- Introduction: Transatlantic Insanity
- Review: Aeroflot Business Class 777-300ER Los Angeles To Moscow
- Review: Aeroflot Lounge Moscow Airport
- Review: Aeroflot Business Class 737 Moscow To Belgrade
- Review: Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade
- Review: Belgrade Food Tour
- Review: Air Serbia Lounge Belgrade Airport
- Review: Air Serbia Business Class A330 Belgrade To New York
- Review: Air France Lounge New York JFK
- Review: Azerbaijan Airlines Business Class 787 New York To Baku
- Review: Hyatt Regency Baku
- Review: Baku Airport Lounge
- Review: Ukraine Airlines Business Class 737 Baku To Kiev
- Review: Kiev Airport Lounge
- Review: Ukraine International Airlines Business Class 767 Kiev To New York
Aeroflot 2092
Moscow (SVO) – Belgrade (BEG)
Wednesday, October 26
Depart: 8:10PM
Arrive: 10:05PM
Duration: 2hr55min
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 5C (Business Class)
I was immediately impressed upon boarding to find a “proper” business class cabin. Business class on a vast majority of airlines operating within Europe is simply economy with a blocked middle seat, so this was a huge upgrade over that.
Aeroflot’s 737s have a total of 20 seats, spread across five rows in a 2-2 configuration.
Aeroflot 737 business class cabin
We reserved seats 5A & 5C, located in the last row on the left side of the plane.
Aeroflot 737 business class seats
The legroom in business class was good, similar to what you’d find in domestic first class within the US. I’d estimate the seat pitch was maybe 38″.
Aeroflot 737 business class seats
Aeroflot business class seats 737
On top of that, the seats had footrests, which I quite like as a feature (without more legroom I prefer this to legrests).
Aeroflot 737 business class footrest
Underneath the center armrests were two power outlets.
Aeroflot 737 business class power outlets
I was also impressed that the plane had the signature Boeing Sky Interior, with big overhead bins and swanky mood lighting.
Aeroflot 737 Boeing Sky Interior
Already waiting at my seat on boarding were a pillow and blanket. While not as good as the pillow and blanket on the previous flight, many airlines within Europe don’t even offer pillows and blankets in business class, so it was a big upgrade over that.
Aeroflot business class pillow & blanket
Once settled in, one of the business class flight attendants, Natalia, came by our seats to introduce herself and offer us pre-departure beverages of choice. Most carriers don’t offer pre-departure beverages, so getting anything was impressive, let alone drinks of choice.
Aeroflot business class pre-departure beverages
The boarding process was chaotic. I know it’s largely a cultural thing, but I’ve never seen people push and shove to get down the aisle to the degree I saw here. Flights within China can feel chaotic, but this was on a different level. There were literally people pushing one another down the aisle.
Fortunately that calmed down once boarding finished by around 8PM, at which point the door was closed. Business class had nine of the 20 seats taken.
Aeroflot 737 business class cabin
Natalia came through the cabin to offer passengers newspapers, though they were all in Russian, which she apologized for. She also offered hot towels, as well as the menus and wine list for the flight.
Aeroflot business class hot towel
Aeroflot business class menu & wine list
By 8:10PM we began our pushback, at which point the “crew captain” (as she introduced herself), Anna, made her welcome aboard announcement and informed us of our flight time of 2hr35min. After that they proceeded to do a manual safety demonstration.
Our taxi to the runway was fairly lengthy, and at 8:30PM we were airborne. It felt like our taxi wasn’t actually such a long distance, but rather we were just taxiing at very slow speeds (perhaps because there was a queue for takeoff).
We hit a bit of chop on our initial climb out, and then 10 minutes after takeoff the seatbelt sign was turned off. A few minutes after that the captain informed us of our anticipated arrival time of 10PM, and wished us a pleasant flight.
At this point headphones were distributed to business class passengers.
Aeroflot business class headphones
About 25 minutes after takeoff Anna came through the cabin to introduce herself. Much like on the last flight, she said “how may I address you?” She then proceeded to take our meal orders.
The menu read as follows:
And the wine list read as follows:
It’s very rare for airlines to offer menus on intra-Europe flights, let alone to have the same drink menu as you’ll find on a longhaul flight. Huge kudos to Aeroflot.
Aeroflot has personal televisions on their 737s, which is yet another thing that sets them apart from other European airlines.
