Avis du vol entre Krasnoyarsk et Moscow en classe Affaires avec Aeroflot

Intro

Oh my, I don’t think I have ever been this excited to write a report. Truly, this is the whole reason I basically came to Russia: to fly the Flagship product on the flag carrier of Russia. Wow.

Following an interesting night out in Krasnojarsk, as well as a lovely day exploring the second largest city in Siberia, it was finally time to head back to Moscow, on my last domestic flight within Russia, onboard the Aeroflot A350.

How was it? I’ve now flown every business class ranked in the “top 10”, but this should be at number 1. It’s my number 1. With the best service I have ever experienced, delicious food, incredible amenities for a domestic flight, and modern tech onboard, allow me to show you why this product truly blew me away.

Routing

How I Booked

For those unaware, domestic flights in Russia can be extremely long, sometimes lasting over 8 hours! Well, checking online, I was trying to find the cheapest way to fly the Aeroflot A350, and prices were truly astounding.

Why? Well, unlike most airlines, Aeroflot prices segments individually at the moment. Oftentimes, you can drive down a price when flying BKK-SVO-IST instead of BKK-SVO, but it just combines them, leaving a fixed rate.

Well, looking on flightconnections, I saw that the A350 was scheduled to fly to Krasnojarsk on a once-off rotation. From what I could tell, this has never happened, so I figured I might as well give it a go.

I logged into Wego and saw the saver fare at a whopping 1049 USD for the 5-hour flight. Yowzers, that it a lot of money for a domestic flight… Sometimes it can be more than 2K!!

Now, usually, I would never spend that amount of money on a domestic business class ticket, but it’s a product I have been dying to try and review, so I pulled the trigger.

For reference: the price was the same on Aeroflot…

Check-In

Hopping in a Yandex Go around 6 pm, it was rush hour at this time in Siberia. What usually would be a 40-minute drive ended up taking 90 minutes! 90 minutes!

So by the time I arrived and pulled up to the Aeroflot check-in, we were only 2.5 hours away from departure. 

But that’s not an issue here, as waiting, well, what is that? Aeroflot has a dedicated business class check-in, which was empty on this day. The agent was extremely kind, checked me in, dealt with my excitement that could not be contained and gave me a lounge invitation. Ooo la la… 

It was a short walk up the security checkpoint, but once arriving at the top, I was pleased to see a dedicated line for business class passengers and Skyteam elites. 

Pretty quick all around, I am impressed

Lounge

Prior to my flight on board the Aeroflot A350 in Business Class from Krasnojarsk to Moscow, I had the opportunity to visit the business class lounge at KJA. Now, while I don't expect an exceptional lounge when it comes to domestic flights, this lounge left me in a perplexed state.

On the one side, it is a modern space with plenty of seating and is easily accessible. However, I could not understand this lounge for the life of me. Do business class passengers have to pay for a beer? Do they not? Do they have to pay for food? And with no one really speaking English, I never got a confirmed answer 😅.

See I was confused, because there was free food, and then there were menus…

Hmm…

Not a bad space, just confusing. I got a beer for free, but supposedly I was supposed to pay 500 Rubles?

Anyhoo, the lounge offered great tarmac views for the inbound that had just landed. I AM SO EXCITED!

Boarding

Finishing up at the lounge, I headed down to the gate area around 8:45 pm, a whole 30 minutes before boarding. Why? I wanted to be the first one on board. Scratch that, I needed to be the first one on board.

There seemed to be quite the ruckus outside of Gate 10, as 359 at KJA was not ordinary. Many avgeeks were present, and people seemed to be excited to get on board.

Boarding was somewhat delayed, but right at 9:30, boarding commenced with business class passengers being offered to board.  

Ticket scanned, I ran down the jetbridge as if I was a kid and they just opened Hamleys on Boxing Day. Oh my gosh, this is it. The moment I have waited for! It’s time! 

With a smile larger than a golden retriever's hopes when you say “let’s go for a walk”, I arrived at the door. And the second I did, one of the lovely FAs welcomed me onboard, escorted me to my seat, offered me a drink and while signalling to the crew very quietly, “English speaker”.

That’s it, right there, very few crews in the world will do this in J, and it will show up later, as I was never once spoken to in Russian by any FA. 👏

Oh, baby, I already knew this was the flight. 

