I travelled 12 to 18 times a year in most years between 2005 and 2019. Then came covid and I went only on three trips in 2020 and no international trips in 2021 until August but I was finally fully vaccinated so I was able to travel. First I flew from Iceland to Milan with Wizzair (no flight report), took the train to Geneva (no train report), flew from Geneva to Athens with Aegean (here), then flew from Athens to Paris also with Aegean (here) and flew home to Iceland with the new Icelandic low-cost airline Play (flight report to be published soon).
I stayed at a beach resort not far from the airport. My taxi failed to show up on time. I quickly arranged an airport transfer but got to the airport about half an hour later than planned. I had already checked in on-line, only had hand luggage and priority security was available so I was airside less than 10 minutes after I had gotten to the airport. The airport was crowded but the staff were experienced enough to manage the flow.
I went to the Aegean lounge - but it was full and no more passengers were let in.
The Lufthansa Business Lounge was also very crowded but was not full so I could get in.
It was difficult to enjoy the lounge as it was really crowded. There was a serviced bar with quite few people waiting in line. The best part of the lounge was that good quality snacks were available. I also noticed that the staff were doing their best to manage the crowd.
Vaccination certificates were checked in the boarding area in a pretty chaotic way. Priority boarding was not available.
Aegean has the typical intra-European business class cabin with the middle seat blocked.
Legroom was good at seat 1F.
Push-back was at 08.15 for a scheduled departure time of 08.20.We took off at 08.30.
We had some beautiful views over Athens and the nearby riviera.
Here's the breakfast menu.
Aegean branded napkin.
Breakfast.
Oven Baked Omelet Sfougato served with Cherry Tomato and Spilia Graviera Cheese.
Fruit salad.
Greek yogurt with honey.
Strawberry marmalade.
Coke and tomato juice.
Gastronomics by Stalios Parliaros chocolate.
Breakfast was very good. Service was perfect - this was my third flight in Aegean business class and service was of consistently high level on all three flights.
Covid-related registration form for France was distributed after breakfast and collected before landing.
We had some nice views during the flight: here is the east coast of Italy.
The Alps.
Lake Geneva.
Approaching Paris.
We landed at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle on time.
Welcome to Paris!
Hi David, thanks for sharing this series on Aegean! A3 offer a very decent intra-European J experience, especially the catering, though it's a shame their new lounge gets so crowded. I was surprised when I saw the new cabin on this flight as it's listed as an A320, but it turns out you were actually on an A321neo (maybe it was a typo in creating the report). I went ahead and updated Eqp to A321neo for you.
The new cabins are really nice with power sources and the much better legroom in the first row.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi KévinDC, thank you for your comment. Yes, it was a A321neo. I agree, A3 offers some very good catering in business.
Thank you for this comprehensive report.
Full lounge again, a good sign that Greece was a very popular destination this summer.
I like the A3 cabin on their neos, modern with some nice touches.
Catering is OK but breakfast are always less interesting than lunch or dinner.
Looking forward to your report on Play, I have just added the airline to the database for you :)
Hi Leadership and thank you for your comment. I agree, I always prefer to fly at lunch or dinner time whenever possible - these meals are always better. Thanks for adding Play - I just uploaded the first flight report about this new airline.
Hi Bldavid,
Thanks for this report! I have never tried A3 but it looks very decent, so hopefully I will be able to fly them in the near future. I really like their new cabins in neos, they look so much better than the old ones and also your seat looks comfy. The food really looks tasty, maybe a bit of a small portion for a 3.5-hour-flight?
All the best,
Mateusz
Hi Matthevv, thank you for your comment. Yes, A3's business class is a good product. I didn't find the portion small but I was going anyway almost directly to a restaurant after I arrived to Paris.