At the Airport

Check-in

Our flight with EgyptAir flew out from Terminal 3 at Cairo International Airport, mainly serving Star Alliance Airlines. Passengers flying in Business Class (regardless of airline) can use the Gold Track security clearance at the terminal’s far left end. EgyptAir Business Class check-in counters occupy the entire Row 1 of the terminal and are located at the far left end of the terminal after the Gold Track security clearance. There were just three groups of passengers in front of us, but we had to wait 15 minutes before our turn to check-in. Of the 11 counters dedicated to Business Class passengers, only four were open to serve passengers, contributing to the long wait time despite the short queue. The service at the check-in counter was bad. The ground staff looked unhappy to be sitting behind the counter working in the wee hours of the morning. There were no smiles, no welcomes from her. We had to repeat ourselves several times before she stopped asking us the same question, like a broken record. The ground staff continued to pull a long face throughout our check-in process and was observed to be slow in her work. To make matters worse, the ground staff did not even provide us with essential information like which lounge we should use, the boarding time and where our boarding gate was. EgyptAir Business Class passengers can use the Gold Track immigration clearance channel, guarded strictly by another ground staff who would direct Economy Class passengers to the queue for “everyone else”.

EgyptAir Lounges in Cairo International Airport Terminal 3

We did a little lounge hopping to all three EgyptAir Lounges in Cairo airport since we had time to kill before our flight.

Gienah Lounge

Gienah Lounge was the first lounge we visited since this is the lounge closest to our gate in finger G. The lounge is on the right side after the duty-free shop in the direction of G gates. Gienah Lounge mainly uses a wooden theme on its walls and flooring in the lounging area. The lounge decor does not exude any luxurious vibe but is more of a practical space for passengers to chill before our flight. Gienah Lounge is a small lounge with limited seating and more lounging chairs than dining tables. Only around five dining tables are lined along the corridor inside the lounge. It feels as though these dining tables are placed there as an afterthought. As it was breakfast during my visit, Gienah Lounge mainly served sandwiches, bread, and yoghurt in a buffet style. Food was made available in two lounge areas, with one station located after the main entrance and another after the toilet in the forward part of the lounge. There are no showering facilities in the lounge. The reception staff at the lounge was very friendly and welcomed us into the lounge after scanning our boarding passes.

Alioth Lounge

The Alioth Lounge is to the left of the duty-free shop, after immigration and toward the F gates. Alioth Lounge is a bigger lounge (and the biggest among the three lounges we visited). The lounge is predominantly decked in white, black and sand-coloured marble tiles, and the bright light makes the lounge look fresh and airy. The elongated Alioth Lounge has ⅔ of the space furnished with black fabric chairs and a white-top table. Similar to the Gienah Lounge, the dining tables and chairs are packed to one side of the lounge. There are more dining tables in the Alioth Lounge, mainly due to the bigger floor area. The choice of furniture colour in this lounge is consistent with the main theme used throughout the lounge, making it very pleasing to the eye. Only one area that served food buffet-style was located at the far end of the elongated lounge. Similar to the Gienah Lounge and perhaps due to the breakfast timing, food is limited to salad, an assortment of bread and some sandwiches. Shower facilities were unavailable in this lounge, which seems to signal that the lounge is merely for premium class passengers to hang out while waiting for their flight. The reception staff at the Alioth Lounge was very thoughtful; upon scanning our boarding passes, they notified us that there was another lounge nearer to our gate.

