Review: MIAT Mongolian Airlines Business Class Boeing 787 (FRA-UBN)

For the next portion of my trip to Japan via Mongolia, I flew MIAT Mongolian Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 business class on the eight hour overnight flight from Frankfurt to Ulaanbaatar. MIAT Mongolian Airlines recently modernized its fleet, as the airline is replacing its Boeing 767s with Boeing 787s, so I was looking forward to experiencing the improvements at the airline.

How was the MIAT Mongolian Airlines business class experience? Well, the airline has a perfectly pleasant but generic reverse herringbone product, which is probably the best part of the experience. The food, drinks, entertainment, and amenities were all exceedingly basic, more in line with what you’d expect in premium economy than in business class. But then again, the airline has very attractive business class pricing, so I think the value is there.

How I booked my MIAT Mongolian Airlines business class ticket

I booked my MIAT Mongolian Airlines business class ticket using cash. Fortunately the airline has attractive fares in business class, regardless of whether you intend to travel to Mongolia, or just want to connect there. I booked the following for $1,113.40 one-way, which I’d consider to be a great deal:

1/27 OM138 Frankfurt to Ulaanbaatar departing 2:30PM arriving 5:40AM (+1 day)
1/28 OM301 Ulaanbaatar to Seoul departing 7:45AM arriving 12:05PM

Unfortunately there are no practical ways to redeem miles on MIAT Mongolian Airlines. That may change eventually, as the airline has expressed interest in becoming a oneworld Connect member, as part of its aspirations of flying to the United States.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines business class lounge & boarding

MIAT Mongolian Airlines sends its business class passengers to the Primeclass Lounge Frankfurt, which I reviewed in the previous installment. I had checked in online for the flight, so was able to skip the check-in counter.

I headed straight to the departure gate in Terminal 2. Gate D1 was being used. This sure is an interesting part of the terminal, as the Iran Air flight to Tehran and Turkmenistan Airlines flight to Ashgabat were both departing around the same time. Talk about a unique set of destinations!

MIAT schedules a tight turn in Frankfurt, as there’s only 90 minutes between the arrival and departure of the 787, leaving no room for delays. The inbound flight was a bit delayed, so I watched as the gorgeous 787-9 pulled into the gate — I really do like MIAT’s livery!

Boarding ended up starting around 20 minutes behind schedule, at 2:05PM, with business class passengers being invited to board first.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines 787 business class cabin & seats

MIAT Mongolian’s Boeing 787-9s are gently used, as they’ve been acquired from Suparna Airlines. This is a Chinese airline that’s part of the struggling Hainan Group, which also owns Hainan Airlines. This particular Boeing 787 was first delivered in July 2019, so it’s still a fairly new jet.

Given that MIAT acquired these 787s secondhand, the airline didn’t spend much money on the interiors. I’ll take it a step further — I don’t think these 787s could have more generic interiors, and the only splash of color in the cabin are sponsored, disposable headrests. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself…

MIAT’s Boeing 787s have 30 business class seats, in a 1-2-1 configuration. These are reverse herringbone seats, and specifically are the Safran Cirrus product, which is far from the latest generation reverse herringbone seat on the market. So while MIAT has fully flat beds and direct aisle access, it doesn’t have the bells and whistles, or level of comfort, that you’d find on some other airlines.

Those traveling with a companion may want to select the pair of seats in the center section. While you can’t easily talk with your seat mate (due to how the seat is positioned), it’s still easier to enjoy the flight together than if seated by the windows.

Those traveling alone, or those who just like a window view, may want to select one of the solo seats by the windows. And let me note that while this wasn’t the ideal flight in terms of views (it was an overnight flight in winter), Mongolia has some of the most stunning views you’ll find anywhere, so I would recommend a window seat if possible.

I assigned myself seat 19A, the window seat on the left side in the last row (business class goes from row 11 to row 19).

As far as seat features go, there’s a console to the side of the seat, with a reading flight, the entertainment controller, the headphone jack, a USB-A outlet, seat controls, and an exposed storage compartment (where you can hang headphones).

The tray table folds out from underneath the console to the side of the seat. The tray table can be folded over in half, though that’s more a space saving mechanism for when it’s stored, rather than a practical feature for when it’s being used.

Underneath the tray table you’ll find the AC power outlet, plus another small open storage area.

The footwell in this seat isn’t too restrictive, which is nice, and it acts as a good ottoman even when the seat isn’t reclined.

The entertainment monitor swings out from the seat in front, and is a decent size.

Then on the aisle side, there’s an armrest that can be raised, as well as a storage compartment. The armrest needs to be lowered for takeoff and landing.

