in 2019, taking supply of two planes which it named “Island of Viti Levu” and “Island of Vanua Levu,” the latter of which operated my flight from Nadi to Los Angeles. In 2023, the airline positioned an order for 2 further A350s which will probably be delivered in July-August 2023.

The airline’s A350 options 33 lay-flat enterprise class seats organized in a 1-2-1 configuration and 301 financial system class seats in a 3-3-3 configuration.

Additional-legroom seats in financial system class, known as “Bula Area” seats, characteristic 34 inches of seat pitch and 6 levels of recline. Customary legroom financial system class seats characteristic between 31 and 32 inches of seat pitch and 6 levels of recline. All financial system seats characteristic an in-seat video display with a 12-inch touchscreen show, USB port, in-seat energy (2 retailers per 3 seats) and a big leisure library.

A high-quality seat map of the Fiji Airways A350 is accessible from aeroLOPA.

Enterprise Class Seat on the Fiji Airways Airbus A350

The forward-facing enterprise class seats on the Fiji Airways Airbus A350 are constructed on the Collins Aerospace Tremendous Diamond seat platform. The Tremendous Diamond is likely one of the business’s hottest enterprise class seat varieties and is utilized by carriers worldwide — it’s my private favourite.

Enterprise class is organized in a 1-2-1 configuration, with direct aisle entry at each seat. The seat shell impedes passenger transfers from the aisle chair to a level, however the Fiji Airways seat is rather more accessible than the British Airways Membership Suite, which has a door.

The seat lays flat right into a mattress and Fiji Airways offers a pillow and blanket. The seat padding on Fiji Airways’ model of this seat was much less snug than I’ve skilled on different carriers, making it a bit tougher to sleep, although it wouldn’t hold me from flying with the airline sooner or later.

The seat itself is spacious, adjustable and intuitively designed. The seat cushion was upholstered in a white leatherette cowl.

Reclining the seat is feasible utilizing the contact display management panel adjoining to the seat — it’s potential to recline right into a lounge place or additional into flat mattress mode.

The footwell beneath the leisure display is a bit cramped and will affect very tall passengers (as is the case with most premium cabin seats), however most passengers will discover the seat spacious — together with aspect sleepers like me, who take up further area.

Whereas many airways are navigating away from air vents at every seat, I’m comfortable to report that Fiji Airways has maintained the characteristic on its Airbus A350 — I want air circulation with the intention to sleep effectively and appreciated the 2 adjustable air nozzles above my seat.

The seat options a big, 17-inch private leisure touchscreen show that may also be managed by a handheld distant present in a storage compartment adjoining to the seat. There was a big catalogue of flicks and TV reveals to select from, in addition to a transferring flight map and two stay digicam feeds from cameras mounted outdoors the plane.

Different tech options embody a common AC energy plug and USB port, in addition to a pair of noise-canceling headphones to be used through the flight.

Meals & Beverage Service in Fiji Airways Enterprise Class

After boarding the plane, I used to be supplied a scorching towel and a alternative of pre-departure drinks: orange juice or glowing wine. I requested for certainly one of every.

Shortly after the flight’s departure, flight attendants served an extra spherical of drinks (I ordered a cocktail) together with a ramekin of Chex Combine.

A menu was then introduced with plenty of choices. There was a alternative of two appetizers:

• Kokoda (Fijian Ceviche) — A Flan delicacy made with uncooked contemporary fish cured in citrus juices, enriched with coconut milk & enhanced with sea salt, minced chilies, positive sliced inexperienced onions, tomatoes, cucumber & coriander leaves, garnished with taro flavoured boba spheres
• Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup — Garnished with brown sugar boba pearls, further virgin olive oil & spring onions

Three entree choices had been accessible:

• Zesty Orange Hen — With steamed jasmine rice & chopped parsley, grilled pink capsicum, sautéed snake beans, pink onions & fried shavings of crispy cassava (tapioca)
• Beef Moussaka — Roasted eggplant baked with premium beef mince topped with cheese & a touch of paprika, spiced jasmine rice, steamed broccoli, carrot florets, tomato basil sauce, garnished with dehydrated fried cassava (tapioca)
• Bechamel Penne Pasta with Broccoli (Vegetarian) — With a burnt onion jam, tomatoes, candy potato chips & basil

I selected the soup and pasta. Each had been served on the identical time. The soup was tasty, although the primary course left a bit to be desired. A passenger in a close-by seat had chosen the rooster, which seemed good — I may need had higher luck with that alternative.