Almeisan Lounge

With plenty of time, we decided to check out the last EgyptAir lounge in the terminal – the Almeisan Lounge, located to the left of the duty-free shops after immigration beside Gate F10 in finger F. The Almeisan Lounge has a wooden-themed decor, making the lounge feel very cosy and comfortable. The wooden theme extends from the floor to the walls, except for the walking area, which is laid in grey marble. Unlike the other two lounges, the lounging and dining areas are separated. Most of the lounge space is dedicated to the lounging area, making the lounge a great place to hang out and relax with the numerous armchairs in the lounge. There is an area with a very limited dining table, which was fully occupied when we visited the lounge. The food on offer is identical to that of Gienah and Alioth Lounge, mainly consisting of bread and salad for their breakfast run. The Almeisan Lounge is a smaller lounge with no showering facilities. The reception staff at the Almeisan Lounge was very observant. Upon scanning our boarding passes, they noticed that we were at the other side of the finger and informed us of Gienah Lounge, which is at the finger where our flight would depart. Upon understanding, we intended to check out the lounge and had some time to kill; the staff even volunteered information on the time required to walk from the Almeisan Lounge to our boarding gate.

The Aircraft

EgyptAir initially planned to deploy its newer B787-9 aircraft between Cairo and Paris. However, the airline changed the aircraft to the older B777-300 three days before our flight.

The Cabin

The EgyptAir B777-300 Business Class cabin looks bright and spacious, mainly due to the large amount of natural light that was let in with all the window shades up and how spaced out the seats are in the cabin. The airline uses yellow lighting during boarding, which gives the cabin a comfortable feel. The blue carpet and white seat shell contributed to the bright and airy feel of the cabin. The Business Class seats on EgyptAir’s B777-300 are navy blue, identical to those across EgyptAir’s fleet. The ceiling of the Business Class cabin was even dotted with white LED lights to create a starry sky look when the pilot dimmed the cabin and turned on the dark blue lights.

Three lavatories are allocated for Business Class passengers onboard EgyptAir B777-300, one is located in the front behind the cockpit and another two between the two Business Class cabins. The lavatories felt small, and the yellow lighting did not enhance the feeling of spaciousness in the lavatories. The large mirror installed at the sink did not enhance the sense of space here. I like the sensor-activated tap installed in the sink. The space between the sink and the toilet feels tight. The amenities in the lavatories are limited to hand soap, tissues, and packets of hand sanitiser.

The Seat

EgyptAir has 346 seats on its B777-300 aircraft, with 49 seats in Business Class and 297 in Economy Class. Business Class cabin is further segregated into two cabins, with 28 seats in the forward cabin and 21 seats in the rear Business Class cabin. The seats have a seat pitch of 76″ and measure 20″ wide. The Business Class seats on EgyptAir B777-300 can be reclined into a flatbed but at a 160° angle. Besides the upright take-off/landing and the flatbed mode, the seat can also be adjusted to a lounge mode. These three modes can be conveniently adjusted with a touch of the button from the seat control panel on the seat armrest. Passengers can also adjust the seat to recline, and the angle of the calf rests to their liking between the modes. There was supposed to be a massage function, but it did not work on my seat (perhaps due to ageing). The legroom room in the Business Class seats on EgyptAir B777-300 was superb; I could straighten my leg and still not hit the seat in front. Due to the thick cushioning, I find the Business Class seats on EgyptAir B777-300 very comfortable. I was able to catch two hours of rest in the flatbed mode.

Other than the overhead reading light, the Business Class seats also came fitted with another reading light. A small partition between the two seats provides limited privacy to the passenger taking the window seat. Each seat is also fitted with a USB-A charging outlet below the headphone jack between the two seats and an international power outlet in the lower part of the seat. The seat table is stowed in the console between the two Business Class seats. The table is folded into halves for storage purposes. When fully deployed, each Business Class passenger has a large table perfect for working their laptops. I like how EgyptAir used the space on the console between the two seats as a cocktail table or additional space for passengers to place their things.

The storage on EgyptAir B777-300 Business Class seats is a tad limited. A small cubby is in the inside armrest, beneath the IFE controller storage cutout. I thought this cubby was too small to place anything besides passports and mobile phones. I could hardly fit the 500ml bottled water the airline provided to all passengers. The seat pocket, fitted on the back of the seat in front of us, offers more storage space. Due to its flat design, I do not think it can fit anything besides a laptop or a tablet. There are two rectangular holes near the floor on the back of the seat in front of us. I find these “holes” are perfect for storing my shoes.

