Now, for the flight that actually takes me to my destination.
I am so excited to try Oman's Apex Business Class seats! They come with such high praise! As this is a daytime flight, I'll be able to stay awake and enjoy everything that comes with traveling in style!
Plane Details
Security/Airside
We arrived around 3 hours prior to takeoff and went straight to the Oman Air Business and First Class check in area. Like many airlines, Oman Air has a special area that seperates Business and First Class travelors from all others. This provided for a less stressfull and more personalized check in. After checking in, we were able to go to a special passport control and security line that is located just a short walk from the check in counters.
Before you know it, we were airside in this beautiful airport and it was time to take a short walk to the Oman Air lounge.
Oman Lounge
This lounge comes highly recommended, so I was ecstatic to be able to experience it before my flight. I found the lounge to be very expansive and nicely trimmed in gold motif. Plenty of seats, even after it became a bit crowded. The food was ok, and I'll mark that up to it just being breakfast time. The lunch and dinner could be much better. Items such as the Omani staple Karak tea were ok but not great. Honestly, it didn't live up to the hype but was still one of the best lounges I had been in. The fact it was breakfast time and the rave reviews that it gets made it tough to hit that once in a lifetime airport lounge mark.
Boarding/In-Flight/Arrival Pics!
seat
Super large Apex Suites! I Just loved it. The seats by the window are bigger but that does mean the screen is a bit further away. The seat does have some storage but not a lot. The cabin did feel a bit cramped given the layouts, but the design does ensure every seat in business class has aisle access and great leg room. The dividers can give each suite a lot of privacy when raised.
The width on the seat was great but it was a bit stiff, luckily this was a daytime flight so i did not have to worry about sleeping. No amenity kit was given, and I think this could be added as a nice touch. Dental kits were available in the bathrooms. One thing to note is that the bathrooms did have a nice bidet toilet :)
IFE
Huge movie selection! Full franchises such as Jurassic Park, Fantastic Beasts and much more! Even a large black and white movie selection. The headphones were decent but a bit staticky at times.
Food/Drink
A hot towel was offered to start. The towel was placed on a tray instead of just handed to you which is a nice touch. A choice of Carrot or Orange Juice was offered before take-off and I chose the always reliable orange juice. During tax, a wrapped date and a small cup of Omani Coffee was offered. This was a nice touch. The date was individually wrapped but prior to covid was offered in a big box but of course that has all changed.
The menu for today's flight was passed out right before take-off and after we got in the air a drink order was taken. I chose the Karak tea, and it was not as good as the Oman Air flight the day prior but was still solid. The Karak tea came with a couple of small cookies which is a nice touch,
The FA set the table for mealtime. Warm bread was served with butter and Olive Oil mixed with Vinegar. For my appetizer I chose the soup, and it came wonderfully plated. It tasted good and was a nice change to what I typically order on a plane. For my main meal I chose the braised Lamb. It was ok. The rice tasted a bit odd, and the lamb was dry. Although, the cut of meat was huge, so props for the big portions.
What an amazing experience for only a 5.5h flight! Again, Oman Air proves that they have one of the best products out there--hard and soft--but just don't get all the hype that the ME3 do. Maybe that's a good thing and keeps them more exclusive.
I don't blame you! Apex seats are really some of the best J seats out there. It's really a shame that more airlines didn't adopt them because they have too large of a footprint--i.e. they're too spacious. And we all know airlines like density!
Personally I think the design is great because it allows people travelling together to actually sit together but still have full aisle access from the window seats. And of course if you're travelling alone you can always put up the partition. But yes, as you mention, the 2-2-2 layout (though it's not actually 2-2-2 shoulder to shoulder) does make the cabin seem dense despite actually being low density.
The catering looks visually very nice. Too bad the lamb was dry. I love lamb and it's definitely a higher end protein--a nice change from the usual poultry or beef.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this report!
WY really is the dark horse in the Middle East. They have a very nice hard/soft product without all of the flash of the ME3. The Apex cabins are dense, but come with a lot of advantages of being forward facing with no foot cubbies. Full length seats with wide ottomans are much more comfortable for sleeping. I think Apex do get some criticism on 777s where it spreads to a 2-3-2 and you get that strange middle seat, but a 2-2-2 is acceptable.
The menu certainly is on par with QR with a nice selection of both appetizers and mains. Since it is a la carte, can you order multiple appetizers? The mezze looks like a nice spread and very filling. The poached scallop is very yellow, was it saffron?
Just flew Oman air a week ago from Paris to Kuala Lumpur via MCT in Biz class, having flown before, it was a little disappointment as cost cutting measures are really felt.
Gone are the PJs, amenities only on the first leg, gone the leather menus and no wine list. They serve some if requested but You never know what it is. Films sélection was extremly poor with less than 15 movies to choose from. No pre meal cocktails and the food desesperatly is the same on every flight : Mezze, soup or salad to start then Lamb, fish or pasta. With 15 segments flown with Oman air, never have ever seen beef on offer. Also never has I ever been offered the pre landing snack.
The crew is still very friendly and quite ovewhelmed if the cabin is full. Would I ever flight Oman air ? Probably unless the compétition comes with cheaper fares.