Hello from the United States! I just flew Royal Air Maroc’s Boeing 787-8 business class on the 8hr25min flight from Casablanca (CMN) to Miami (MIA). This flight came after flying Royal Air Maroc’s Boeing 737-800 business class on the short flight from Malaga (AGP).

While I was impressed by my short haul Royal Air Maroc business class flight, the long haul flight wasn’t nearly as pleasant. In fairness, I knew what the seat would be like going into the flight, so it’s not like that was a surprise. While the food was decent and the crew was relatively well intentioned, there were still so many aspects of the experience that were underwhelming.

To Royal Air Maroc’s credit, though, I’ll certainly take this product over what you’ll otherwise find in North Africa. And I’d pick this flight any day over my outbound flight in Air Algerie business class . In this post I’d like to share some initial thoughts, and then soon I’ll have a full review.

Let me start by saying that Royal Air Maroc has four different business class configurations on its Dreamliner fleet, and I was on the 787-8 that was purpose built for Royal Air Maroc. Before someone yells at me, let me acknowledge that it’s a privilege to fly in a flat bed across an ocean, so of course this was better than economy. But ultimately I compare airlines to one another.

With that in mind, Royal Air Maroc’s 787-8 business class consists of 18 seats, spread across three rows, in a 2-2-2 configuration.

I call these the “top/bottom seats,” and this is my least favorite flat bed business class product in the world . Go figure I also just recently flew this product on Philippine Airlines , though fortunately that was a shorter flight.

I know the intent is for this seat to efficiently make the most of space, but it’s just so horribly designed. For one, the seat lacks storage. If you contort your body, there’s a small cubby behind you, as well as an exposed area behind the seat. Beyond that, the tray table constantly falls off the side arm rest. And then when you recline your seat, one passenger is basically on top of the other.

I hadn’t really warned Ford what this seat would be like, and when he sat down and started playing with the controls, he asked me if the seats were broken, or if this is how they’re designed. I think that tells you everything you need to know.