Inflight Entertainment

Each Business Class seat on EgyptAir B777-300 has a 15.4″ personal TV. The EgyptAir B777-300 is an older product, so these TVs do not have a touchscreen function. The TVs are fitted into a fixed position, which means that they cannot be adjusted to provide a good viewing angle when lying down in the flatbed mode of the seat. The IFE controller is an older model that comes with a Qwerty keyboard behind it. Despite its age, the IFE controller did not lag. EgyptAir has a great library of entertainment in their IFE system, where I found a variety of entertainment, from Hollywood blockbusters to channels and even a radio option. The IFE system was well laid out in an intuitively designed menu, making selecting entertainment options a breeze. The headphones that EgyptAir provided felt cheap and did not come with a noise-cancelling function.

Meal Service

This was a 5-hour flight from Cairo to Paris, so only one meal was served. EgyptAir is a dry airline and does not serve alcohol onboard. When we got settled into our seats, a cabin crew came over and gave us a bottle of water, and another came by to serve a glass of orange juice as the welcome drink. About 1 hour into the flight, the refreshment service begins. We were given a choice of a cookie or a packet of mixed nuts to go with our drink. I would say the cookie, though not crispy, was tasty.

Lunch service began about 1½ hours into the flight, with another refreshment run. Our tables were set up for lunch, and the cabin crew distributed our meal tray with all three appetisers. For appetisers, we were served a cheese platter, salad with cheese, and smoked duck with rice, all served in a small container commonly found in Economy Class meal trays. EgyptAir does not distribute menus nor take orders in their Business Class cabin. For the main course, the EgyptAir cabin crew pushed out a trolley with all the options available for this flight and let passengers choose. For the main course, the options for today’s flight include chicken with mashed pumpkin, fish with rice, or eggplant with vegetables as a vegetarian option. I went with the chicken, and my friend opted for the fish. The chicken was moist and juicy and tasted very good. My friend’s fish was equally tasty, and the rice was fragrant. Another trolley was pushed around the cabin with choices for desserts. The desserts available were fruit platter or caramel mouse cake. I had the cake and found it a tad too sweet. EgyptAir is perhaps one of the few airlines that displayed the mains and desserts available in a trolley, akin to flying in yesteryears, which I thought was refreshing. I like allowing us to see what the food looks like before deciding what to eat.

Service

This flight destroyed all the good impressions in terms of service that I had with EgyptAir. The service was bad since the ground service. The staff at the check-in counters was not the friendliest of all. She did not maintain eye contact and was not attentive when communicating with her. She was seen with a long face throughout the check-in experience. The onboard experience was equally bad. The cabin crew who served the side we sat in did not seem too happy to serve us. She was pulling a long face when I requested a pillow and blanket. She took her time and seemed to conveniently forget about my pillow set request. I have never seen a smile on her face when interacting with us. The cabin crew would cut short the conversation by giving a one-word reply to our questions and then rushed off into the galley. When we had an issue with another passenger occupying our seat during boarding, the cabin crew did not come forth and help us. We only saw the cabin crew smile during dessert service when she was working with another cabin crew (we suspect that could be her supervisor).

Thankfully, a small number of EgyptAir staff are still friendly and welcoming. The so-called supervisor was friendlier and made us feel welcome. I saw her serving in the other aisle, and she was observed to be caring and friendly to the passengers. It is a pity that she was not assigned to serve our side of the aircraft. The reception staff at the three lounges came across as friendly and sincere. They were thoughtful enough to remind us about a lounge near our boarding gate.