As mentioned above, just about the only pop of color in the cabin is the headrests, which are sponsored by TDB (Trade & Development Bank).

Unfortunately MIAT’s Boeing 787s don’t feature individual air nozzles, not that this is terribly surprising.

This is a perfectly comfortable hard product, even if this is as basic as reverse herringbone seats get. Also keep in mind that MIAT’s previous aircraft were 767s with angled business class seats in a 2-1-2 configuration, so this represents a huge improvement.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines business class amenities

You certainly don’t fly MIAT Mongolian Airlines for the amenities, I’ll tell you that. MIAT offers business class passengers a pillow and blanket, though these have to be among the worst that I’ve seen on any airline in business class, as they’re marginally better than what I’d expect in economy.

Shortly after boarding, each passenger was offered the choice of sparkling wine or orange juice, and I selected the former, which was served in proper glassware.

Later on in the boarding process, amenity kits were distributed. Oddly each individual item was wrapped in plastic, which seems unnecessary (I unwrapped them for the below picture). The kit contained a comb, a dental kit, earplugs, eyeshades, flimsy slippers, mouthwash, lip balm, and lotion. The kit felt cheap, but did the trick.

Each business class passenger was also offered a pair of basic noise canceling headphones.

Lastly, bottled water was distributed.

From a passenger experience standpoint, I think the biggest shortfall here is MIAT’s bedding, which could easily be improved without a huge investment. Then again, I’m not sure MIAT would really see much of an ROI on improving its product, since it’s a pretty niche airline.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines 787 business class entertainment

MIAT Mongolian Airlines’ 787 entertainment system is… strange. The seat back entertainment monitor has a variety of movies and TV shows, though none in English.

There were about a dozen Mongolian movies…

Much more interesting to me was the dozens and dozens of TV shows, including episodes of Dancing With The Stars Mongolia, The Apprentice Mongolia, The Voice Mongolia, and Shark Tank Mongolia.

For a country of just a few million people, am I the only one who finds it interesting how Mongolia has so many of these popular international TV shows? Even though I couldn’t understand a word of these programs, I couldn’t help but watch, and they were endlessly fascinating.

Fortunately the map feature was available in English, and I enjoyed keeping track of the progress of the flight, since this isn’t a route that you get to fly every often nowadays (since the flight is mostly over Russian airspace). The map isn’t very customizable — it just rotates views, so you can’t select which vantage point you want to see.

If you’re looking for entertainment options in English, MIAT offers streaming entertainment, so you can watch those options on your own devices.

The selection wasn’t extensive, but was better than nothing. For example, there were a total of five new release movies, 18 classic movies, four comedy shows, six documentary shows, and five kids shows.

MIAT unfortunately doesn’t offer Wi-Fi on any of its aircraft, including the new Boeing 787s.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines 787 departure from Frankfurt

MIAT Mongolian Airlines has soothing boarding music, which I enjoyed listening to throughout the boarding process. While the main part of the boarding process wrapped up quickly, the door remained open. At 2:35PM, the first officer made his welcome aboard announcement, informing us of our flight time of eight hours.

He explained that we were still waiting on a few passengers, and they should arrive within 15 minutes. That ended up taking about double as long, and the last passenger finally boarded at 3:05PM, at which point the main cabin door closed. I’m curious if those were connecting passengers, or what…

There were initially 14 seats taken in business class — all the window seats were occupied, while none of the center seats were. However, there were then six upgrades of friends and family, including a family of four that sat right across from me. They obviously knew the captain (who came into the cabin to talk to them), though they ended up only getting economy meals. MIAT doesn’t seem to be very strict with its rules around who can sit in premium cabins, as I saw something similar on the connecting flight.

We finally pushed back at 3:15PM, at which point the manual safety demonstration was performed.

We had an incredibly fast taxi — it was one minute from the time that we started our taxi until we were cleared for takeoff on runway 25C.

The views on our climb out were beautiful, as it was a (rare) gorgeous clear winter day in Germany.

The seatbelt sign stayed on longer than on most (non-US) airlines, and ended up being turned off around 20 minutes into our climb.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines business class dinner service

MIAT Mongolian Airlines serves dinner after takeoff on its Frankfurt to Ulaanbaatar flight. MIAT doesn’t have menus or drink lists, so unfortunately I can’t share those.

Service was really slow to get started after takeoff. There was no service for the first hour, though at that point warm towels were distributed. They were nice and thick — I was thinking of just asking for a few more of those for when it was time to sleep, since they were thicker than the provided blanket. 😉

Drinks started to be served off a cart around 65 minutes after takeoff. The drink options were basic — think one red wine, one white wine, one sparkling wine, and a very limited liquor selection.

