After our earlier, very pleasant flight to Muscat on Qatar Airways, followed by an extended stay at the Oman Air Business Class Lounge, it was time for our onwards flight to Kuala Lumpur in Oman Air Business Class, on their flagship 787-9.
I’d flown this exact cabin previously, several years ago, from Bangkok to Muscat, thanks to a ‘Business Lite' fare (no longer seemingly in existence), which still included all the pleasantries such as lounge access, seat selection and priority check-in.
Oman Air uses what is known as the ‘Apex Suite’ for their business class cabin product, featuring a 6-across layout with fully flat seats, that are probably one of the few business class cabins that still allow couple to sit – relatively – next to each other. In addition, for those like myself who are on the taller side, there is no ‘foot coffin’, and you can stretch out to your hearts’ content.
Finding this exact cabin layout is tricky; most airlines seem not to have liked these seats because of the amount of space they occupy, vs. the newer cabins that have passengers’ feet in a footwell, or angled in order to fit more rows in.
Anwyay, back to the basics; Muscat Airport handles ‘boarding’ on entry to the gate holding area, at which point we were held captive in the seating area downstairs until boarding commenced. Because of the way this is handled, nearly all passengers tried to board at the same time, and making any benefit of the business class boarding was tricky and involved a lot of hustling and ‘excuse me’s awkwardly.
Nevertheless, we were quickly onboard and found our way to our respective seats, 12A by the window for myself, 12B for Vannesha.
There are no tremendously bad seats in this particular cabin; I know some folks prefer the single row of business class, row 15, sandwiched between the next set of doors and economy class, but I just find it slightly awkward to be sat so close to the galley and lavatory and the associated noise that’s likely to produce, and then the likely bassinet noise and accidental comings-and-goings from economy class.
Row 12 actually worked out perfectly for us – just far enough away from the front of the plane, and just far enough away from the rear of the cabin too.
We were quickly on our way, after an opportunity to make our food orders prior to departure, along with a serving of pre-departure beverages by a largely lacklustre team of crewmembers.
I’m not sure why, but while the food menu was presented to us all, the drinks menu was carefully guarded. When I asked for it, I was instead offered a choice of wine, and then ‘red or white’, but when I insisted I’d like to see it, it was brought from the forward galley and loaned to me only long enough for me to make a decision, before being taken back, while the crewmember stood there. Very bizarre.
Incidentally, only one lone female crewmember was ever mostly seen despite what seemed to be a wealth of other crew stationing themselves in the forward galley throughout the flight. As a result, service throughout the flight was perhaps less attentive and more ‘casual’ than one might have hoped, as she single-handedly tried to deal with nearly everyone’s request, bar the very occasional ad-hoc appearance from one of the other crew – my main meal for example, being one such event.
Food quality overall was solid, and I enjoyed my meal – Omani grilled fish, which came with regular topups of Champagne whenever our lone crewmember passed by and happened to notice.
After the meal was done, and with the cost of in-flight wifi truly astronomical, I made my bed and repaired for several hours, waking up only as we approached Kuala Lumpur, with no apparent signs of any second food service and with just enough time for me to command one final, delicious, glass of Champagne.
Oman Air’s business class seat converts very capably, and comfortably, to a bed more than suitable for someone of my size; it would be perhaps not the widest by virtue of the armrest on one side and the cabin wall on the other, but you can fully stretch out, and the bed makes up nicely with the duvet and mattress pad. Although the seat has no ‘privacy door’, the natural privacy offered by the partitions in the window seats especially, means that it already feels very private, and remains a cabin I’d look forward to spending time in again.
Overall however, this seemed to be par for the course from our experience on this trip with Oman Air; a leading cabin product and tasty food & drink, let down by a shyness to work by all but one crewmember leading to a decidedly average service, no amenity kit, and that weirdness about the wine list that just felt awkward.