Afterthought

It was a shame that EgyptAir had a last-minute change of aircraft from one of their newer aircraft, B787-9, which came fitted with different Business Class seats, to the older B777-300. Nonetheless, the Business Class seats on EgyptAir B777-300 were comfortable. Despite being on an angle flatbed, I found the seat to be very comfortable in flatbed mode thanks to the thick cushioning, which I was able to catch some rest on. EgyptAir B777-300 aircraft has very limited storage space for its Business Class passengers. The food served onboard was delicious, and I liked how the cabin crew pushed a trolley to showcase the main course and dessert options, which are getting rare these days. The service was the worst that we have experienced with EgyptAir. The cabin crew servicing our aisle did not seem welcoming and would always rush off. She came across as disinterested in her job. The only time she was somewhat friendly was when she was serving dessert with another colleague.

At the Airport

Check-in Counters

EgyptAir departs from London Heathrow Terminal 2, the Star Alliance Airlines hub. EgyptAir check-in counters are located at Zone B, in the terminal’s centre. The five EgyptAir check-in and ticketing counters do not operate 24/7; they are open at 6.30 pm for our 10.30 pm flight. Two of these five counters, from B18 to B22, are dedicated to Business Class. There was no separate queue for passengers who had already performed their check-in online. Despite only one passenger ahead of us in the queue at the Business Class counter, we still had to wait for 10 minutes to be checked in. The ground manager operating the counter was very busy multitasking, performing check-ins and sorting out any issues (which seemed to pop up every now and then) with passengers flying out that evening. The ground manager was very friendly and apologetic for the delay in check-in. She gave us directions to the nearest lounge to wait for our gate to be announced. She even reminded us as Business Class passengers, we were able to use the Gold Track immigration lane, which has a much shorter queue and granted us access to the airside within minutes.

Lounges

Lufthansa Business Lounge

The Lufthansa lounges are located in the main terminal building at London Heathrow Airport, to the right after immigration, about a 5-minute walk away. There are two lounges past the main door of the Lufthansa Lounges: the Lufthansa Business Lounge, serving passengers flying Business Class on all Star Alliance Airlines, and the Lufthansa Senator Lounge further in from the main Business Lounge, which mainly serves First Class passengers flying on Star Alliance Airlines and passengers with gold status in the Star Alliance network. The Business Lounge was about 60% full. The lounge has three distinct sections: the blue carpeted area in the main lounge space with armchairs for passengers to lounge around; the wooden parqueted flooring with dining tables and buffet spreads for passengers to dine; and another carpeted area behind a wall panel, just after the reception for passengers to work on. The lounge layout was rather open, except for the work area. The Lufthansa Business Lounge felt more functional than luxury. Food was limited, with only five hot foods in the buffet zone, but sufficient to fill our stomachs before our next flight. A separate counter with finger food, such as biscuits and a salad bar. Drinks are conveniently placed in both the hot and finger food sections. As it was the Christmas festive season, Lufthansa Business Lounge set up another counter serving Christmas treats for passengers. The lounge does not have any showering facilities.

Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge

There are three more Star Alliance Lounges in the Satellite Terminal, about a 15-minute walk from the main terminal, operated by Air Canada, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines. Air Canada Maple Lounge and Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge were opposite each other. During our visit, the Air Canada Maple Lounge was closed, and we did not check if United Airlines was open as it was some distance away. We went to Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge mainly to use their shower facilities. The Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge felt a little dated; the wooded furnishing used in the lounge looked old, and there were signs that the lounge lacked maintenance. Despite the dated design, Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge is a great place to relax and wait for flights. The dining areas in the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge are tucked to the sides, facing the walls near the main buffet area. The lounging area was filled with armchairs and booths that looked like the long-haul Business Class seats onboard Singapore Airlines in a rather sizeable area further into the lounge. There is only one showering room in the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge. We had to register with the staff outside the shower room to use the shower facilities. The shower room was nothing luxurious and felt dated, and the dental kit was only available upon request. Compared to the Lufthansa Business Lounge, there seems to be more food offered in the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge. The hot food section had up to six selections of mainly Asian food, while the cold food section was stocked with fruits, cheese, and sandwiches. Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge also has a large table of Christmas puddings and pies in the food section. Drinks are conveniently located in the food and lounge areas for passengers to help themselves. A bar in the lounge area serves cocktails and the famous Singapore Sling in the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge.

