It’s common for airlines to have inconsistent business class products across their fleet, which often raises the question of what it’s appropriate for airlines to advertise. That brings us to Cyprus Airways, the national airline of Cyprus, which might be taking a few too many liberties…
In this post:
Cyprus Airways’ incredible A220 business class
Cyprus Airways has a fleet of six planes, including four Airbus A220 and two A320s. I’d argue the airline has the world’s most impressive A220 business class. The seats are in a 2-2 configuration. Not only that, but the seats have a staggering 46″ of pitch, which is downright industry leading.
As a point of comparison, Delta’s A220s have 37″ of pitch, so you get an extra 9″ of space on Cyprus Airways. That’s a lot of inches!
Honestly, this really makes me want to fly Cyprus Airways, as the carrier’s webpage dedicated to its business class looks downright lovely, between the hard product and soft product.
The below promotional video makes it look pretty great as well, though it’s perhaps a bit overdone.
Is Cyprus Airways false advertising, though?
Controversial YouTuber Josh Cahill just reviewed Cyprus Airways business class, and titled the video “Cyprus Airways MISLEADING Business Class promise!”
While I often take issue with his over dramatization of things, he’s actually spot on here.
As shown above, Cyprus Airways’ business class webpage only references one type of business class product, which is these very spacious recliners.
For that matter, when you try to book a flight, you’ll see a picture of those business class recliners regardless of which plane your flight is actually scheduled to be operated by.
So, how many planes actually have this business class product? Of Cyprus Airways’ six planes:
- Two A220s have this special configuration, with 12 business class seats (in a 2-2 configuration) and 115 economy class seats (in a 2-3 configuration)
- Two A220s have a more standard layout with a total of 140 seats, with a 2-3 layout throughout, and business class has blocked adjacent seats
- Two A320s have a standard layout with a total of 180 seats, with a 3-3 configuration throughout, where business class just consists of economy seats with blocked middles
So that means 33% of Cyprus Airways planes have the type of business class product the airline is actually marketing. Even worse is that one of the two planes with that configuration hasn’t flown in nearly a year, so in reality, only 20% of active Cyprus Airways planes have that product.
There’s a certain irony to Cyprus Airways specifically marketing how its business class is a “commitment to providing an elegant journey where every detail is crafted to exceed your expectations.” I feel like for at least 80% of passengers, expectations won’t be exceeded!
I think that constitutes some pretty misleading advertising. Cyprus Airways’ business class webpage does have the following disclaimer:
Disclaimer: Cyprus Airways operates a two type models of AIRBUS – A320 and A220. Products, services and features on actual flights may vary depending on routes and aircraft configuration. Operational requirements may also cause last‑minute changes to the aircraft used on scheduled flights. If you have questions about our products or have specific requirements, please contact us before booking a flight.
However, I don’t think that cuts it. Even beyond aircraft swaps, most planes simply don’t have this product, despite the product being shown at the time of booking.
Bottom line
Cyprus Airways has a very impressive business class product on its A220s. Well, more accurately, on one of its A220s that’s currently in service. The issue is that this is the only business class product the airline markets on its website, and the picture of these seats is shown regardless of which plane you book.
I do think this crosses the line in terms of what’s reasonable advertising, since it’s not the experience a vast majority of customers will get. While airlines marketing their best product is nothing new, I think the fact that this is the only business class product referenced on the website is what pushes this into the category of being deceptive. That being said, I really do want to fly the A220 with this special product!
What do you make of Cyprus Airways’ business class marketing?
Oh please, every European airline advertises its long haul seats on ads and even during booking process while 95% of times you get European business class seats, even on flights 4-5 hours long. Nothing new here and Cyprus with its relatively short routes shouldn't be pointed out for something everyone else does.
I wouldn’t exactly call Cyprus Airways, Cyprus’ national carrier (although I guess it depends on everyone’s definition)! It is essentially S7 in disguise having leased the Cyprus Airways name from the Cypriot government. I would say Aegean is seen by locals as the closest thing to a national carrier than Cyprus Airways will ever be. Also agree with everyone else’s comments in how behemoths like Emirates get little bad press about their extremely false advertising!
Every airline that doesn't have product consistency does it. They almost always advertise only their flagship products.
Even Delta does it too.
All their DeltaOne marketing materials are from A350.
Then you get the 767-300.
When I first watched the video, I didn’t really understand what the issue was. Plane swaps are common, so I assumed that was the reason and wondered why Josh Cahill was making such a fuss. But then I realized that Cyprus Airways isn’t just dealing with occasional aircraft changes—they’re advertising one product while most of the time delivering a completely different one, which is ridiculous.
