Oman Air is one of my favorite airlines. I’ve flown them in business class, and they offer a truly phenomenal experience, both in terms of the hard and soft product. In March they even opened a new terminal at Muscat Airport, so the Oman Air experience keeps getting better.
Oman Air’s 787 business class
We’ve known that this coming summer Oman Air will be taking delivery of a Boeing 787-9 featuring a new first class product. I have a special interest in their first class product, given that Oman Air has one of the few international first class products I’ve yet to review. We’ve known that the airline plans on offering their new first class between Muscat and London Heathrow as of July, though until now they haven’t revealed what their new first class product would look like.
Frankly I haven’t had very high hopes of their new first class, given that their old first class (available on select A330s) isn’t great. I’m actually surprised they even bother having first class, given how excellent their business class is, and how little they do to differentiate the experience between the two cabins.
We’ve known that Oman Air plans to install suites with doors, so my expectation was that they’d introduce a pretty standard first class suite, like you’ll find in first class on Asiana and Saudia, for example.
Oman Air has now revealed their new first class on Twitter, and it’s exactly what I was expecting.
https://twitter.com/omanair/status/988040971970588674
Here are the four pictures they share of their new seats, which they call their “First Class Mini Suite:”
It’s cool that they’ve finally revealed their new seats, and there are no surprises here. This is exactly what I was expecting. In the back of my mind I was hoping they’d introduce something extra special, though being realistic, I wasn’t actually expecting them to.
I look forward to flying this product between Muscat and London in July, though I have a hard time imagining it will be much better than the Apex Suites they offer in business class.
What do you make of Oman Air’s new first class?
(Tip of the hat to @gilbertaue & Russell)
Oman Air will have thus aircraft delivered some time in June. It's already entered it's final assembly. They expect to deploy it on the MCT-LHR-MCT route from 1st July 2018 hopefully.
And Oman Air opened their new Business and First Class lounge today at the new Muscat International AIRPORT.
Nice Mini Suite However IMO Air France La Premiere and Cathay Pacific is the best.
Agreed -I look forward to reviewing your review. I’ve flown their business class from Cairo/KUL a number of times - I can’t imagine that their first product will be that much better however I sincerely hope to be proven wrong
I guess the Present Political Condition in the gulf is the only chance for Oman Air to become a part of ME3 and they are making a good use of it...Frankly, WY 787 J Class is better than EK A380 J Class...
rip avicii :(
@steve
Yes, some like me are spoiled and entitled because simply we can afford it to be one..so do you mind..do yourself a favour..we are talking about First class here..and go back to your report..whatever it is..and let those who know about this report alone..TY..NEXT!.?
Ben , have you heard anything about the lounges at MCT not being open yet? TheAirlineKid's comment has me concerned, as I am set to fly the new F (if indeed it's really flying yet) in early July.
@Matt - Not everybody likes privacy, especially when it happens to be employed in a staggered configuration. Doors are nice and all but IMO they only feel in place on a full sized suite. The actual Qsuites seat itself while nice to touch is quite hard and rather narrow - the new EK J while unacceptable at 2-3-2 is well padded and really comfortable to sit in.
I suggest you do a review of the older version and the newer one, like the one you did on your TAAG Angola F Class reviews, and hoping for a bit more photos of the whole cabin.
Very chic.
So many entitled spoiled travelers on this blog.
Well, I have wished WY has looked a bit towards the new EK suites. It looks pretty standard for a First class product on the market. Have to try personally to see if it is a good one or not..Now I am more interested in how they have improve the soft products..one negative point alteady..they have kept the local cosmetic brand and only the pouches or bag are new. Ugh! I hope the smell is not so strong otherwise another wasted amenity.
@ Claus
Re-read my comment. I did not say it *is* more cramped (though it may be); only that it *looks* more cramped.
Then again, describing QSuites as a 2-4-2 is a bit odd (like people who insist reverse herringbone is 1-2-1, ignoring the massive overlap between seats).
But I’m looking forward to a review of this new seat. Maybe someone will also get the tape measure out.
@derek: the Oman business class is not even remotely similar to the BA business class.
Oman Air's business class seems similar to BA but a little worse because BA has the nice rear facing window seats.
Oman Air's new First Class is nice but someday some airline will beat it by a mile. Let's face it. First class is nice but doesn't compare with the space of a train compartment. Singapore's seat and bed is bigger and better. One day, Singapore's model might be enlarged slightly so that the be is a bit bigger and the doors a bit higher.
No offense Paul, but saying that Qsuites (a staggered 2-4-2 configuration) is more spacious than a full-blown 1-2-1 configuration really seems a bit off?
@Varun who hurt you? You're attacking one of the more genuine commenters on here... for what? You dislike a product that is nearly universally enjoyed... congrats.
Hating on something everyone else enjoys doesn't make you cool or chic.
Curious... how nice are the Indian airlines? Don't act like there's a single global US airline that's worse than Air India. But that's super rad hipster view, bro.
@ Varun
Not sure why you’re telling me you don’t redeem AA points for it. Nor do I. All my flying is paid-for. And I think it’s been at least 5 years since I set foot on any of the US3 - years of appalling service have put me off.
I’d agree with you about QR’s LHR lounge. A delightful oasis.
But, also as a regular, I can’t say I’ve noticed any recent...
@ Varun
Not sure why you’re telling me you don’t redeem AA points for it. Nor do I. All my flying is paid-for. And I think it’s been at least 5 years since I set foot on any of the US3 - years of appalling service have put me off.
I’d agree with you about QR’s LHR lounge. A delightful oasis.
But, also as a regular, I can’t say I’ve noticed any recent deterioration in product. And both the A350 hard product and now Qsuites strike me as quite extraordinary - I can’t think of a better J class in a global carrier.
@The nice Paul :
QR frequents like myself know that things have been going downhill.
Lower universal quality of catering, Cheaper (USA airline level in some cases) booze, poor food offerings in AS and AM lounges (LHR is bliss however) and negligence of 320 frames.
I am right about Qsuites. I don't redeem AA miles for it however.
@Varun
I am not an American.
And you are equally wrong about Qsuites.
Though I’m not sure I understood what you mean by “Only americans like yourself will lament about the degraded product“. Of course I lament about degraded products!
@The nice Paul :
Qsuites are overrated and certainly can't compare with this hard product.
Qsuites are nothing more than a hard staggered seat without thigh support with a cheap door plonked on. No more Nobu, Laduree, Krug, CdC vintage in QR J.
Only americans like yourself will lament about the degraded product.
It appears these First Class "suites" are shrinking. BA is horrible much as AA AF is not too bad even their biz is fairly comfortable but this suite looks very similar to BA
It looks more cramped and less luxurious than Qsuites.
In the bottom right hand corner they call it a "9-787 Dreamliner"
Other than that it looks quite good, but I cant help feeling that there are so many airlines using this type of seat for first class (the configuration, I mean), with the exception of Emirates, Singapore, Qantas and Etihad. They could have made the first class hard product a little more exciting and different, in my opinion.
Who**
for someone who’s thinks Starbucks is good coffee you complain a lot ....
It's funny how this is now a "standard" F product! It looks gorgeous, private, and comfortable! It recommends me of the Garuda and Saudia F cabins.
Sneaky first picture, made it look like full- height suite doors but pretty cool tho..rip avicii
Looks almost exactly the same as EY's 787 F
Have you booked it already? Whats your routing?
Before doing that it might be a good idea to check their lounge opening dates. I was there earlier this month and the Oman Air lounges are still a work in progress, with no target date given.
Looks very tasteful. A beautiful cabin, IMO.