After flying Fiji Airways’ A350 business class from Los Angeles to Nadi, and enjoying some great coffee in the Fiji Airways Lounge, it was time to connect on a Fiji Airways A330 from Nadi to Auckland, for a short 2hr50min flight.
In this post:
Fiji Airways business class on the A330
The A330 used to be Fiji Airways’ flagship aircraft, before the airline took delivery of A350s. So what’s the passenger experience like in business class?
Fiji Airways’ A330-200s have 24 business class seats, spread across four rows in a 2-2-2 configuration.
These seats certainly go back a few generations, as they’re angled, and it’s a pretty steep angle at that.
Fiji Airways had a full breakfast service on this morning flight, though I opted for the continental breakfast, which included a fruit plate, some bread, and a yogurt parfait. I didn’t want to have two airport omelets in one morning.
Other than that, I mostly just enjoyed the inflight entertainment system, which had a decent selection of movies and TV shows. Unfortunately Fiji Airways’ A330s don’t have Wi-Fi.
The other big treat was the view on approach to Auckland. Ugh, I wish I were spending more time in New Zealand on this trip!
The crew on this flight was exceptionally friendly, especially the purser. Fijians are regarded as being among the kindest and most hospitable people in the world, and that has consistently matched my experience. The crew constantly passed through the cabin (with big smiles, no less) to see if passengers needed anything.
How do you rate a product like this?
One of the challenges with rating a product like this is that it’s tough to know what to compare it to:
- For a sub-three hour daytime flight, getting angled flat seats is an excellent product, ultimately
- Looking at competitors in the market, Air New Zealand and Qantas fly narrow body planes to Fiji, which feature a far inferior product
- Fiji Airways also flies the A330 on long haul routes, and on those kinds of flights this product really isn’t competitive; while Fiji Airways flies A350s to Los Angeles, the airline does fly A330s to San Francisco, Vancouver, etc.
So yeah, in isolation I’d say this is a great product for this route. However, if I were to fly the A330 on a long haul route (which I’ve done), I wouldn’t be nearly as pleased, as the difference between the A330 and A350 at Fiji Airways is night and day.
Bottom line
Fiji Airways’ A330 offers a pleasant business class experience, especially for a short daytime hop. The airline offers convenient connections from the United States to Australia and New Zealand. Obviously the A350 is way better than the A330, and I’d make a point of seeking it out.
While I wouldn’t want to fly Fiji Airways’ A330 again on a long haul flight, it’s perfectly pleasant for a shorter flight.
If you’ve flown Fiji Airways’ A330 business class, what was your experience like?
Fiji airways is changing their LAX-NADI flight back to a A330. I'm flying w/ them next week and noticed the change. I'm a little disappointed cause i was really looking forward to the A350
We originally booked our trip to Fiji in February, at that time we were scheduled to be in a pod type of seat however over the next several months (our vacay was in sept), The plane got downgraded and we were shifted to the A330. It was a huge disappointment as we were looking forward to the pod. And the 10 hour flight into Nadi from LAX was uncomfortable & not what we expected &...
We originally booked our trip to Fiji in February, at that time we were scheduled to be in a pod type of seat however over the next several months (our vacay was in sept), The plane got downgraded and we were shifted to the A330. It was a huge disappointment as we were looking forward to the pod. And the 10 hour flight into Nadi from LAX was uncomfortable & not what we expected & paid for!!! Our return flight did in fact provide us with the pod and we were thrilled.
A few years ago flew the A330 from LAX to NAN then onto SYD and back. The business class staff was friendly and genuine in their care and service. So gracious in fact that any perceived cabin short comings were forgotten about. I felt pampered and spoiled.
I flew FJ A330 in 2019 from HKG to NAN. As a 10 hr flight, even FJ provided so many other services and add-ons to improve the soft product, the angled-flat seat was definitely a disadvantage. I could not even have a good sleep when I was tired. I know FJ is for the leisure market and I was quite thrilled to see the ocean and the tropical Sleeping Giant Garden upon arrival, I still...
I flew FJ A330 in 2019 from HKG to NAN. As a 10 hr flight, even FJ provided so many other services and add-ons to improve the soft product, the angled-flat seat was definitely a disadvantage. I could not even have a good sleep when I was tired. I know FJ is for the leisure market and I was quite thrilled to see the ocean and the tropical Sleeping Giant Garden upon arrival, I still wish in the future FJ would change the seat to flat-bed seat for better experiences from start to the end of a Fiji trip.
Sorry, "Even I know FJ..."
Flight from an to singapore is very expensive please y it's expensive is the company recovering for COVID lockdown.
Air New Zealand puts a widebody on one of their flights to Nadi - currently 789. Pre-Covid it was operated by a 777.
Looking at their fleet size, it doesn’t appear they will be receiving anymore A350s. The two they have are used on their higher yield LAX route. It would make sense if they had a few more for their SFO & YVR flights. Their flights to HNL, AKL & Australia are normally flown with 7M8s and obviously AKL has 330 service’as well. It reminds me how people are not thrilled about Emirates or Turkish 77W flights due to having a dated business class.
From Malaysia have any flight to go Fiji
In all honesty, I cannot see much value in a flat bed, angled or otherwise, on a three hour flight.
I understand that this flight can serve passengers connecting from longer flights, but still... by the time the seat belt lights are off and meal service is finished, how much sleep will people be getting.
What I really miss on those flights is the old fashioned seat. Think BA cradle seat from the...
In all honesty, I cannot see much value in a flat bed, angled or otherwise, on a three hour flight.
I understand that this flight can serve passengers connecting from longer flights, but still... by the time the seat belt lights are off and meal service is finished, how much sleep will people be getting.
What I really miss on those flights is the old fashioned seat. Think BA cradle seat from the 90s.
They were most definitely much better padded and a lot more comfortable to sit in than any of the mechanical flat bed seats.
Sadly I cannot think of a single business class seat in 2022 that can match the comfort of a reclined cradle seat for a short flight.
Lucky you. When horrifically jetlagged after a long-haul flight, skipping the meal and catching another 90 minutes sleep is worth it. If you want to sleep, being forced to sit up can be torture.
Agree on the Fijians! Shame you didn’t go explore Fiji itself, have you been already?
keep in mind that Oman air fits 12 business class seats in the same space
It's certainly a decent product compared to something like CX's recliners on their 773s and select A330s. I'd be happy with this product especially on a 3-4 hour red-eye flight or even just an early morning flight. I've tried this seat on an SQ flight from SIN-HKG and it was adequate.
These planes are in fact the same ones that you have tried. All of Fiji's A330 are ex-SQ, which explains the familiarity.
I was actually on a 772ER, but of course same exact seat (finish and trim aside). Legroom was great. It's much easier to hop over your neighbor even if it's in bed mode.
SQ operated A330-200s?
@Brianair
https://www.singaporeair.com/saar5/pdf/OurFleet/airbus330-300.pdf
None of the Fiji Airways A330's are ex Singapore Airlines. All were delivered directly from Airbus. (There were two ex Air Seychelles A330s on lease till recently but they have since been returned.)
However Fiji Airways uses the same (old) regional business class seats as Singapore Airlines which explains where the confusion comes from. However none of these are second hand planes from Singapore Airlines