I decided to order a glass of sparkling wine. I asked to see the bottle, since I was curious what was being served. MIAT serves Kupferberg Sekt as its sparkling wine, which retails for under $5. For the price, it was surprisingly drinkable (or maybe I was just super bored and hoping that alcohol would help me sleep).

It would be nice if MIAT offered some sort of a snack or canapé with the initial drink service. I even asked if they had nuts or pretzels, and they said they didn’t.

A couple of minutes after drinks were served, another flight attendant was in the cabin with the meal cart. I was offered the choice of fish, lamb, or beef, with no further description of the options.

With the exception of dessert, everything was served on a single tray. This included two appetizers (which is… oddly generous?), comprised of shrimp with quinoa and asparagus, as well as smoked chicken with veggies. I selected the fish for my main course, which seemed to be some sort of a sea bass with potatoes and a very creamy sauce.

Once the meal tray was cleared, I was offered a small chocolate cake for dessert. That was the extent of the options, as there was no fruit or cheese.

The best part of the meal service was probably the gorgeous sunset, which would be the last daylight I’d see until after takeoff on my next flight.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines 787 business class lavatories

MIAT Mongolian Airlines has two business class lavatories on the Boeing 787, located at the front of the cabin (the ones behind the cabin are for premium economy passengers). There’s one lavatory right by the cockpit, and one lavatory at the front right of the cabin.

These were your standard Dreamliner lavatories, with very limited amenities. The lavatories were okay, though the crew didn’t do much to keep them clean during the flight.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines 787 business class bed

After dinner, it was time to get some rest, so I reclined my seat into bed mode. Oddly the seat didn’t go fully flat — I imagine there was some issue with my seat, or something. However, I didn’t mind, since I like to sleep at a slight upward angle anyway, especially given the small pillows.

I ended up going to sleep with just under six hours remaining to Ulaanbaatar, just as we were entering Russian airspace…

…and I woke up with around 2hr30min remaining to Ulaanbaatar.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines business class breakfast service

The crew turned on the lights throughout the cabin around 2hr10min before landing, and made an announcement that breakfast would be served soon. I’m not sure why, exactly, because the meal service didn’t end up starting for around 45 minutes. Usually crews love to do everything they can to keep people asleep, so I found that to be a bit unusual.

A bit over 90 minutes before landing, the crew came through the cabin to distribute warm towels, followed by drinks. I ordered a cup of coffee, and asked for some more water.

The breakfast was super simple — there was no choice, but rather it just consisted of a fruit plate, a croissant, and some chocolate yogurt.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines business class service

I’d say the MIAT Mongolian Airlines crew on this flight was polite and went through the motions, but that’s about it. Much like the rest of the soft product, service was more in line with premium economy than business class.

All service was performed off of carts, there wasn’t much personal interaction, and the crew wasn’t proactive with passing through the cabin to see if anyone needed anything. However, the crew did respond to the call light for situations where passengers had requests.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines 787 arrival in Ulaanbaatar

At 5:50AM the fasten seatbelt sign was turned on, and at the same time we began a rather steep descent for Ulaanbaatar. Around the same time, the first officer made the pre-landing announcement, informing us that we’d be landing in around 20 minutes, and that the temperature in Ulaanbaatar was -27 Celsius (-17 Fahrenheit). Yikes… we’re not in Florida anymore!

Our descent was quick and direct, and there wasn’t much in the way of views, as it was still dark outside. We had a gorgeously smooth touchdown on runway 11 at 6:10AM. From there we had a five minute taxi to our arrival gate, where we pulled in next to a couple of MIAT 737s, about 35 minutes behind schedule.

I was excited to check out the MIAT Business Lounge and to also see the terminal, since this is a new airport compared to the last time that I visited Mongolia. Then it was time to continue in MIAT’s Boeing 737 business class to Seoul Incheon.

Bottom line

MIAT Mongolian Airlines has very nicely updated its business class hard product, with the introduction of new Boeing 787s. These planes have reverse herringbone seats, representing a huge improvement over the old long haul product.

Unfortunately MIAT’s soft product leaves a bit to be desired. Don’t expect much when it comes to the entertainment, amenities, food, drinks or service.

While this is objectively a weak business class product, it’s priced accordingly. I’d say MIAT has somewhere around premium economy pricing for its business class, and I wouldn’t hesitate to fly the airline again at that price.

What’s your take on MIAT Mongolian Airlines’ 787 business class?