LATAM's 787s Are Getting Two Retrofits in Three Years: What Your Dreamliner Has Now, and What Changes in 2027
Quick Verdict
Two retrofits, not one. LATAM's Premium Business suites finish going in by the end of 2026. Premium Comfort — the airline's first premium economy on the 787 — starts going in from the middle of 2027. An aircraft that comes out of the hangar with new suites this year is back in it within about a year, so the cabin you fly in 2026 is not the final one.
Right now you are rolling a dice. On the 787-9 there are three cabins in service: two aircraft with the 2015 Aura Lite layout, twenty-seven with the 2019 Vantage XL layout, and a growing number with the 2026 Recaro R7 suites. On the 787-8 there are two: the 2012 cabin with thirty flat seats in 2-2-2, and the 2025 cabin with twenty suites with doors.
Best seats: in the R7 suites, 2A/2L, 4A/4L and 6A/6L are the true window suites; couples want the paired centre suites in odd rows (1D/1H, 3D/3H, 5D/5H, 7D/7H). Avoid: 5A and 5L on the retrofitted 787-8 and 41A/41L on the 787-9 — no window at all.
LATAM said in September 2026 that at least half of its Boeing 787s now carry the new Premium Business suites, and that the rest will follow by the end of the year. Almost every report of that announcement treated it as the finish line. It is not. In the same breath the airline confirmed that Premium Comfort, a brand-new cabin it has spent more than US$100 million developing, starts going into the same aircraft from the middle of 2027.
Put those two dates next to each other and something awkward falls out. A 787 retrofitted in the second half of 2026 has roughly a year in service before it is due back in the hangar for a cabin it does not currently have space for. For anyone booking LATAM long-haul between now and 2028, that means the question is not simply "does my flight have the new seat" but "which of up to four cabin layouts am I actually going to sit in".
The two programmes at a glance
| Premium Business suites | Premium Comfort | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Recaro R7 business suite with a sliding door, 1-2-1, staggered | Recaro PL3530 premium economy, 2-3-2, 16-inch 4K screen |
| Announced | September 2024 | August 2025 |
| Investment | US$360 million | Over US$100 million |
| In service from | 26 April 2025 | Mid-2027 |
| Complete by | End of 2026 | Before the end of 2028 |
| Replaces | Aura Lite 2-2-2 and Vantage XL 1-2-1 | Nothing — it is a new cabin |
Premium Business: where the suite retrofit has got to
LATAM launched the programme in September 2024 as a US$360 million job covering twenty-four Dreamliners — ten 787-8s and fourteen 787-9s. The first three aircraft, all 787-8s based in Chile, entered service on 26 April 2025 on Santiago–Mexico City, followed by Santiago–Bogotá on 3 May and Santiago–Miami on 6 May. Each aircraft spends one to two months out of service.
The seat is the Recaro R7, in a staggered 1-2-1 layout with a sliding door on every suite. LATAM was the first airline group in Latin America to put doors on a business seat. What it replaces depends on the aircraft. On the 787-8s and the oldest 787-9s it replaces the Safran Aura Lite, a flat bed in 2-2-2 where only the centre pair had aisle access on both sides. On the bulk of the 787-9 fleet it replaces the Thompson Vantage XL, which was already 1-2-1 with full aisle access but has no door.
That second substitution matters more than it sounds, because it is the one where the upgrade is smallest. If you are on a 2019-cabin 787-9 you already have a flat bed and your own aisle. The retrofit buys you a door, USB-C and Bluetooth pairing — welcome, but not the transformation that the 787-8 passengers get.
One loose end is worth flagging, because LATAM has not tidied it up publicly. The original programme named fourteen 787-9s. LATAM's 787-9 fleet is larger than that. The airline's September 2026 statement refers to the whole 787 fleet being done by the end of the year rather than to the original twenty-four, and it has not published a reconciliation of the two figures. Until it does, treat "the whole fleet by the end of 2026" as the airline's stated intention rather than a settled count.
Premium Comfort: the cabin that has to come out of economy
LATAM has been one of the few large long-haul carriers without a true premium economy. Premium Comfort ends that. The seat is the Recaro PL3530 in a 2-3-2 layout, with a 16-inch 4K screen, a padded privacy wing on the headrest, AC power and USB-C fast charging. LATAM describes it as sitting between Premium Business and Economy, with more width, more pitch and lower density than the economy cabin.
Here is the part nobody has written up. The 787s have no premium economy cabin today, and the business cabin is not moving. On the 787-9 the Premium Business cabin occupies rows 1 to 8 and economy runs from row 12; on the 787-8 business is rows 1 to 5 and economy starts at row 12. A new cabin inserted between them has to come out of the economy section — there is nowhere else for it to go.
