Flying from Europe to South Africa on a 27th December in business class is usually expensive. The cheapest one-way option is usually from Budapest with Egyptair. I've already taken this route six years ago and had a very disappointing experience. Let's see if Egyptair has improved since then.
Our flight was supposed to be at 22:50 on 27th December, but it was moved to 04:50, then to 05:15, then to 05:45 on 28th December, which meant a connecting time of 10 hours instead of 3 hours.
When arriving from Budapest, we bumped into an office with a sign "transit visa". Not only we got free transit visas, but also free accommodation and transfer. This was done quickly, and immigration was also quick in the premium line. I was quite impressed.
Once outside the terminal, we were directed, with other passengers, to the wrong place to wait for the shuttle, where we were permanently harassed by taxi drivers who wanted to take us to the hotel for 20 Euros. After a long time, a policeman showed us where the bus stop actually was. Eventually we got to Hotel de Passage. It's a five-star hotel and the staff were nice, but the room and especially the bathroom were rundown and dirty.
They wanted to have a wake up call for us at 01.45 and a shuttle bus departure at 02.45 for a flight departure of 05.10 - no, thank you. We took a taxi at 03.45 for 10€.
The terminal has a premium channel for the security control at the left end. The lady working there was very friendlly and the control was quick.
There's a business class check-in area but we were already checked in.
There was also a separate channel at passport control for business class passenger. The man working there was helpful and filled out the forms for us. The lady working as border guard was chatting on her phone but was super quick.
Egyptair has several business class lounges. We went to the Gienah Lounge.
The staff was welcoming. Although the lounge could benefit from a renovation, it was not full, had several seating areas, was not too cold, and had some food and drink options. While far away from the best lounges in the world, it wasn't too bad.
We went to the gate at 05.15. Security check was at the gate as it is the norm in Cairo. Over a hundred people were queuing to board, although there was not a single staff member in sight. Boarding time and departure time seemed to be mixed up. So the original departure time was 22:50, then 04.50, then 05.15, then 05.45. Some passengers has been waiting there for three hours Boarding finally started at 06:00 with business class passengers.
Our plane today was an A330-300, registration mnumber SU-GOT, built in 2011.
The cabin crew was friendly and helpful.
Business class has six rows in a 2+2+2 configuration. Seats 8KH, bulkhead seats on the right side.
Seats 9HK in the second row.
Legroom was good.
Seat controls.
The cabin looked worn.
A wet towel was offered.
Pyjamas were also offered - nice.
Push-back was at 06.32 for an originally scheduled departure time of 22:50.
A welcome drink of orange or apple juice was offered.
We took off at 06.55 from runway 23C. It was already morning.
Breakfast service started only 25 minutes after take-off. There was no printed menu. There was some cold meat, probably poultry, that was quite OK, a fruit salad and a dairy product with honey. As there was no menu I wasn't sure if I would get later hot breakfast - but no, there was only cold breakfast.
Lunch menu was distributed during breakfast. It was a bit confusing. The menu said: "Personalize your journey by choosing when to dine, work and rest. Let your cabin crew know your preferred dining time and selection from this menu." So there is dine one demand on-board Egyptair? OK…
I went to sleep after breakfast. The seat transformed into a lie-flat bed was not very comfortable to sleep. I managed to sleep for about half an hour.
After that I had popcorn from the menu and watched a movie. The in-flight entertainment was neither modern nor easy to use but everything was OK once I started to watch a movie. There was no flight map.
The crew woke up all sleeping passengers for lunch service at 12:00.
The cabin crew member asked, rather impatiently, the passengers who hadn't been just woken up, to choose quickly an appetizer. I had the shrimp and octopus. It was excellent.
No drinks were offered with lunch unless the passengers asked for them.
Then I had to choose a main course.
"Can I have the turkey?"
"Chicken, yes."
The turkey (or chicken?) roulade was good.
I also had cheese and fruit.
We were over Malawi around this time. There was no flight map on the IFE but my Google Maps sometimes worked. I watched another movie.
The view a few minutes before landing.
We landed in Johannesburg at 14.45 and were at the gate at 14.55 for an originally scheduled arrival time of 07.10.