The Aircraft

There have been equipment changes over the months since we booked our flight. EgyptAir originally assigned B787-9 for this LHR-CAI leg. However, sometime on Mar 23, the airlines changed their aircraft to their latest addition of the A320neo but then changed the aircraft type again to A330-300.

The Cabin

EgyptAir A330-300 has 301 seats in two cabins, with 36 in Business Class and 265 in Economy Class. The Business Class cabin onboard EgyptAir A330-300 looked dated, mainly due to the cabin’s layout and the dark blue leather seats. The white-coloured walls and the white lights used during boarding made the Business Class cabin look bright and airy. The white bulkhead at the front of the cabin was painted with papyrus motifs, giving the cabin an Egyptian identity. The airline’s signature blue colour scheme reinforces the product identity as it has the same colour as the Horus logo painted on its fuselage.

EgyptAir allocated two lavatories serving 36 Business Class passengers in the front and between the aircraft’s Business Class and Economy Class sections. The lavatories are decently sized and were kept clean throughout the flight. The only amenities in the Business Class lavatories are limited to hand soap and a box of disinfectant wipes. EgyptAir did not stock their lavatories with additional dental kits or air sickness bags, as the dental kits are already inside the amenity kit distributed during boarding, and the air sickness bags are placed in the seat pockets.

The Seat

Business Class seats onboard EgyptAir A330-300 are arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration, each of the 36 seats having a seat pitch of 60″ and measuring 25″ wide. The Business Class seats have three set modes: upright mode for take-offs and landings, lounge mode for a slightly more reclined position, and flatbed mode for sleeping. I found the seat very comfortable due to its thick padding and the comfortable headrest. EgyptAir’s website advertised that its Business Class seats were fitted with a massaging function, but this function seemed out of order for my seat. I favour the lounge mode the best, which is between the upright and flatbed positions and is perfect for watching movies and dining. I was also able to adjust the angle of the recline for the lounge mode to my liking with the buttons on the side of the seat. EgyptAir A330-300 Business Class seats can be reclined into flatbeds but at an angle of about 160°. Despite not being a true flatbed, I still find the Business Class seats surprisingly comfortable when in flatbed mode, partially due to my tiredness and the thick cushioning on the seats. EgyptAir provided their Business Class passengers with a thick pillow and comfortable fleece blanket. I like the firmness of the pillow. I managed to doze off for 2 hours after a meal on the comfortable seat.

EgyptAir A330-300 Business Class seats are fitted with a personal reading light on top of the seat shell, in addition to the overhead reading light. A small centre divider was fitted between the two Business Class seats, which only provided partial privacy for the passenger sitting in the window seat. Else, the other seats felt rather open. As the A330-300 was an older aircraft (over 12 years old), the only avenue to charge our mobile devices was via the only USB-A socket fitted between the two seats. There are no power sockets for passengers to charge their laptops or devices that use USB-C. EgyptAir A330-300 Business Class seats also suffer from a lack of storage space. Besides the seat pocket fitted onto the bulkhead, we can only rely on the cubby under the IFE controller for storage. Fortunately, the small cocktail table between the two seats offered some form of storage space, but we would have to hold our stuff during take-off/landings.

The EgyptAir A330-300 Business Class table is stowed inside the consoles between the seats. To access the table, we would have to open the drawer-like latch and pull out the table. The table was folded when we fished it out of the latch, but it could expand to a full size for passengers to work on their laptops.

