[ViajeroUK]

Have a booking on Air France to Cairo, they use A350-900 on that route, 3 class cabin, with 1-2-1 layout in J with lie flat seats, the 3.00am departure from Cairo for the return leg may not suit everyone though!

[sparkyflier]

SenatorGold -I am glad you raised the ex-BMI A321 with flat bed seating. Once again I think BA missed an easy trick here. I know these went to former British Mediterranean routes like Baku etc, but these would have been ideal for Cairo, Amman, Tel Aviv and other routes such as Sharm El Sheikh, Banjul, Dakar, Luxor etc off the top of my head, where there would have been an either business demand or premium leisure. After all, BA used to put 772 on Sharm a few years ago!

BA are really missing in the “blue sky thinking”/imagination department sometimes.

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SenatorGold

[esselle]

Sparkflyer BA did indeed use the ex BMI A321 on CAI, as I flew them down there a couple of times. Honestly not as good as the 772 with full J configuration, but a load nicer than the C offering available today on the “longer short haul” routes.

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FDOS

[SenatorGold]

@sparkyflier. I flew one of the ex BMI A321s in August 2018 to Beirut, a route which BA have since dropped. I’m not sure that BA ever flew the ex BMI A321s to Tel Aviv. Currently they are operating B787-8s and A350s to Tel Aviv. In the past they have used B777s even with First.

I think in the past BA may have used the B787 to Cairo.

When BMED operated as BA franchise, they operated A321s with the Club World cradle seat. I flew on them to Bishkek (stopping in Yerevan), Almaty (stopping in Ekaterinburg) and Baku.

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sparkyflier

[FDOS]

“I think in the past BA may have used the B787 to Cairo.”

They did and before those, the 777. I once went to Cairo on a BA747 (a long time ago).

[sparkyflier]

FDOS – you are right – 747s did ply Cairo and I believe for a number of years.

But BA with their choice of aircraft and lousy in flight offering on a 5 hour flight are especially rejecting ex-Egypt premium demand.

A business contact of mine based in Cairo told me him and his team would each fly to US or Canada 10-12 times per year in J and would avoid Egyptair based on product and not having a big enough network there, and they all far preferred BA and were “fans” of the airline. But now with the A320 short haul product they have simply given up on it and use other airlines.

BA still using the A321s with flat bed seating in J could have been used from both LHR and LGW and so getting rid of them seems very short-sighted and unnecessary to me.

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FDOS

[FDOS]

sparkyflier

I had a similar conversation with a large client in Cairo, who pay for business class travel – most of their people use QR via DOH, despite the dogleg, as they don’t fancy a long haul segment and then being cramped in an A320 (they also feel the same way about (LH).

The problem is that both the BA A321 flights I took were rammed, so the bean counters will love it.

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sparkyflier

[sparkyflier]

My contact and his team hates the dogleg of the ME3 options. He also is not an LH fan and so I think most of the time they use AF when they use widebodies on the CAI-CDG sector. TK gets a look in but said he prefers paying a bit more and getting BA as he likes their service style (not on the A320 short haul) and likes T5 – far easier than the new IST.

FDOS as you say the bean counters will be happy but can tell you a friend of mine is BA cabin crew tells me customers on the CAI/AMM routes constantly complain. I guess global traffic for many sectors is playing catch up after Covid restrictions etc but wonder how many on the flights you were on would choose BA again for that route?

Personally I think BA should give up their AMM route and codeshare with RJ – a far superior offering! And RJ should launch a flight from AMM to CAI to connect with their flight from LHR.

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FDOS

[LuganoPirate]

Wandering a bit off topic, but I see both Korean and FlyDubai are now offering a proper business class seat and cabin on their short haul flights. Reminds me of the days when we had First on European routes. I wonder if other (European) airlines will now follow suit?

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cwoodward

[sparkyflier]

Interesting point LP.

But I doubt it on intra-Europe flights as demand for a Business Class varies so much between routes and schedules. On a BA A320 Club Europe can go from the first 3 rows up to Row 13 – which includes the second Emergency Exit and so the current seating offers that flexibility.

I find the BA seating anyway is “copeable” up to 3 hours but after that I get a severe case of NBS – numb bum syndrome, as well as painful lower back. The previous seating BA had up until I guess 7-8 years ago I thought was actually fine although some on this forum complained about how it was inferior to US and Asia products but I thought if offered the balance between comfort and flexibility quite well.

London – Amman or Cairo on a BA A320? No thank you.

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LuganoPirate, SenatorGold

[workandtravel]

Airlines often have to strike a balance between offering a premium experience for passengers who value it while also considering the cost and demand on specific routes.

For shorter flights within Europe, some passengers might find the standard seating in Economy Class to be sufficient, while others may prefer the added comfort and amenities of Business Class for longer journeys or when flying for business purposes.

[cwoodward]

I never fly these routes and this may be a silly question but why is Egypt Air a non starter from LHR to CAI given the direct route and that they have a dedicated business on a newish A320neo ?

[esselle]

I flew EgyptAir once.

Crew smoking in cockpit. Nuff said.

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sparkyflier, cwoodward

[FDOS]

I was on an Egyptair Express ejet that landed at Cairo with a flight attendant asleep in a pax seat, with her head on the lowered table.

That was my last flight with Egyptair.

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cwoodward, esselle

[workandtravel]

Instances like a flight attendant asleep in a passenger seat can be concerning and may lead to a loss of confidence in an airline’s professionalism and safety standards. Such incidents can significantly impact a passenger’s decision to fly with a particular airline in the future. It’s essential for airlines to ensure that their staff adhere to the highest standards of conduct and professionalism during flights to maintain trust and customer satisfaction.

[Author]

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