After an unexpectedly heartfelt welcome onboard my Air Algérie A330 flight from Algiers to Doha, how did the flight go? Here are my first impressions of business class.
Air Algérie A330 Business Class – My First Impressions
After the warm welcome from Emelle and Nazim I was just ecstatic…but how would the rest of the flight be?
Good luck finding out much information on Air Algérie. The official website is very limited, reviews are few and far between, and some sources even indicate that Air Algérie is still operating older A330 aircraft with a very dated business class (and first class) seat.
The first thing I confirmed is that all the Air Algérie A330-200 aircraft in operation have the “new” business class, featuring reverse herringbone seats in a 1-2-1 arrangement. While the cabin finishes were not noteworthy (the seats were covered in blue despite the red motif of the airline), these are very comfortable seats and represent a leading business class product (far better, for example, than its neighbor Tunis Air).
Again, I had no clue what the flight would be like. I asked Emelle if there would be a meal after takeoff. She said there would be…and breakfast before landing. The captain announced a flight time of six hours and we were soon on our way.
Our flight took off with only four passengers in business class (18 seats total in the cabin). Emelle and Nazim promptly served dinner after takeoff, a single tray with a beef and rice dish, turkey and cheese sandwich, hot bread rolls with cheese, and a couple of cake slices. The main course was very good…the rest, not so much.
After dinner I got up to use the lavatory and when I returned a lovely fruit plate was waiting for me. The peach was ripe and sweet.
I slept for a few hours and awoke before landing to enjoy a light breakfast of coffee with pastries and dates.
Now I want to be clear that as much as I loved Air Algérie business class, it is not on the level of Qatar Airways:
- Only a thin economy class blanket was offered
- No pillows
- No amenity kits
- Beef or beef for dinner (no choice)
- No menus
- No wi-fi
- Limited IFE selection
- No headphones (Nazim kindly let me borrow his own)
- No alcohol or fresh-squeezed juices
- Coffee was powdered
While the kind service on this flight was simply superb and I give the flight a very high review overall, it made me glad I flew Air Algérie overnight to Doha where I did not need Wi-Fi or an extensive movie selection versus the longer daytime service to Montreal.
CONCLUSION
I will offer more details in a full review (and hopefully I will not drag out the trip report too long…). I was so happy to fly Air Algérie and find it to be one of the most intriguing airlines out there, with a great potential to compete amongst the best.
Although this looks like a very good flight, I wonder if this product competes against the best, especially if the crew was average (or at least not nearly as good). The hard product is competitive but not particularly cutting edge (as you’d expect), but all aspects of the soft product seem fairly subpar – unless I knew I was flying with Nasim and Emelle, I don’t know if I would be excited to fly the product.
Just to be clear, this isn’t a criticism of your (comprehensive) take on Air Algerie’s product, but rather just my own take after reading the details on your post (as is apt for the comments section).
Your reaction is totally fair.
Love the chance to read and see the reviews on more obscure airlines. But I highly doubt I would ever want or need to fly them. Even if visiting Algeria. Royal Air Maroc is the only North African airline that I have and will use in the future. Not that they are necessarily leaps and bounds better, but they have at least scaled operations and service to a point that makes them vaguely worthwhile. Not to mention they are One World which helps with choice.
All in all, unless Air Algerie ramps up their service, routes, operations, efficient connectivity – and then gain an alliance – they will be forever a money draining venture that is nothing more than a poor impression of what might be a lovely country Or else just focus on short haul and cheap flights to Europe and scrap the long hauls. Clearly the load in J on your flight is clear to this point.
Egyptair are a lot stronger than AT when it comes to network etc (and obviously they’re also part of *A). Not an amazing airline, but it’s usually reliable and realistically priced (not just in terms of generally competitive fares but also through the absence of absurd surcharges for one-way tickets, stopovers etc).
Did the warm welcome include dates and Arabic coffee?
Nope. Like I said, not quite on the level of Qatar Airways or even Gulf Air.
I enjoy reading your reviews. I am surprised that you don’t have your own headphones though!
I do! I carry my noise-canceling wireless headphones, but these do not work with the IFE system (I need to buy one of those plug-ins so I can always use my own headphones…).
I value the information in reviews about the availability and quality of the headphones. I generally do not carry my own noise cancelling set, as I prefer an over the ear style headphone and am very restrictive on my luggage in terms of both size and weight.
Additionally I don’t utilize IFE a lot, so what most airlines provide in business class is sufficient for my needs. If they don’t provide them at all, that information is helpful in planning.
No pillows or headphones offered in business class? Ouch.
Ouch indeed. And amazing how forgiving I am because of the great crew.
Algiers-Montreal business class was crap.
In what way?
As widely traveled as you are, why do you not carry your own headphones? Just curious…
I carry Apple AirPods Pro and Apple standard-issue headphones (with lightning connector) which is not very helpful in the case of most airline IFE systems.
There is a certain amount of old-school elegance in flying the flag-carriers of these countries, even the worst airlines. Look at those uniforms.
I wouldn’t hesitate to book an airline like this if the airfare was right. I’d just eat and get drunk at the airport to get through the long flight with poor food and no booze. I’m very, very surprised they don’t serve wine. Algeria has a wine industry. It’s relatively secular compared to other Muslim countries in North Africa and the Middle East. I will say that the dinner looks bizarre. Who caters beef with a turkey sandwich as the side? Bizarre.
One of my most memorable flights was Ethiopian Airlines fifth-freedom between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. I booked business and was one of the only passengers on the 1-hour flight getting off in Singapore and not going onward to Ethiopia. The flight attendants were awesome. So warm and a good representative of their country and airline. And the Lanson champagne was lovely. I think I had four glasses in an hour, including a pre-departure beverage. The amenity kit was poor and the hard product a little outdated, but it was elegant and very nice. I ended up swiping a couple of the wine glasses for souvenirs as I doubt I’ll ever have the opportunity to fly Ethiopian Airlines again.
Kenya Airways have the cutest espresso cups I have ever come across. I made sure to ask the purser for one as a souvenir, and she was glad to oblige! I am flying ET next week – insane value for intra-Africa redemptions and a slight schedule change meant I bagged a free night at the new hotel inside the terminal. Less predictable than the likes of Lufthansa, but usually a much more fun experience!
I asked if there was espresso and was told no.
Peach or nectarine? I like trying new airlines regardless of the alliance etc. that’s the fun of it.
I’m still suspicious. A fruit plate waiting at your seat when you got back from the bathroom? Are you sure they weren’t expecting you and put on their best show for you?
I booked the ticket on Priceline three days prior. If they were expecting me, why would the check-in staff yell at me and demand I delete my pictures?
Maybe it was just the inflight crew that was expecting you. But fair enough.