I boarded through door L2, where I was greeted by the cabin manager and one flight attendant, and pointed left towards the first class cabin. The first thing I noticed was the new plane smell. This was the plane’s first commercial flight, as it had just flown from the US to Muscat a couple of…
Continue reading: Review: Oman Air First Class 787 Muscat To London
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Would have loved to see a pic of the galley afterwards, but can understand how that could embarass the airline.
I believe you bought your ticket here @Lucky. But what kind of miles can be used on Oman?
That First Class Lounge seems like a huge investment/expense for a max of 8 passengers a day (if l understand correctly?)
Nothing to die for compared with other gulf airlines, the hard product for the busines class is the best however this is definitely my worst business class experience, treated like shit, sent feedback and no reply after three weeks.... avoid Oman if you want an hassle free journey !
Hey Ben did you speak to the SVP of GE about the pre-ordered food issue? Surely she would not only know exactly what it is but would probably have signed off on it?
Was she there more to help ensure the new soft product was delivered, or test if it was working? If its the former I would have thought she would have checked the pre-ordered meals and orders were correctly loaded before take off?
I might be the only here but i'm abit underwhelmed by this product. The hype had me expecting so much but i'm pretty sure that there're bussiness class products that you've reviewed that i'd rate much higher this starting from the bedding, food etc.
I could be wrong here but..didn't you write sth about Delta's new suites being difficult to open as they are operated manually and you'd have preferred them being opened by the push of a button?
Anyway, let's start planning your next major trip that includes flying that beautiful Kenya Airways 787 JFK-NBO or the other way round.
"Around this time I went to the lavatory again, and while looking into the galley I noticed that it basically looked like a war zone"
Could it be that there was a window in the galley and that what you saw was actually Heathrow (I won't judge you on how many bottles of alcohol you had 😉
WHAT GIVES?
Anyway, I ordered a glass of champagne, which was served to me about 80 minutes after takeoff.
80 MINUTES?
Interesting product. Hint for the haters: I will experience the Oman Air First class by PAYING for my ticket as I always do when flying 1st class.
Looks exceptionally good. Hope they never have a good ff program and all people flying in first are like endre. Paid with hard earned money.
I always fly first class for free. I'm famous so get free upgrades 127% of time. The other 3%, I fly the plane as I'm famous.
This is one disorganized crew for sure. Would you trust this crew to Marshall an emergency situation? I doubt it. Plus, unless you are a once in a lifetime leisure traveler, why would you spend the entire flight eating and drinking? No sane business person would. The reason companies pay for business or occasionally first is to arrive rested and attend to business right away. This is a general statement , not just for this review.
”This was the plane’s first commercial flight, as it had just flown from the US to Muscat a couple of days prior, and had sat on the ground since.”
They fly to the US?
I hope you asked the bigwigs about why they use that slow WiFi.
Good looks delicious, though bummer about not getting the prawns.
@ Robel -- No, the plane had just been delivered from Boeing's factory in Washington. 🙂
@ Deepak -- I'm not justifying one way or another the concept of "spending the entire flight eating and drinking," but in reality this is something a lot of people do, even very frequent travelers. Psychologically it makes sense. If it's a daytime flight like this, most people don't want to sleep the whole time, and probably get bored. When people get bored they often eat. It's why you see almost everyone eating the garbage they serve in domestic first class in the US.
@ schar -- I actually spoke to her before that happened, so should have probably brought that up.
@ Sam -- Hah, the KQ 787 is on my radar, so stay tuned! As far as the Delta Suites go, my beef there wasn't that the doors weren't electric, but rather that they were really difficult to open and close. The doors in Qsuites also have to be opened and closed manually, and I have no issues with those.
@ James -- I should have, but I spoke to her before the meal. She was seated in business class so I got the sense that she was talking to various passengers, she talked to the CEO for a while, and also talked to the crew. So I think she was mostly just observing, but not in an overly intrusive way.
@ Ricky -- Long term 16 passengers per day, since there will be two flights per day with eight seats each. But yes, it is a huge investment given that.
@ John -- While you can use Etihad miles for travel on Oman Air, the highest cabin you can redeem for is business class. For first class you could only redeem miles from Oman Air's own program, and there are no easy ways to earn those miles.
Sounds like typical Oman Air service. I've flown them a few times in economy, both within the gulf and also to Tanzania, service was usually chaos, felt like the crew were struggling with the simplest of service.
When I flew them in business, a few days after they received their first 787-8, it was even worse. Horribly slow service, mixing up orders, service trolleys blocking the lavatories, felt like the crew never communicated with each other once.
Sure, they have an good hard product. Personally I'd rather fly with their Gulf rivals, all of them deliver significantly better service.
The menu doesn't state which "The Glenlivet" offered, but if it's the 12 year combined with Chivas 12, it's a pretty weak Scotch collection. Emirates first has Dalmore King Alexander III, Johnnie Walker Blue , Glenfiddich 21 and Chivas Royal Salute 21. All $100-200 per bottle.
I don't see any reason why they still don't get 5 stars from Skytrax. Currently, they're rated 4.5 stars. But since they're a 'boutique' airline and their operations are small relative to most carriers, they can easily focus on improving their product. Even though Skytrax has long lost credibility, just like JAL, I think they deserve 5 stars.
Looks like if they could offer a second main dish consisting of prawns they probably loaded the correct stuff onto the plane. But the process of finding out who ordered what got very messy. So it could very well be they served the kingfish dish wrongly and it was probably someone else's, and they were trying to hide the mistake by serving another main course, the one originally ordered. But yeah, at least that dish looked REALLY good.