Dessert adopted shortly thereafter, and there have been two choices up for grabs:

• Cookies & Cream Banoffee Parfait — Delicate layers of ripe banana, caramel cream & crushed oreo cookies, completed with stems of dehydrated plantain banana
• Contemporary Fruit Bowl (Vegan) — Assorted contemporary tropical fruits garnished with pure flavoured boba pearls

I selected the parfait and located it to be fulfilling. Candy, however not terribly so, with a pleasant texture. I concluded the meal with a Fiji water, then ready to relaxation.

On the conclusion of dinner, a breakfast menu was distributed. The menu card allowed passengers to pre-select their meal and drink choices, which had been served about 90 minutes previous to touchdown in Los Angeles. The next meal selections had been supplied:

• Cheese Omelette Brushed with Parsley Butter — With pan-seared candy potato cake, grilled rooster chipolata, sautéed spinach with onions, candy mustard relish & micro herbs
• Heat Upside Down Banana & Pear Slice — Served with vanilla custard sauce, Chantilly cream, Kitkat fingers with cocoa powder & contemporary mint
• Continental Breakfast (Vegetarian) — Contemporary fruit platter with a lemon curd & chocolate granola parfait with flavoured boba spheres, contemporary home made breads & spreads

I chosen the omelette and paired it with a glass of orange juice. Along with the choice of a major course, a small choice of contemporary fruit was served together with a alternative of bread (sliced bread or cinnamon roll). The breakfast was satisfying, and was an effective way to start out the morning.

Accessible Bathroom on the Fiji Airways Airbus A350

The designated “accessible” bathroom for passengers utilizing the aisle chair on the Fiji Airways Airbus A350 is situated on the heart of the financial system class cabin, behind row 49.

After I wanted to make use of the lavatory, I rang the decision bell, instructed the flight attendant, and was pushed to the rear of the plane utilizing the onboard aisle wheelchair.

Accessible bathrooms are available plenty of sizes and shapes, and a few are rather more accessible than others. If I had been to rank the assorted types, this one could be on the backside of the listing. Two normal bathrooms are successfully mixed into one, by opening the folding wall between the 2. Though this does present further area for the aisle chair and a companion or care assistant, accessibility options are missing. The aisle chair have to be parked perpendicular to the bathroom and transfers are awkward.

Regrettably, cabin crew had not closed off the bigger bathroom to different passengers previous to pushing me there, and I ended up ready for an prolonged time period for the lavatory to develop into accessible — whereas seated on the aisle chair. The aisle chair itself was faulty, with a damaged latching mechanism, which brought on it to fold in on me like a garden chair. A passenger with out higher physique power would seemingly have suffered damage in consequence. I ultimately demanded to switch onto a close-by flight attendant bounce seat as a result of I used to be working out of power to withstand the collapsing wheelchair.

The damaged aisle chair apart, being soak up an aisle chair from my seat in row 18 by the enterprise and financial system class cabins wasn’t snug. I ran into almost each passenger alongside the best way. The bathroom was situated 20 seating rows away from the closest boarding door — a lot too far and a failure in accessible design. The right place for an accessible bathroom on the Airbus A350 is at door 2L or 2R, but airways have opted for a a lot much less accessible bathroom within the heart aisle.

Professional-tip: When a flight attendant is helping you to the rest room utilizing an aisle chair, advise them to drag you backwards — it’s safer, a lot simpler to maneuver and can stop your knees from bumping into seats.

For extra info on attending to and utilizing the lavatory on the airplane as a wheelchair person, learn the article on wheelchair accessible airplane bathrooms, which comprises photographs and descriptions of the assorted bathroom types.

Ultimate Ideas

Fiji Airways gives a robust enterprise class product on its Airbus A350 plane, superior to others I’ve tried together with Finnair’s Enterprise Class on the A350. The enterprise class seat from Collins Aerospace is about nearly as good because it will get — a minimum of so far as fashionable seat designs presently being put in on new and reworked plane. The A350’s accessible bathroom drawback would set Fiji Airways behind airways which have opted for extra accessible bathroom designs, however no different carriers presently supply continuous flights between the US and Fiji.