Aeroflot business class entertainment selection
Aeroflot business class entertainment selection
The selection was similar to what was available on the previous flight, though this time around the system worked properly.
Aeroflot business class entertainment selection
The selection was a bit odd, though, and included movies like “The Silence Of The Lambs.”
Aeroflot business class entertainment selection
We ended up watching “Zootopia.” Tiffany hadn’t yet seen it, though I’ve seen it at least a few times now, but it never gets old.
Aeroflot business class entertainment selection
About 30 minutes after takeoff hot towels were distributed.
Aeroflot business class hot towel
After that tablecloths were brought out.
Aeroflot business class table setting
Then drinks were served. I ordered a gin & tonic, which was served with warm nuts.
Aeroflot business class meal — warm mixed nuts with gin & tonic
About 15 minutes later, trays were brought out with the appetizers.
Aeroflot business class meal — appetizer
I ordered the salmon and shrimp, with was very good, surprisingly.
Aeroflot business class appetizer — salmon and shrimp
Meanwhile Tiffany ordered the beef and cheese.
Aeroflot business class appetizer — beef and cheese
Then for the main course I ordered the cod with potatoes, which was served with a delicious honey and lime sauce. The dish was fantastic.
Aeroflot business class main course — cod with potatoes
Tiffany ordered the rack of lamb, which she said she’d rarely do on a plane since it’s even tough to execute on the ground. However, she had nothing but good things to say about it, even though from a distance it didn’t look all that appetizing.
Aeroflot business class main course — rack of lamb
After that we were offered dessert, which consisted of ice cream. We were also offered coffee, which was served with chocolate.
Aeroflot business class dessert — ice cream and coffee
While the menu advertised the dessert as coming with blueberry sauce, in reality it seemed to be mango sauce.
Aeroflot business class dessert — ice cream with mango sauce
The meal was done about 90 minutes into the flight, and the service throughout was top notch. Both of the flight attendants were friendly and attentive.
About 30 minutes before landing the captain made his pre-arrival announcement, at which point the seatbelt sign was immediately turned on, which seemed awfully early.
Our descent was smooth, and at 9:50PM we touched down in Belgrade. We made it to our arrival gate five minutes later.
Immigration took only a few minutes, and then moments later we were in a car on our way to the hotel.
Aeroflot 737 business class bottom line
Aeroflot’s regional business class is phenomenal, easily the best intra-Europe business class I’ve experienced. Most importantly, the planes feature a “proper” business class product, so you’ll actually be comfortable. On top of that, the service was better than I’ve experienced on most other airlines, with friendly and attentive service, pillows & blankets, personal televisions, great meals, an excellent drink selection, etc.
Aeroflot’s longhaul business class was great, though their industry leading regional business class is another reason to choose them when traveling transatlantic. I always hate going from a great transatlantic business class product to an economy seat with a blocked middle and 29″ of pitch. Connecting on Aeroflot is significantly more pleasant.
Kudos to Aeroflot, they exceeded my expectations by a long shot.
@delta diamond
Omg how could u be so ignorant?
ALL nobilities spoke French, because it was 1 the language of nobles and 2 the language of diplomats. French has been used as now is English more or less until ww2, although I doubt you have a clue besides freedom fries.
Also the rest, have you at least suspected that Aeroflot wants to compete on its market with quality products? Or perhaps you...
@delta diamond
Omg how could u be so ignorant?
ALL nobilities spoke French, because it was 1 the language of nobles and 2 the language of diplomats. French has been used as now is English more or less until ww2, although I doubt you have a clue besides freedom fries.
Also the rest, have you at least suspected that Aeroflot wants to compete on its market with quality products? Or perhaps you expect them to su*k to make you a favour? Maybe put drunken flight attendants with AKs on their backs serving only vodka on soviet era planes?
People like you should really get out of the ghettos, and I mean ALL the ghettos you're enclosed in
What you think about this news - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4249356/Russian-airline-sparks-outrage-stewardess-ban.html
Another airline with a real business intra Europe product is Air Serbia. They have recliners, not standard seats, on their A319s and A320s.
Aeroflot is a fine airline and its business class is very good.. Had a really enjoyable flight with them last month.
I love the female uniforms, such a throw back but so nice.
Definitely agree you must experience S7 in J. No lounge unless you purchase flex or have one world access, IFE doesn't exist, front row leg room pretty poor (worse than Icelandic who at least give a cut out). And the furthest thing from flat on a 6h red eye.