I'd like to try Oman , only ever flown them on very short sectors before. The main constraint on choosing them: no partners other than Etihad. If they want to compete...maybe even pick up some of Qatar's market share in the context of current issues....they need partners for crediting purposes.
I don't believe most passengers are interested in consuming this much food. To OFFER it is one thing, but to consume it...at 3-4,000 calories excluding booze...is another, and somewhat obscene.
Well, considering this was the first flight with the new product onboard , Xia Cai. Senior Vice President Guest Experience and Branding is doing an excellent job.
I'm sure her team will follow up with regard to your feedback.
I do understand the situation with the low quality headsets and the cheap chocolate bar. However is well compensated with iranian beluga caviar not seen very often onboard these days, I see all the caviar served in other airlines coming from CHINA, excellent quality too, I was very impressed.
It's just a matter of time to make the necessary adjustments.
OMAN AIR, GREAT PRODUCT, GREAT PEOPLE, GREAT AIRLINE.
"I was offered an amuse bouche. I’m not sure exactly what it was"
I'm not sure why you 1) don't just consult the menu and/or 2) just ask the FA. It kind of matches up with the description in the menu?
Debit/Endre is trying a bit too hard to try and convince us they aren't the same person.
Looks like a decent product, with some room for improvement.
Many thanks for the review. I frequently fly WY Business Class long haul and agree their Apex Suites are simply the best. I was slightly underwhelmed by the First Class to be honest. The headphones are the same as the ones in C (they are just packaged differently), the amenity kit is identical to the C one (the pochette has be changed to dark brown) and the pyjamas are the same (except with First Class embroidered on them) I love the new table settings. Those plates are beautiful. Looking forward to seeing the new glassware - hoping that they don't change the champagne flûtes though. I am sure the service flow will sort itself out and pre-order food too. I agree their food/wine is awesome. Great report. Any idea when the Spa will open in the lounge at MCT?
Really underwhelming whisky and spirit options, even by business class standards.
—JRL
Ben, just love reading your detailed reviews especially for the new and more obscure products. Now I know you love the Middle East carriers and with mostly good point. I do however have to ask the question if you got warm champagne served an hour after you boarded, got very poor bedding, no food you pre ordered, crappy wifi, terrible earphones etc etc on a BA inaugural would you be so understanding? On the upside they did have air nozzles so that’s always a win. Lol.
Interesting how you always order a cappuccino after a meal. You would be strung up in Italy for that!
I don't like first class coffins (I mean suites) when they steal space. Some will say they enhance privacy but on all my travels F, J, Y I think I wouldn't be able to recall 5 other passengers faces....
Honestly I don't give a sxxx about actors, models, singers, CEOs or Vips activities on planes or on ground...
Interesting that the toilet had a bidet. Very nice touch! First time I have seen this on board any premium cabin.
Lucky, have you encountered this before- on Japanese carriers perhaps?
Why do you want Bose headphones? Try Bowers and Wilkins!
I think this is a very positive review for Oman. Those who want something predictably decent can fly Etihad. Those who want boutique which might be chaotic but some flights could be exceptional can fly Oman. It is two different philosophies and personally I prefer the Oman way.
And the Chief Executive cared enough to fly the inaugural. That shows that service has attention at the highest level. My guess is that it will improve over the coming months.
"Chilly relish," "crush potato," "St. pauline"...
The food choices sound lovely, but I don't understand how such a high-quality product could elude appropriate English proofreading.
Oman Air used to have a great premium product. This review and my experience in business on their 788s just reinforces my view that WY are going downhill rather than up. Lucky raves about the business class seats. I find them even worse than the BA ones - and I never thought I’d ever say that about a business class seat. They are so narrow it is uncomfortable and, because of he lack of width, the side table isn’t even wide enough for a glass.
Food has always been good but I have always found the crew to be a very mixed bunch.
Bring back the old business class seats. They were the best in the air.
Hi Lucky,
I’m an AvGeek, and also a frequent flyer. I really enjoy reading your reviews. I find them very fair and thoughtful.
I do think that some of the comments you get are not very fair, and rather elitist...or worse, fake elitist. Elitist doesn’t matter, only authenticity matters.
I read your latest review while in-flight in Biz class from HKG-LAX on American Airlines today. I’ve also flown the same and other routes in Economy, so be it.
Stay true and honest, you’re great at that.
My side note comment on my flights on AA to/from Hong Kong this weekend. I do love the AA 773 Biz product. The seats are consistent, the soft product of course always vary, aside from the great bedding. My outbound flight had an amazing crew, crazy attentive and friendly, even though I had no interest other than just water for the 17 hour flight from DFW. The crew on my return flight on their nonstop to LAX today was equally attentive, maybe more so, but they were so regimented (!). The return HKG-LAX flight also had the most unusual appetizer I’ve ever had in my 7 million miles of flying...it was WEIRD...”silky tofu”...it was no normal tofu, and I’ve had many Asian tofus...and we weren’t given a choice...but I think it impressive that AA made it a priority to be locally authentic with their menu. There was no “Western” menu option. Unfortunately I don’t like spicy dishes, and the dishes were all kinda spicy, even the salad dressings, but that’s just me...but AA proved themselves to be very authentic with their local catering. Just my random two cents...
Why didn't you just fly on it on a regular day what made want to do it on the inaugural flight because besides the hard product its a bit of a wasted review in some parts.