We recently had the opportunity to fly Business Class with Oman Air on their Boeing 787 Dreamliner on our way home from Europe. Flying out of Paris this was our first time experiencing the product, so we were excited to check it out! With Oman Air not being as well known as bigger carriers in Australia such as Emirates or Qatar Airways, we were interested to see how this product compared, especially since they are offering good Business Class return fares to Europe ex. Australia. Prior to boarding we had access to the Extime Lounge in CDG International Airport, you can read all about our experience here.

From check-in we were notified that we were a priority 1 passenger, meaning we could access all fast track lanes through security and immigration. This also applied to our gate, making boarding not only very quick, but also meant we were first on the plane!

Cabin Layout

The Oman Air Business Class cabin is set out in a 2-2-2 configuration. Don’t let this fool you, each seat still has direct aisle access thanks to the handy walkway between the two seats. We were seated in 11K, a window seat on the right hand side of the plane. We felt this seat provided the most privacy out of all of them, as you felt tucked away in the cabin.

In order to create the walkway to the window seat, the seats are slightly staggered, meaning the one closer to the aisle sits slightly back, and the one against the window sits slightly forward. We were concerned as we felt this could put us in close proximity to the passenger next door, but there is a screen that can be raised by simply pushing a button, allowing a great amount of privacy.

Storage And Amenities

When we boarded there was a pillow and blanket on our seat, and a mattress topper on our footrest. The blanket and mattress topper were both wrapped up nicely with a little note ‘the best sleep you’ve ever had’. We found this to be a nice touch, rather than just being wrapped in plastic - small details make a big difference.

Tucked to the left of our seat was the entertainment control, charging ports, a hook for headphones and a reading light. To the right were our seat controls for changing the position from upright to a fully flat bed. Under our footrest in front was a large space for storing our bag. This was something we really valued, as some Business Class seats do not offer a large enough space to store a bag under the seat in front of you.

There were also some headphones stored to the left of our seat, along with a water bottle. The headphones were good quality and provided a nice amount of noise cancelling throughout the flight.

Shortly after our departure we were provided with an amenity kit, of which Oman Air partners with Amouage. Inside our kit were some socks, hand sanitiser, lip balm, facial moisturiser, ear plugs and perfume. All had a great smell, but we would love to see a dental kit for an overnight flight, one which we would assume are available on their long-haul flights.

The entertainment screen was a good, large size and had a nice variety of options from recent releases to TV shows. The control next to our seat was easy to use, and also had the ability to track our flight on one and watch a show on the other, you simply select which screen you want to broadcast to.

In-Flight Dining

Due to departing Paris at 9:10pm, we were served a dinner service. A a la carte menu was provided shortly after boarding, along with a warm towel to clean our hands and a choice of freshly squeezed apple or orange juice. We opted for the orange juice and also selected to receive our meal straight away in order to then be able to get a few hours of sleep.

Once we were in the air the flight attendants came round to collect our order. We opted for the Chicken Consomme Soup for an entree that consisted of chicken dumplings, mixed vegetables and pea shoots, while for our main we picked the Stuffed Chicken Breast with Spinach that was served with garlic mash potatoes, red pepper, spinach, honey and tarragon sauce.

A table was set shortly after this with a white table cloth, salt and pepper, a selection of warm fresh breads, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, butter and our cutlery. We really liked how our table was set similar to how you dine in a restaurant, and no plastic trays were involved. Every section of the meal was bought out individually on its own plate, making the dining experience that bit nicer.

Something to note is the tray table moves from side to side, allowing you to get up out of your seat during meal service, without disturbing your meal. A nice touch!

After our table was set we were provided with our first course, the Chicken Consomme Soup. This was very hot and rich in flavour, making it something we would pick again.

Shortly after this we were provided with our main, the Stuffed Chicken Breast with Spinach. This had a rich flavour and surprisingly the chicken wasn’t too overcooked nor tasted reheated - something that’s very common not only with aeroplane food, but chicken in general. The mash was creamy and the spinach added a nice amount of greens to the meal

Sadly, we decided to opt out of dessert for our meal due to it being later in the night, choosing to have a bit of extra sleep.

Oman Air Business Class Flat Bed Experience

When it came time to change our bed into a fully flat bed, it was very easy, simply using the controls to the right of the seat. We placed the mattress topper on our seat and just like that had a nice bed.

The first thing we noticed was the amount of space we had. We’re tall (6ft.) and had a good amount of room to move from side to side, but also felt like we weren’t cramped on the footrest. The blanket provided was soft and warm, so much so we had to kick it off half way through the flight.

We only received one meal service on this flight due to being only 7 hours. This meant we were woken around 40 minutes prior to landing into Muscat at 6:40am local time.

Summary

We were excited to finally experience Business Class with Oman Air and it did not disappoint. The seats were comfortable while the entertainment screens and seat controls were modern. Our meals were good quality and we appreciated the length the flight attendants go to in order to set each table individually, rather than just provide your entire meal on one tray.

To fly Business Class with Oman Air, speak to an airfare specialist today about your options. With good pricing to Europe return, now is the time to snap up some great fares.