Review of Air Canada flight Montreal → Shanghai in Business

Hello, everyone!
This is about a flight from Montreal to Shanghai on Air Canada Business Class cabin.

YUL – PVG



Flight AC17 departing from Gate 52, Monday, June 5, 2017
Flights to this destination are operated on a Boeing 787-8 (this aircraft does not yet carry the new livery of Air Canada, which is absolutely superb)

My Seat: 5D



Check-in:
Priority check-in at YUL, no waiting line. I’m taken care of by an extremely helpful Air Canada agent who checks in my luggage with speed and great professionalism. Careful, attentive, and dedicated.
I head to security via the VIP line by presenting my boarding pass and my Visa Infinite Privilege card, also very fast, courteous and efficient staff.

Air Canada Maple Leaf International lounge.
A few steps to join the brand new International Maple Leaf Lounge inaugurated on December 1, 2016.



Located between gates 52 and 53 of the terminal, the new lounge occupies an area of 1,022 square meters and can accommodate 259 guests. With full height windows offering spectacular views of air traffic.



Punctuality:
— Boarding on time.
— Push back at 1:34 pm, flight scheduled at 1:30 pm, Air Canada on time as usual!
— Taxi for 12 minutes to reach the 24 left
— Take-off at 1:46 pm
— 20mn late on arrival, due to the bad weather and heavy traffic over PVG
— Flight duration 14h11, almost too fast from my personal point of view as this brand new Business class pod on this Air Canada 787-8 is ultra comfortable.

Boarding:
Having a boarding pass Zone 1, fast without any hassle and with a smile.

Flight:
— Welcoming in the plane was very friendly
— Orientation to my seat
— The chief flight attendant offers me to put my coat on a hanger, attentive and efficient
— Business amenity kit already on the seat, as well as AC noise-cancelling headphones, which I did not use because I prefer my own Bose QC35.
— Champagne, water, or orange juice welcome me on board as other passengers settle in.
— Distribution of menus right after being settled in. Choices must me made right away, which I found a bit stressful, especially for a 14 hours flight where there is really plenty of time.
— The new AC business pod, absolutely superb, very well seated or in full flat position, which allows being in perfect shape on arrival in Shanghai.


 
Catering:
The menu looks interesting, the choice is not easy, as there are quite a few appetizing dishes.
The very helpful cabin crew interacts well with passengers, another good point.
Set up of the tablecloth before starting the appetizers, and before that a hot towel to refresh.


Throughout the duration of the flight, various snacks are made available to the passengers: fruit, chocolate, cookies, and chips.
We are almost at destination.
Before descent, the collation was served, I chose the Asian meal.



Inflight Entertainment system:
- New Ex3 Panasonic system, large touchscreen, very responsive, simple and intuitive navigation, very good selection of movies, I did not test the audio system.
- The flight tracking system is well done, the only issue is the absence of an external camera on this 787-8, my only complaint





Air Canada:
— The new business Class cabin is just perfect, no complaints.
— Boeing 787-8 only happiness, my favorite plane by far.
— Ahh yes, as silent as possible, fantastic aircraft window, very nice LED lights sets.
— The cabin crew was at the top, during the 14 hours of flight.