Inflight Entertainment

Each Business Class seat on EgyptAir A330-300 was fitted with a 15.4” TV screen stowed inside the centre consoles between the seats for the bulkhead seats that we occupied. The TV can be deployed with the push of a button. These personal TVs do not have a touchscreen function; scrolling through the menu relies on the IFE controller stowed in the cubby inside the seat’s armrest. Despite being an older aircraft and IFE system, I did not experience any lag on the system. Besides controlling the IFE menu, the call attendant and lighting buttons are also fitted into the controller. EgyptAir provided its Business Class passengers with over-the-head headphones that do not come with noise-cancellation functions. However, it does the job of providing audio on the movies that we were watching. EgyptAir has a very intuitively designed IFE menu, which is well laid out in menus that are easy to scroll through. The airlines loaded its IFE system with the latest Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows, to name a few.

Meal Service

Wblockbustersd welcome drinks the moment we got settled into our seats. Despite being a short 4-hour red-eye flight, EgyptAir surprises me with its full dinner catering. The cabin crew sprung into action immediately to prepare for dinner service as soon as the aircraft reached cruising altitude. One of the flight attendants went around laying tablecloths in each seat and another serving a tray of appetisers. Shortly after, yet another cabin crew approached us for our choice of drinks. Instead of giving out menus and taking orders, EgyptAir flight attendants went around the cabin in a trolley with all three options for mains for passengers to choose from. Pushing mains on a trolley is getting rare these days. For mains, we were given three options: beef, salmon and cWet for the beef with basmati rice, and my friend opted for the Salmon with scrambled egg and vegetables. The portions for the meals served were rather huge. I found the beef very tender and flavourful, complementing well with the rice. However, my friend commented the salmon was a tad salty. There might be dessert after the mains. However, we fell asleep after finishing our mains.

Service

The service onboard was surprisingly good. After reading reviews, I had low expectations for the services onboard EgyptAir flights, which generally ranked the service onboard as poor to mediocre. However, this was not the case for my experience onboard this flight. The flight attendants were welcoming and wore their smiles greeting passengers, despite already working for 4 hours when the aircraft flew into London (this is a turn-around flight). As soon as we settled into our seats, the flight attendant would come by almost immediately and serve us the welcome drink, and another would come around, presenting us with the amenity kit. As my seat did not come with a pillow and blanket, I requested them with the cabin crew, who was serving us a welcome drink. I understand she was busy serving welcome drinks to other passengers and was willing to wait until she finished her assignment. To my surprise, the cabin crew kept updating me that she was about to finish her task every time she walked past me. I thought this was a very good gesture (though unnecessary) in assuring me that she still remembers to bring me a set of bedding. Indeed, the said cabin crew immediately came to me with a set of bedding the moment she was done with welcome drinks.

After finishing my meal, I held on to my drinks to ensure they did not spill over as there was turbulence. I dozed off while still holding onto the glasses. To my surprise, I found the glasses and my table was cleared carefully by the cabin crew (I was asleep throughout). They even kept the table and placed two chocolates on the cocktail table. I thought this was a very nice touch. I observed the cabin crew diligently patrolling the cabin and even worked through turbulence to ensure dinner was pushed out quickly and passengers could have more time to rest. The cabin crew was seen smiling constantly to passengers despite feeling tired from the previous flight. I thought the service onboard was great, unlike what I had read before my first experience with EgyptAir.

Afterthought

Despite being an old product, I found Business Class seats on EgyptAir A330-300 very comfortable and great for sleeping and lounging. Food was generous in terms of portion size and choices. For a short flight, airlines these days give passengers two choices, whereas EgyptAir gives us three choices. I find it refreshing to see main courses being pushed down the aisle for passengers to see and decide which option they want. The biggest surprise for me was the service onboard. I found the cabin crew on this EgyptAir flight very friendly and attentive. The cabin crew also came across as being sincere and warm. I had a great time on this flight with EgyptAir and looked forward to my return flight with the airline to Paris.