Jet Airways 535
Dubai (DXB) – Mumbai (BOM)
Monday, June 12
Depart: 3:10PM
Arrive: 7:55PM
Duration: 3hr15min
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 4A (Business Class)
At the forwarded door I was greeted by three very friendly flight attendants, who welcomed me onboard and pointed me towards my seat. Jet Airways’ 737 business class cabin (or at least the version I was on) features 16 business class seats, spread across four rows in a 2-2 configuration.
Jet Airways 737 business class cabin
I’d say the seats were slightly more spacious than you’d find in domestic first class. The seat pitch was apparently 40″, which is about 2-3″ better than the US industry standard.
Jet Airways 737 business class seats
I had initially assigned myself seat 3A, though ended up switching to 4A, since was an empty pair of seats in the last row, while I had a seatmate in the third row. On the seatback were three pouches for storing things.
Jet Airways business class seat 737
On the window-side of the seat were the seat controls, which were manual, and sort of ineffective. You really had to push and pull at the seat itself to get anything to move.
Jet Airways business class seat controls 737
Then in the center armrest was the entertainment controller.
Jet Airways business class entertainment controls 737
Right below that was a small compartment with the headphone jacks and power outlet.
Jet Airways business class seat power outlet
Waiting at my seat on boarding was a pillow and blanket. The pillow was fine, though the blanket smelled like very bad body odor.
Jet Airways business class pillow & blanket
A minute after I settled in, Isha, the cabin supervisor, introduced herself and welcomed me onboard. It’s not often you get such a personal welcome in regional business class. I was offered my choice of either mint juice, orange juice, or water, along with a cold towel. I selected the mint juice.
Jet Airways business class pre-departure drink & towel
Moments later I was offered a selection of newspapers, as well as headphones and the menu for the flight.
Jet Airways business class headphones
Jet Airways business class menu
Boarding started so early that I was the only business class passenger for over 15 minutes. However, the crew remained busy, as there was a lot of seating confusion for the other passengers boarding. Out my window was basically a reflection of our plane — a Jet Airways 737, though that one was headed to Delhi.
Jet Airways 737 Dubai Airport
Eventually business class started to fill up, with a total of 12 passengers today. There was one family traveling together, then there was a lady in the last row of business class with her husband in the first row of economy, and the balance of the passengers seemed to be Indian businessmen.
Jet Airways business class cabin 737
The boarding process was fairly slow, though by 3PM the door closed, at which point the first officer made a welcome aboard announcement, informing us of our flight time of 2hr40min. He advised us that we’d be taking off from runway 30R, and that we’d be cruising at 37,000 feet.
At 3:10PM we began our pushback, at which point the crew did a manual safety demonstration. I enjoyed watching the traffic as we taxied out to the runway, including seeing the RwandAir A330 parked in the distance, which I’ve been wanting to fly for a while.
Taxiing Dubai Airport
In addition to a seemingly never-ending supply of Emirates A380s and 777s, there were a few other interesting planes, like an Air India A321, and a Shaheen A319 (an airline based in Pakistan, for anyone who is curious).
Air India A321 Dubai Airport
Shaheen A319 Dubai Airport
Emirates A380 Dubai Airport
By 3:25PM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 30R.
Taking off Dubai Airport
View after takeoff from Dubai
I loved the views on departure, especially of the Dubai skyline barely visible in the distance, with the Burj Khalifa sticking out above the rest.
View after takeoff from Dubai
As we climbed out I removed the TV screen from the center console, and browsed the selection. It’s cool that Jet Airways has on demand entertainment on their short-haul planes.
Jet Airways entertainment selection
Jet Airways entertainment selection
I first checked out the airshow for our route to Mumbai.
Airshow enroute to Dubai
Then I also checked out the movies and TV shows. The selection wasn’t huge, with fewer than a dozen movies in English, but that’s still pretty good for a short-haul flight.
Jet Airways entertainment selection
Jet Airways entertainment selection
The seatbelt sign was turned off about 10 minutes after takeoff, at which point I checked out the lavatory, located at the front of the cabin. The lavatory was pretty no frills, but in good condition. For what it’s worth, Jet Airways uses a thick curtain between economy and business class, and they did a good job making sure no one from economy used the forward lavatory.
Jet Airways 737 business class lavatory
About 15 minutes after takeoff, the crew came through the cabin with socks and eyeshades. Very impressive for such a short daytime flight!
Jet Airways business class amenities
Moments later the crew took drink and meal orders.
The beverage list read as follows:
The refreshment menu read as follows:
For reference, the lunch menu from Mumbai to Dubai read as follows (obviously I wouldn’t be served this, but it’s interesting to note how extensive their meal service is during meal hours):
Less than 30 minutes after takeoff, drinks and warm mixed nuts were served. I ordered a glass of champagne, and Jet Airways offers Billecart-Salmon in short-haul business class, which is impressive.
Jet Airways business class champagne & mixed nuts
About 15 minutes later the snack was served. This was a limited meal since this fell between Jet Airways’ meal windows, but it was still very good. I selected the spinach feta kulcha and vegetable cutlet as my main course, and it was very good.
Jet Airways business class snack service
I especially liked the side of crunchy chana chaat, which was flavorful and spicy.
Jet Airways business class snack service — crunchy chana chaat
Also served with the meal was a mint, which you don’t often see.
Jet Airways business class mint & sugar
Once the main was cleared, I was offered dessert, which consisted of a delicious opera cake.
Jet Airways business class dessert — mocca gateaux
Once I was done with that, the crew asked if I also wanted some ice cream, though I passed. After the meal I was offered a bottle of water.
Jet Airways business class bottled water
The service throughout the meal was exceptional. Isha and her team really hustled, and constantly offered drink refills and customized the meal pace to everyone’s preferences. With two crew and 12 passengers in business class, service was attentive.
After the meal I got some work done on my laptop. For anyone wondering what the recline in these seats is like, below is a picture of the maximum seat recline.
Jet Airways business class seat recline
At around 7PM local time the first officer informed us we’d soon be initiating our descent, and that we’d be landing in about 30 minutes. Moments later the crew came through the cabin with warm towels.
Jet Airways business class hot towel
There was some turbulence on our descent due to some thick clouds.
View approaching Mumbai
View approaching Mumbai
We ended up touching down in Mumbai at 7:30PM. From there we had a 15 minute taxi to the gate, during which the crew had to announce nearly a dozen times over the PA that “we request all guests to remain seated,” because people refused to sit down. This is despite the fact that they had a flight attendant standing right behind business class, who gestured for people to sit down every time someone tried to get up.
Flight attendant making sure passengers stay seated
We finally arrived at our gate at 7:45PM, at which point the real fun began.
Jet Airways business class bottom line
I had a great flight in Jet Airways’ regional business class. No, the cabin didn’t feel especially fresh, but the seats were comfortable, food excellent, and crew very friendly. I was also impressed by the little touches, like socks, individual water bottles, Billecart-Salmon champagne, etc.
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