BMI A330-200 business class

Published: 07/11/2008 - Filed under: Tried & Tested » Airlines » News » Tried & Tested » Tried & Tested » Airlines » Bmi » News » News Archive »

Print
Send

Check-in I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 1 at 0930 for flight BD777 to Jeddah, which leaves at 1130. Bmi currently serves this route with a direct flight three times weekly, but from January 15 it will be downgraded to a one-stop service via Riyadh, meaning the carrier will fly six times weekly to the Saudi capital (see online news October 15). The same A330-200 aircraft will be used on the route, and the Jeddah flight will take 8hrs 40mins, with the return journey taking 9hrs 25mins. Online check-in is not available for flights to Saudi Arabia, so I used the self-service kiosk within the priority section of Bmi’s check-in zone.

The lounge Bmi’s Diamond Club lounge is located to the right after security, past the duty free area. It is spread over two floors, with facilities including coffee machines and a self-service snack bar with fruit, biscuits, croissants, cereals, and alcoholic and soft drinks. There are also a good range of newspapers and magazines, a couple of computer terminals (wifi internet access is available through BT Openzone), and one shower in the male toilets. There is a departure board in the lounge, and the flight was also called for boarding by staff at 1055. Note that business and first class passengers can also use the newer Star Alliance lounge at T1 (see our online review, August 13).

The seat Bmi serves this business route with a two-class economy and business layout on its A330-200 aircraft, as opposed to the three-class economy, premium economy and business configuration on other long-haul routes such as Manchester-Las Vegas (although these Manchester-based flights will themselves be dropped next year - see online news November 5). This means a total of 42 business class seats, in seven rows of 2-2-2. There are three rows in the first cabin, followed the galley, and then a further four rows, before a curtain separating business from economy.

The seat itself is a fixed-shell, angled lie-flat product, with features including a table which folds out from the armrest, a shoe-storage space underneath the seat in front, a water-bottle holder, laptop power, and a small drinks tray that slides out from the arm (which is pretty precarious if you are sat in an aisle seat). IFE is on a loop rather than AVOD, with around a dozen movie choices, plus TV and audio channels – noise-cancelling headphones are supplied in business class.

Where to sit? The usual rules apply here about not choosing a window seat if you want aisle access. Other than that, the main points to note are that seats 1A, C, H and K, and the same in row 4, have no fixed IFE system. Passengers in these seats are offered a portable DVD player, which has advantages and disadvantages – it means you can choose when to watch films but the player will take up valuable space on your table, so these seats are to be avoided if you want to work and eat at the same time. On this flight I was originally sat in seat 4H, but took the opportunity to move just before take-off to the vacant 7D (the person in 4K also moved to sit next to me in 7G), as I valued the table space more than the ability to pause a movie.

The flight The flight was around three-quarters full in business class, and we were offered drinks, newspapers and magazines, and an amenity kit (with moisturiser, lip balm, toothbrush, eye mask and socks, tissues, mints, a pen, and a small leather photo frame), before taking off more or less on time. The first film run started shortly after the seatbelt sign was switched off, with blockbuster choices including Hancock and Indiana Jones (there was enough time to get two whole films in on this near six-hour flight), and lunch was served around two hours in. There was a choice of four starters including soup, a salad, an Arabian mezze, or a smoked salmon tarlet. Main courses included pan fried cod with rocket mash potato, roast beef with a potato rosti, stuffed peppers, or chicken stuffed with goats cheese, while dessert choices were tiramisu, lemon tart, cheeses, fruit or ice cream. There is also an “Anytime” menu with snacks including a welsh rarebit bloomer, fruit, and ice cream. This was a day flight but I tried out the bed function briefly, and found it comfortable – the fixed shell serves as an effective privacy divider when the seat is in the bed position.

Arrival We touched down 15 minutes ahead of schedule at 1935, and were quickly disembarked. Visas are needed for both tourist and business visitors, and obtaining these can be fairly time-consuming, so readers are advised to plan ahead. Jeddah’s Corniche, where most of the upmarket hotels are located, is around 30 minutes’ drive from the airport.

Verdict A comfortable business class product, albeit lacking an on-demand IFE system. Jeddah-bound passengers will mourn the loss of a direct service from January, although it will be Riyadh’s gain. At the time of writing, BA was also strongly rumoured to be restarting flights to Saudi Arabia in the new year, and the near-full premium cabin (completely full on my return journey from Riyadh) shows that business is once again booming in the country.

Price Return fares from Heathrow to Jeddah for a midweek flight in late January (after the start of the new timetable) started from £548 for economy and £2,292 for business class.

Contact flybmi.com.

Mark Caswell

Seatplan for Bmi's A330-200 (two-class) aircraft. For hundreds of seatplans and details of the best seats on major airlines worldwide, visit seatplans.com.