LATAM has not published how many Premium Comfort seats each aircraft will get, how the total splits between the 787-8 and the 787-9, or which economy rows disappear. Until it does, two things follow that you can act on. First, the economy seat count on every retrofitted 787 will fall, so the extra-legroom LATAM+ rows at the front of economy are the ones most likely to be renumbered or absorbed. Second, any seat map you look at for a 2027 or 2028 departure is provisional, because the aircraft assigned to it may be in its second retrofit.
How to tell which 787 cabin you are booked on
The seat map does the work, and the tell is different for each aircraft.
On the 787-8, count the seats across a business row. Six means the 2012 cabin: thirty flat seats in 2-2-2, 247 seats in total, economy ending at row 36. Four means the 2025 cabin: twenty suites with doors in 1-2-1, 271 seats in total, economy running to row 41. Note the direction of travel — the retrofit removes ten business seats and adds thirty-four economy ones.
On the 787-9, start by counting business rows. Five rows means the 2015 cabin, two aircraft with 307 seats and the old 2-2-2 Aura Lite. Eight rows means either the 2019 or the 2026 cabin, both of which carry thirty business and 273 economy seats for 303 in total. To separate those two, look at the centre letters in economy: the 2026 cabin uses D-E-H, the 2019 cabin uses D-F-H. Retrofitted aircraft are based in Santiago.
From mid-2027 there will be a fourth tell, and it is the easiest of the lot: a 2-3-2 cabin between business and economy. If the map shows one, you are on a twice-retrofitted aircraft.
Our full row-by-row breakdowns are in the LATAM 787-9 seat guide and the LATAM 787-8 seat guide, both of which map every version currently flying.
Which routes have the new suites
LATAM has never published a route-by-route allocation, and with the retrofit running to the end of 2026 any list is a snapshot rather than a guarantee. The routes the airline itself has named as flying retrofitted aircraft are Santiago to Easter Island, Bogotá, Madrid, Miami, New York and Los Angeles, alongside the Mexico City debut.
The practical reading is that Santiago-based long-haul flying gets the suites first, because that is where the retrofitted aircraft are based. If your itinerary connects through São Paulo or Lima rather than Santiago, your odds of drawing a retrofitted aircraft in 2026 are lower. On the ultra-long Australia flights to Santiago, LATAM has not said which cabin version operates them, so check the map for your specific date rather than assuming.
What this means if you are booking
| If you are flying… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Business, before the end of 2026 | Check the business row count before you pay for a seat. On a 787-8 the difference between the 2012 and 2025 cabins is the difference between a 2-2-2 flat bed and a suite with a door. |
| Business on a 787-9 | The gap between the 2019 and 2026 cabins is small. Both are 1-2-1 flat beds with full aisle access, so this is not worth rebooking for — pick the right seat instead. |
| Economy, 2026 | The retrofitted 787-8 has thirty-four more economy seats than the old one. If density matters to you, the older 247-seat cabin is the roomier aircraft. |
| Anything in 2027 or 2028 | Treat the seat map as provisional and re-check it a few weeks out. Aircraft going in for Premium Comfort will come back with a different economy layout. |
| Waiting for premium economy | Mid-2027 is the first aircraft, not the first route. Fleet-wide availability is not promised until before the end of 2028. |
Frequently asked questions
Does every LATAM 787 have the business suite with doors yet?
No. As of September 2026 LATAM says at least half the fleet has been converted, with the remainder due by the end of the year. Until then both the old and new business cabins are in service on overlapping routes.
Does LATAM have premium economy on the 787?
Not yet. Premium Comfort is the airline's first premium economy cabin for the 787 and the first aircraft is due in mid-2027, with the fleet complete before the end of 2028.
Will my economy seat change when Premium Comfort goes in?
Almost certainly, on aircraft that receive it. The new cabin sits between business and economy on aircraft that currently have only two cabins, so economy rows have to give up the space. LATAM has not yet published the new layouts.
Which is the best business seat on a retrofitted LATAM 787?
Solo travellers want a true window suite — 2A, 2L, 4A or 4L on either aircraft, plus 6A and 6L on the 787-9. Couples want the paired centre suites in the odd-numbered rows. Avoid 5A and 5L on the 787-8, which have no window.
Is it worth rebooking to get the new cabin?
On the 787-8, yes if you can do it cheaply: 2-2-2 to a suite with a door is a real upgrade. On the 787-9 it is marginal, because the cabin it replaces is already a 1-2-1 flat bed.
Check your exact aircraft and seat on SeatCompare before you pay for a seat assignment — on a fleet running two retrofits at once, the map for your date is the only thing that settles it.