That said, while the hard product is terrible the plane was clean, food acceptable and service pretty high up there (for domestic).
Boarding was interesting too,...
Definitely agree you must experience S7 in J. No lounge unless you purchase flex or have one world access, IFE doesn't exist, front row leg room pretty poor (worse than Icelandic who at least give a cut out). And the furthest thing from flat on a 6h red eye.
That said, while the hard product is terrible the plane was clean, food acceptable and service pretty high up there (for domestic).
Boarding was interesting too, no zones or lines yout are meant to just go to the front and at one airport we had a separate shuttle. And boarded last with curtain closed!
At another, stuck behind 200 pax on a stair case and boarded as Y. Mixed.
Have you also tried TK on their European flights? Their business class is also top notch, in my opinion.
Russia is a very poor country with lots of instability but the elites in Russian are very rich and sophisticated when it comes to the finer things in life, although for centuries they have suffered from chronic insecurity. (For example, the Russian nobility spoke French.) It wouldn't surprise me if this partly explains why this regional business-class product is so good and 'elite' -- it's an attempt by the Russians to prove they are just...
Russia is a very poor country with lots of instability but the elites in Russian are very rich and sophisticated when it comes to the finer things in life, although for centuries they have suffered from chronic insecurity. (For example, the Russian nobility spoke French.) It wouldn't surprise me if this partly explains why this regional business-class product is so good and 'elite' -- it's an attempt by the Russians to prove they are just as good as the perceived elite airlines of other countries. I'm not a sociologist, but I'm sure there is a term for this. You saw it here in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s when newly wealthy cities build grand civic and cultural buildings in an attempt to show they were every bit as sophisticated as the Old World.
It would be interesting to see how this compares to Turkish intra-Europe business class, which I beleive also has a proper seat.
Indeed, this product very good. SU also use B737 type on some domestic flights, like SVO - IKT (flight time 6 hourse) and it's not comfort for nigtht flight. You can see my opinion (to IKT - http://aviablogger.com/worst-aeroflot-c/ and back http://aviablogger.com/aeroflot-buter/), and meal from outstation airport in Russia it's always big problem.
You have described a very standard Middle Eastern business class. I am surprised to know that European airlines do not offer what you described. Maybe I am spoiled flying Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Saudi, Etihad and Kuwait airways.
Love that they include nutritional information on the menu! Not only calories, but protein, carbs, and fat grams. I've never seen that on any airline menu, as far as I can recall. I'm also very pleasantly surprised that the calories for each of the dishes is pretty reasonable. Now, if they'd only include sodium content, then I'd be massively impressed!
I desperately wish other airlines would follow this lead and include more nutritional content. Especially...
Love that they include nutritional information on the menu! Not only calories, but protein, carbs, and fat grams. I've never seen that on any airline menu, as far as I can recall. I'm also very pleasantly surprised that the calories for each of the dishes is pretty reasonable. Now, if they'd only include sodium content, then I'd be massively impressed!
I desperately wish other airlines would follow this lead and include more nutritional content. Especially for people flying first/business, increasingly we are more impressed by food that is healthy and nutritious -- much moreso than food that is fancy and unhealthy.
How would this compare to TK intra-Europe business class? They also have a proper biz product, and having just flown it would say the seats looked more spacious than Aeroflot's, plus they gave they whole on-board chef thing.
Peter: um, how about raise your little fat stubby fingers and look up Western Estates? You and your mailman salary will NEVER be able to afford one of our homes. Mm-hmm, that's right, you heard me. But how could I blame you with your middle school education from Natchez, Mississippi. Now go off and go postal on the neighborhood rugrats in your low income zip code.
where is the salmon?
@Bobbie Dooley
I feel we need to know more about Janice...
@Bobbie Dooley No wait what?
Bobbie Dooley - in which trailer park do you live in? Because; you express yourself as white trash
@Bobbie Dooley wtf?
After reading this review and trump's election I am more convinced than ever than America should subjugate itself to putin. He is great leader and will guide us to greatness.
Benjamin: and just exactly how many intra-China flights have you flown? I'll venture to guess... WELL, how about a BIG, FAT 0. And really, I don't blame you. My husband Steve refuses to travel to Communist China because they are just such a horrible country. Wel and another thing, Janice, if you're reading, your vacation photos aren't really fooling anyone what a poor financial state your family is in.
Aeroflot is really good! They use to offer wash bag for Moscow Barcelona flight in business class! You should try S7 Russian airlines as well Ben!