LATAM Airlines Premium cabin (B787-9) & Guarulhos Lounge
Flight#: LA8134
From: Sao Paulo - Guarulhos (GRU)
To: Barcelona-El Prat (BCN)
Flight time: 10h 50 min
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
We saw in a previous post, what LATAM Airlines’ Premium Business Class was like on a B777-300ER, so this time we will see the same product onboard another type of aircraft, the B787-9.
To be fair, most aspects of service are the same, but there are always some small tweaks to take into account, particularly in the soft elements of the service. What’s more, since this flight originated in Sao Paulo, it also offered a chance to try LATAM’s flagship lounge at Brazil’s largest airport. So, without further ado, let’s have a look at what LATAM’s flagship Premium Business cabin has to offer!
The flight were courtesy of LATAM Airlines. All opinons are my own.
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The LATAM Airlines Lounge at Sao Paulo-Guarulhos Airport
Guarulhos is one of the hub airports for LATAM and this shows in the lounge facilities available to Premium Business travelers.
Now, before I delve into my impressions of this lounge, please note that there is a project to totally revamp it in the near future, as LATAM Airlines keeps investing in upgrading the passenger experience it provides.
I was surprised to learn about this, since the current lounge is actually pretty large, modern and pleasant overall. And I say this after having spent more than 6 hours in it (since I was connecting from an earlier flight from Montevideo on a different airline).
In the following images you can get a feel of the place. The lounge is actually very large and decorated in a modern and rather elegant style. It also has plenty of comfortable seating, so, even if it was well transited, there was no crowdedness sensation at any time during the hours I was there.
Most seats have a power outlet nearby and there are even more power outlets distributed through the floor, so this is one base covered.
Then there is the food area, which is well stocked with cold and warm dishes, including quite a few Brazilian specialities. The wine rack, which you can see in the middle of the left side picture below, adds a rather unique touch to the layout.
As I visited during the FIFA World Cup, a giant screen and a whole viewing area had been set up at one end of the lounge.
One thing to highlight of the LATAM lounge at GRU is the restroom area, which are easily among the best taken care of I have seen at any airport lounge (perhaps in competition with Finnair’s lounge at Helsinki airport). In fact, the male (and I guess same goes for female) restrooms are organized in a series of individual small rooms (and rather elegantly furnished), which are constantly being cleaned.
I have not captured pictures of every section of the lounge, but there are also work areas, a magazine rack with a handful of Brazilian aerospace magazines, which I found quite interesting to check, and, of course, a well-stocked bar.
The one thing that was perhaps missing and I would have welcomed more of is flight information screens!
Boarding LATAM’s B787-9 Premium Business cabin
If you are familiar with LATAM’s B777-300ER cabin, you will immediately recognize many of its elements on the B787-9 business class (“Premium Business”) one. LATAM is pretty consistent in this regard.
LATAM’s B787-9 Premium Business cabin has a 1-2-1 layout, although with onloy 30 seats instead of the 38 of the B777-300ER. The seats are exactly the same, the hard-shell Thomson Vantage XL seats with full lie-flat options, a generous and cushioned footwell and a large side table with a marble-like top. Note also the bulky blanket and pillow bag!
The B787-9 is also equipped with the Panasonic 18” touch screen and access to the very comprehensive LATAM Play inflight entertainment (IFE) platform.
What this aircraft didn’t have have yet is internet connectivity, but LATAM’s B787-9s are already earmarked to get ViaSat-powered internet connectivity in the very near future. In fact, the first aircraft of this type fitted with satellite-based internet was already rolled-out in March 2026.
Some more details of the seat features: the control panel for the screen (which is kind of redundant, because the screen reacts well to touch) on the left below, the universal in-seat power outlet and USB ports, on the right.
Premium Business passengers get also a complimentary bottle of water, a pair of headphones and a very comfy slippers.
More pictures below of the storage spaces available. The one on the left below on the top part of the seat next to the side desk, the one on the right, ideal to leave your shoes after you change to the amenity kit socks and slippers. Note also the gap at the front of the monument, where you can stuff the blanket bag or any other bulky item, like a briefcase.
If you read my previous LATAM B777-300ER review you already know that I am a big fan of what this airline has done with its amenity bag collection, coming up with a whole pantone of colours which are each linked to a specific natural wonder of South America. Since I had already chosen the burgundy-coloured one on my previous flight, this time I chose this pale blue, which represents the Salar de Uyuni, in Bolivia.
Food and Drink
Eating on a flight that departs around midnight is always a challenge for airlines that wish to provide both a great culinary experience and a good rest time to their premium passengers. I think LATAM Airlines does a good job in this regard.
In this particular flight, two major meals were served: dinner shortly after take off and breakfast when we were close to destination.
First there was, of course, a welcome drink. This time I skipped champagne and opted for some type of guava-type drink.
To be fair, I had eaten quite well already earlier in the evening at the lounge, but was keen to try some more of LATAM’s newly revamped inflight culinary offering, so I told the crew that I would be having both dinner and breakfast (they politely ask you, well aware that some passengers may not be really hungry at that time of the night and early morning).
Below you can see what was on offer on this flight.
Here is the starter: prosciutto with mozzarella accompanied by some really tasty Brazil nuts.
And, since I had really enjoyed the meat on my flight down to South America, I opted for beef again, just a slightly different preparation this time. This proved to be, again, a great choice and LATAM nailed it once more! The dessert this time was a bit different and rather than an ice cream vase, came in the form of these chocolate capsules filled with ice-cream. A really nice treat, possibly no the healthiest thing to eat in the middle of the night, but it was unexpectedly refreshing. It came together with a small chocolate, as well.
Breakfast arrived as we were already over Europe and approaching our destination. As you can see in these pics, I opted for the ham and cheese selection and yogurt with granola.
The crew distributed also croissants and bread, as well as fresh coffee and drinks. Overall pretty good and not too heavy!
Our Take:
I will reiterate here what I said when reviewing the LATAM B777-300ER experience: a pretty solid business class product, which starts on the ground with a really nice lounge experience and continues onboard with the modern and cozy Premium Business cabin of the B787-9. The best proof of this is that I manage to sleep several hours in a row, which is something that I rarely manage to do on long-haul flights!
If you are considering a trip to South American, you may want to check also my flight reviews of:
