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Egypt Air - Seat
Egypt Air - Logo
Business Class
No Rating
No Rating
October - 2011
No Rating
Overall - 'Service & Comfort'
The Ultimate Award:
Seven Stars and Stripes®
EgyptAir was our flight choice from Amsterdam via Cairo to Kuala Lumpur with Airbus 321 (CLICK HERE), and the Boeing 777-300ER for our long-haul flights from Cairo to Kuala Lumpur and back, (which was equipped with EgyptAir’s largest business cabin to-date) to assure that we would be able to get a good rest on our twenty-hour journey. We were on the way to a very special award presentation with a hundred and fifty invited guests from Asia’s high society, as well as Malaysian Royalty. EgyptAir’s Business Class Lounge at Amsterdam International is shared with other airlines and allowed us a first look through large windows of EgyptAir’s Airbus 321.
The non-smoking lounge appeared well maintained and food and drinks were in order and well presented. At check in, we felt that something was wrong or at least ‘unusual’, because we didn’t receive any boarding passes for our connecting flights from Cairo to Kuala Lumpur. However, the extremely wide chairs on this route, with plenty of leg space were comfortable and EgyptAir’s entertainment system required my undivided attention. There was no clear introduction to any of the movies on the screen to be found.
Egypt Air - Business Class - EU - Thorsten Buehrmann
Egypt Air - European Business Class - Thorsten Buehrmann
For those who prefer an aperitif, a glass of wine, or an after dinner drink with their meal during their flight, alcohol is not served on board, but guests may bring their own and must serve it themselves. There were also no printed menus explaining the three different meals one could chose from. EgyptAir’s main courses (CLICK HERE) had obviously been packed on a per person count, so the last guests being served had to eat whatever was left and there was no exception to the rule. The place settings for dining were well presented throughout all flights, nicely logoed china, cloth napkins and classy flatware. EgyptAir A321 food presention (CLICK HERE). I was not really impressed with the onboard food (CLICK HERE), and decided to skip the main course to try some of the food at EgyptAir’s Business Class Lounge at Cairo International, assuming that EgyptAir as the flag carrier airline of Egypt and member of Star Alliance, would be outstanding. We arrived at Cairo International Airport October 5th with a one hour delay at 9:30pm / 21:30h local time - our long-haul flight to Kuala Lumpur via Bangkok was scheduled for October 5th at 11:30pm / 23:30h.
EgyptAir - Strike
EgyptAir - Strike
Little did we know that we would be trapped at Cairo International for over twenty hours with little or no food during that time. What we experienced during this twenty-two hour ordeal, with more and more passengers arriving and crammed into Cairo International’s departure halls, was beyond anything I ever experienced before. Apparently there was a strike by Air Traffic Controllers, which in turn caused serious altercations between passengers and employees. At no time for almost twelve hours were we given any explanations by any official representative of EgyptAir, clarifying what was going on, nor did we receive any food during the night after the already limited buffet lines (CLICK HERE) were cleaned out by more and more passengers arriving. The 'hot-station' indicated: Pasta & Sauté, but was empty from the beginning; same as the Mushroom Soup - and was not refilled. I completely understand that a strike can happen to any airport in any country, at any time, but then passenger rights are defined, or least are available upon request, which we ask for, but here at Cairo International this was not the case.
EgyptAir - Business CLass Lounge - Food - Before Strike
EgyptAir - Business Class Lounge - Before Strike - (CLICK HERE)
In the Business Class Lounge I offered my seat to an older man and was practically on my feet almost for the entire time, because I was afraid to lie down and be stepped on, due to the cramped situation. At one point when we asked the EgyptAir business class lounge manager to speak with the responsible people at EgyptAir, we were told that they had gone home. We asked the EgyptAir’s Business Class supervisor for accommodations, which were denied. Then we asked for an alternative solution to stretch out and requested a simple blanket, but she said that these were not available either.
Some passengers offered to pay for their own accommodations and they were told by EgyptAir’s Business Class supervisor: “If you leave the airport you loose your flight and you cannot leave the airport because your luggage cannot be unloaded at this time.” - Outside the Business Class Lounge: Many passengers did lie down or sat down on the cold floors with no pillows or anything to cover them. Having to go to the bathroom meant standing in long lines and eventually the facilities ran out of the most essential supplies.
We truly felt sorry for a fellow Business Class traveler who with a back operation and still under medication, was sitting in an old, rusty wheel chair from EgyptsAir for over eight hours. When we asked the EgyptAir Business Class Lounge manager to give this poor man at least a cot or a bench to stretch out on, she answered: “It is not possible. We don’t have such facilities.” EgyptAir's Business Class Lounge had no shower facilities for premium guests to freshen up after a long-haul flight not even a toothbrush or a shaver was available.
Egypt Air - Cairo International Airport - Gate F5
Egypt Air - Cairo International Airport - Gate F5
