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.
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