For all those who have been wondering how the business class segment of India’s national carrier compares to that of the other airlines, this review will provide a good insight on whether you should choose Air India business class or not.
One big USP of Air India’s business class is it’s price. It is one of the cheapest I have seen in that segment. However, just like any airline’s pricing mechanism, the cheapest business class seats get sold out early and then travellers are left with a higher priced option. Having said that, if one can manage to get it in time then it does make for a good flight on a budget.
I checked in for Air India’s non-stop 8 hour flight from New Delhi to Copenhagen. The reason for my choice of flight was my last stop was Copenhagen and it’s the only airline from India which provides a direct connection to that place. So in short, the shortest flight time! The boarding from New Delhi International Airport Terminal 3 was smooth since business class passengers have priority check-in. Also, this airport offers the benefit for faster and dedicated immigration and security check for business class passengers of all airlines. Immigration and security check took around 30 minutes to complete. Thereafter, I headed for the Air India lounge located on the 1st floor of the departure terminal. The seating area is quite impressive but the food and beverage selection was pathetic. There were a few cold options like Danish pastry and cakes and to my utter disgust I found an insect on one of them. The hot options were extremely limited and so were the beverage options with just a few variety of drinks.
One advantage of an Air India international flight is the boarding gates are always the closest ones! After another round of a tedious security check of boarding pass (of which I have no clue what was checked), I made it to the aircraft. Priority boarding for business class passengers was there. The seating arrangement on this Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is 2-2-2 recliners for business class with 3 rows. An extremely boring arrangement! The seats are all lie flat seats and equipped with in-flight entertainment system (which doesn’t work most of the times), reading light and in-seat massager. The condition of the seats was not up to the mark since a lot of visible damage and dilapidated condition was observable.
Nice Post, Really love this review. Nice Image shot…Who Crippled Air India?