The Seat/Cabin

While Aeroflot originally had 22 of these aircraft on order, they were only able to take delivery of 6 before the invasion into Ukraine. The airline had plans to revamp its long-haul fleet, with the A350S and 777s, but only a few of the 777s were completed, as well.

But onboard the Aeroflot A350, passengers are treated to a truly majestic cabin. With 28 Collins Aerospace suites between doors 1 and 2, this is a truly top-of-the-line way to fly. 

Aren't those colors swanky?

Seats are staggered, so the best seats for solo travellers are the even-numbered rows in the windows, while couples will enjoy odd-numbered rows in the middle. 

My seat for the day: 4K

Okay, enough baloney and details, I was mesmerised. The cabin details are nothing short of remarkable. The colours fit perfectly, better than any airline I have witnessed, as far down as to the small Aeroflot logos on the outside of the suite door.

But back to the seat, this might be my favourite overall seat in the sky. You don’t have the privacy of Q-Suites or the space of the Room on ANA, but it’s exceptionally designed.

Each seat features a side table for storage, a closet for hanging a sweater (yes, a closet), a closing door, a large cubby for storage, a universal power port, and a large HD television (more on that in a bit). 

 Power Ports

The gorgeous closet with an SU hanger, as well as the shoe cubby… Please mind my gross shoes, I only had these shoes for the last 3 weeks of my travels around the world since I won't check in a bag.

The seat controls were in good shape and worked well, contrary to many other reports…

Enter text here…

Truly just blew me away. Everything down to the decoration of the closet, to the little shoe cubby that reminded me of BA CW, and the large footwell that was perfect for an hour nap.

Lastly, did I mention the window shades? The new A350 window shades! 

Additionally, upon boarding, I checked out the new Premium Economy, which also looked lovely. I wish I had time to fly this, especially as it’s sold as economy on domestic legs… 

Departure

Continuing my photographing of the cabin, a lovely FA named Maria came up to offer to take a picture of me. Naturally, I was inclined to say yes, but what she did next truly blew me away.

She closed the curtain to the galley and made sure that the angles were just right to make it the best picture possible, all without asking. Huh???

Even in Emirates or SQ first class, I haven’t seen service to this level before… 

Heading back to my seat, I couldn’t have sat down for more than 3 minutes before another lovely FA returned with a bottle of Lanson champagne. No, not pre-poured, poured at your seat with a white napkin around the bottle. Ehh?

Not to mention: Lanson champagne on a domestic flight?? In a real champagne flute with napkins that are Aeroflot-branded? Every single detail was just spot on to the letter. (Did I mention Aeroflot offers any drink you want as a PDB)

Sipping on my champagne and having an Avgeek moment of serenity, 10 minutes later, Maria came back to ask if I had looked at the menu for dinner. Let me rephrase: she came back, kneeled down to speak at eye level, addressed me by name, and then proceeded to take my meal order.

Bomboclaaaat: this is what is called heaven. After confirming my meal order, the bottle of Lanson was brought around again, and I was offered a top-up, all without inquiring.

Anyhoo, right on the dot at 10:00 pm local time, we began our pushback from Gate 10/11 on this fine evening, with an expected flight time of 4 hours and 10 minutes. The safety video was played as we had our very short taxi ride out, both in English and Russian. 

At 10:13 pm KJA time, we were wheels up from runway 11, with views from the tailcam, and the engine… 😍

Amenities

Now that we are airborne, let me walk you through the mountain of amenities available today. See, when you fly in most countries in the world, you are lucky to get a meal on a domestic flight, let alone:

A pillow, a blanket, a pair of Aeroflot slippers, noise-cancelling headphones and a whole amenity kit. 

Not a bad amenity kit!

On flights longer than 8 hours, full bedding is provided, along with turndown service. But I don’t have that kind of money 😂.

IFE+WIFI

Well, well, well. This is the part where Aeroflot somewhat comes up short, but at no fault of the airline. See, once we were airborne, I logged into the portal on my phone to check if wifi was available. Sure enough, it was free for business class customers, but without a Russian phone, I had found it hard to connect to many Russian wifis. 

Not that I needed it, though, as there was a beautiful IFE screen in front of me. There happened to be a decent selection on board, given the sanctions, with many Russian films, as well as some American films such as Oceans Twelve.