Next Day, October 6th: After such a night we were told that our flight would finally be leaving at 8:00 am. EgyptAir kept us at Gate F5 waiting once again for more than two additional hours without any information about our actual departure time. Here we witnessed another fellow traveler with bandaged legs collapse in an EgyptAir wheel chair after we requested several times medical attention for him. A young mother with a baby told us in tears that she, at no time during her ordeal, was offered help or even fresh water for her baby. Our EgyptAir flight was now, once again, postponed, as it turned out for another six hours. One cannot imagine how surprised we were to hear after hours and hours of promising and postponing our departures, and not officially knowing what was going on, a massage in German coming through the main airport speakers.
EgyptAir - Boeing 777 - 300 ER
EgyptAir - Boeing 777 - 300 ER
A male voice identifying himself as captain of a delayed Austrian Airlines flight, informed his passengers over the public airport speaker system, heard by all, that they were the victims of a strike and that he was at this time intending to give out all the meals and drinks that were previously scheduled to be served on their upcoming flight. A mensch. After this it seemed as the leaders of this unorganized strike finally understood that it was ‘common’ to inform their passengers of what was actually going on. Shortly thereafter an announcement came over the public airport speaker system, in Arabic and English, that this was an Air Traffic Controller strike and that ‘they’ would now be giving out water & food (pizza). This announcement came around noontime on October 6th. At circa 3:00pm / 15:00h we boarded 'once again', and our flight took finally of at 4:30pm / 16:30h on October 6th.
EgyptAir -  Business Class - Thorsten Buehrmann
EgyptAir - New Business Class - Thorsten Buehrmann - (CLICK HERE)
The EgyptAir crew on board flight MS960 apologized profusely and looked almost as exhausted as we were at this point. The first question we asked was: “Do you have a toothbrush and toothpaste and a shaver for us?” Unfortunately the answer was “No, in general we don’t offer these items.” We found out that the EgyptAir crew had not been given any accommodations either but that they had been able to crash somewhere and got at least some sleep. Though we were tired and really exhausted, we were so hungry that we both ate the entire meal (CLICK HERE).
After our ordeal EgyptAir’s new 160-degree angle seats (CLICK HERE) felt heavenly, which was almost like a joke since the last thing I remember was the surreal, star-studded blue cabin ceiling (CLICK HERE) before I fell into a deep six-hour sleep. After we landed at Kuala Lumpur International the engines were turned off and we all got up ready to leave the plane. Because of the fogged windows we didn’t realize right away that we, at this point, had actually not arrived at the gate and after standing still for thirty minutes on the runway the aircraft then had to be pulled to the gate with help from local ground personnel. Neither information nor explanation about the incident came from the captain or the crew.
Petronas Towners - Malaysia
Petronas Towners - Malaysia
After two amazing weeks in Asia, with the Petrona Towers freshly on my mind we returned to Kuala Lumpur International airport for our departure to Europe. Here at KUL EgyptAir is using the Business Class Lounge of Malaysian Airlines (CLICK HERE), which has shower facilities, a separate coffee and business area and was overall very well equipped and serviced. The food was plentyful and diverse and excellent for Business Class Lounge food.
We were both very much looking forward to a good night’s sleep under the blue star studded sky and boarded in time. One may imagine our disappointment when we entered the aircraft and found outdated seats with little legroom and very limited recliner capability to sleep, and no power supply to work.
Kuala Lumpur - Business Class Lounge - Malaysia Airlines
Kuala Lumpur - Business Class Lounge - Malaysia Airlines- (CLICK HERE)
Those types of seats might be ok for shorter daytime flights and some airlines might offer them in their ‘premium economy’ category, but for long haul overnight business flights, we cannot recommend them. The crew explained that due to an unexpected last minute technical problem the original scheduled Boeing 777-300ER had to be replaced, but made us hope that during our short technical stop in Bangkok two hours later could hopefully be switched to an aircraft with appropriate seats.
Egypt Air - Business Class - OLD
Egypt Air - Long-haul Business Class (CLICK HERE)
When we saw EgyptAir’s advertisement (CLICK HERE) shortly before re-boarding in Bangkok, for their new flat bed flights right next to the boarding gate we were hopeful once again to get some sleep. This was not the case. It was the same aircraft with the uncomfortable outdated, worn out seats. (CLICK HERE)
We understand that Hussein Massoud, the Chairman and CEO of EgyptAir’s Holding Company is not personally responsible for any of this, however, we, until today, have not received a simple apology from him or any member of his management team.
EgyptAir is a member of the Star Alliance organization. Star Alliance announced on December 14th, 2011 that its Chief Executive Board appointed Mark Schwab to head the Star Alliance central organization, based in Frankfurt, Germany as its new Chief Executive. Schwab comes from Star Alliance member United where he was responsible for the company’s alliances as Senior Vice President Alliances. He succeeds Jaan Albrecht, who was appointed as CEO of Austrian Airlines on November 1st, 2011.
by Thorsten & Edmund Buehrmann

Editor-in-Chief: John Lomitola
© 2011 ~ Seven Stars and Stripes, Inc.


 
 
 
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Disclaimer:

Although the above information was accurate at the time of publication, it can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all pertinent information with the companies in question before planning your trip.


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