Other airlines, like Virgin Atlantic for example, are much more...
When I first watched the video, I didn’t really understand what the issue was. Plane swaps are common, so I assumed that was the reason and wondered why Josh Cahill was making such a fuss. But then I realized that Cyprus Airways isn’t just dealing with occasional aircraft changes—they’re advertising one product while most of the time delivering a completely different one, which is ridiculous.
Other airlines, like Virgin Atlantic for example, are much more transparent. When you book with them, they actually show an image of the operating aircraft’s seat configuration when you choose your cabin—whether it’s the older 787/A330-300 layout, the new A350, or the A330-900NEO—so you always know exactly what to expect.
IIRC a couple from New Zealand won a false advertising suit against Emirates because of a similar deception. They argued they were expecting A380 business class, as depicted in all the airline's ads, but boarded to discover the old 7-abreast 777 business class. Disappointment, and subsequent legal action, ensued.
Is is any worse than Emirates’ advertising of their A380s bar and/or staggered business class seats which still isn’t the standard throughout it’s fleet? Yes I know more planes are starting to have those seats but still too many planes without all-aisle access in business class…
Also you could have published this story without giving Josh more exposure.
Aaaaah, yes, we "frequently take issue" with Josh Cahill, but that doesn't stop us from posting an article on his latest 'controversial' (i.e. "mostly garbage but hey he got bills to pay") content, driving up his views by roughly the entire population of OMAAT readers.
He's obsessed.
Sure it’s misleading then what do you call emirates game changer? Isn’t that somewhere in the neighborhood of 8% of their 777s? So much worse
@Harold, you're missing the point. The issue isn't that only x% of the planes have the product, but the misleading marketing - that the airline markets that product suggesting it is their standard. I haven't personally looked, but I doubt that Emirates markets all 777 first class as the "game changer" configuration despite it being on only a few planes.
They literally use those pictures all over their marketing materials lmao
Sigh...I really liked Josh Cahill once upon a time, then after the Malaysian Airlines incident which got him so much attention, he became addicted to the drama and turned into a most unbearable reviewer. If a member of cabin crew messes up his drink order, he'll probably caption the review "WORST CABIN CREW EVER." Probably best to therefore take everything he says with a pinch of salt.
I agree. He's become pretty tiresome and, when complaining about lack of catering service, for example, would it not be helpful to know how long a flight is? That's surely basic info for a flight review.
Six planes. One in three chance. Not an issue for me.
Ben can you increase your odds of the better product by selecting specific routes?
@ Jimmy’s Travel Report -- One in five chance, since one of the two A220s with the product is grounded. It seems the LCA-DXB route gets this product most consistently.
Standard intra-European business cabin and meal that I’m sure most of their regular customers are accustomed to because that’s what they’ve always offered. The carrier is way ahead of themselves marketing the upgraded cabin, but “deceitful” seems harsh. This was to be operated by the 220, but they had an equipment swap and none of the 320s have the new cabin. Equipment swaps happen.
It's the same as AA rolling out the 78P. If a vblogger calls out that their AA 787 did not have the Flagship Suite, is it really AA's fault or just the blogger showing their ignorance?
And really, we don't need to give Cahill more attention - he is a human click-bait.
@ ptahcha -- Complaints about Cahill aside, I'd disagree with the premise of what you're saying. On Cyprus Airways' website, the only pictures and reference to business class are of the seats shown in this post, even when booking a flight on a plane that doesn't have the product.
That's not the case at all on American. American's webpage about the new business class doesn't even show the new Flagship Suite product, actually:
...https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/experience/seats/flagship-business-international.jsp
@ ptahcha -- Complaints about Cahill aside, I'd disagree with the premise of what you're saying. On Cyprus Airways' website, the only pictures and reference to business class are of the seats shown in this post, even when booking a flight on a plane that doesn't have the product.
That's not the case at all on American. American's webpage about the new business class doesn't even show the new Flagship Suite product, actually:
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/experience/seats/flagship-business-international.jsp
There's a difference between including the latest seat in an advertising campaign, vs. exclusively referencing the latest product on the website, and pretending it's the only product that exists. At least that's my take.
Right. I just did a test booking on Cyprus Airways page and it leads you down the road right through taking 800euros more for Business than Coach on the couple of markets I looked at. Same seat map, same promise of seat.
On American, if it doesn't have the Flagship Suite, at least it's a lie flat with IFE. I think even American would offer some sort of compensation (and advance notice) if your 787 sold as Flagship Suite became an A321.
As soon as u saw Josh Cahill’s name and pic. Barf