But the best part of the IFE has to have been the map. Not only was it high definition, but it was easy to navigate. So with the map in the background, and the plane chasing the last light the entire flight, it was an avgeek dream come true. 

Decent headphones…

Meal Service

Roughly 40 minutes after takeoff, the meal service commenced with a hot towel.

20 minutes later, drinks were brought around, in which a delicious cappucino was delivered, along with a glass of champagne. 

See, I had a difficult time deciding on what to eat today, as the menu looked delightful. Below were the options for today, but my, I love how they put the whole breakdown of calories, as well as the amounts of fats, carbs, and protein.

Wine list:

About an hour and 20 minutes after takeoff, the marinated salmon was brought around as my appetiser. It’s hard to get raw salmon right on a plane, but wow, delightful. Truly one of the best appetisers I have had on a plane. 

And if things couldn’t get better, my main course was brought out swiftly after, and it was hmmmmm. Not only was the chicken tender and juicy, but it was cooked to perfection. 

I decided to skip dessert, but it was an exceptional meal all around. The best part, though, wasn’t the meal itself; it was the service. My champagne glass was never left empty for more than a few minutes, and they even tipped my hand at a red wine they recommended.

There was no conceivable way that Aeroflot could have offered any better service than what they had on that day. Wow. 

Lavatories

With the plenty of champagne that was being consumed, I opted to use the lavatory a few times during the flight. With two dedicated business class lavatories located near the front of the aircraft, there was never a wait with the 1:14 ratio. 

And while not cutting edge, all of these lavatories were kept clean and stocked with hand towels (not pictured, weirdly, I forgot).

Ain't the cabin beautiful at night… 

A Mid-Flight Napito

With all of the pampering on today's flight, I had reached a stage where my beauty nap was needed. Putting the seat down into bed mode, I was pleased to find that it was wide, both in the shoulders and most importantly, at the feet.

If I were counting down from 100 sheep, I must have fallen asleep at 99, since the last thing I remember was the Aeroflot flute. Ahhh.

I ended up waking up about 40 minutes outside of Moscow, as the captain came on to announce our initial descent into the metro area. 

Service

Now, what truly made the experience wasn’t the seat, the food, or the IFE, but the service. It was truly some of the best I have ever experienced in my life. It’s almost as if Aeroflot is part Eastern-Asia-carrier service, part European, and part Middle East service. Here are a couple of things that blew me away.


Upon boarding, I had rushed down the jetbridge to get some empty cabin shots. I asked to have my pictures taken, and Maria (not sure if I spelled her name correctly just guessing here) closed the curtain to grab the perfect image, and suggested I take a picture in front of the Aeroflot sign

Each and every time I was addressed, they knelt down to talk to me at eye level. As you know, I find it sort of awkward, but I know it shows exceptional service

When another FA came over later, she introduced herself and said, “Mr XXX, how may I call you?”.

For those wondering how they cater to English speakers, as soon as you get on board, they signal to the entire crew that an English person is on board, so they know not to speak in Russian.

I was constantly checked on by the crew for top-ups of champagne and anything I would desire…


This isn’t normal business class service; this is First Class service in a Business Class product. Honestly, I can’t think of another carrier that does it like them… Maybe TG/GA service-wise, but still not up there and that's coming from someone who pretty much judges a J product off service…

Arrival

By 10 pm local time, yes, we took off at 10:15 pm KJA time, our descent had begun, and my final glass of champers had come around.

The crew came around to thank us individually for flying Aeroflot and gave us another cute little chocolate. Oooo.

It was a bit of a choppy descent down into Moscow, as we were able to watch it on the tail cam, but we touched down slightly behind schedule with a bit of crosswind. Not a lot, but a bit. 

Unfortunately, we had quite a roundabout taxi to our remote stand for the evening (yes, a remote stand), so we pulled in about 15 minutes behind schedule.

Business class passengers were ushered off the plane first and taken into 2 private vans, and straight off to baggage claim. 

Sure, a remote stand is never pleasant, but from doors open to the van departing was less than 5 minutes. Not bad…

With no baggage to pick up, it was straight into a Yandex Go and off into the Moscow abyss for 1 final day in the capital.