Egyptair’s 773 Business Class BKK-KUL

Background

On a recent jaunt through Southeast Asia, I found myself with a little free time on the tail end of my tour.  I would be spending a good chunk of time exploring Angkor Wat and the area around Siem Reap (REP) in Cambodia for the majority of the trip, but there were six days left unplanned that I needed to fill.  I was flying to and from REP with Malaysia Airlines, so I had to make the decision about whether or not I’d remain in Kuala Lumpur (KUL) the entire six days or head off to another destination for a day or two.

My research into KUL as a tourist destination showed that six days would likely be too much time to devote to exploring, so I started looking into other regional options that might allow me to experience a few new carriers.  After poking around for a few days, I settled on a destination – Bangkok.  It’s a cheap, fun city that always keeps me occupied.

I booked my return from BKK to KUL on what is one of the more unique carriers I’ve ever flown on - Egyptair (MS).  A Star Alliance carrier based out of Cairo, most folks would never think that they operate flights between BKK and KUL.  They do though, and they were selling very reasonably priced seats in their business class cabin between the two cities on the day I was looking to return to KUL.  After debating for a few days, I bite the bullet and forked over the cash for a one way ticket.

Check-In

I arrived approximately 3 hours early for my flight, which was scheduled to depart at 2:55 PM.  I wasn’t expecting MS to have their desks set up for the flight just yet, but luckily by the time I arranged my bags after getting off the hotel shuttle and wandering into the cavernous check-in hall at BKK, the counters were indeed opened and fully staffed.

As was the case for much of my travels on this trip, the check-in counters were completely empty for the MS flight.  I used the marked business class lane and presented my passport for check-in.  The agent who assisted me was wearing a Lufthansa shirt and lanyard, so I began to wonder if Lufthansa and MS shared staff at BKK.  This suspicion was increased when the agent handed my boarding pass to me and it was on Lufthansa ticket stock.  She indicated that as a premium passenger I would be granted access to the expedited security and immigration service, and pointed me in the right direction to reach it.

The entire process was quick and efficient, and the agent was friendly enough though not nearly as endearing as other agents I’ve met while traveling.  The expedited security and immigration service was nice though I was delayed a few minutes when the older gentleman in front of me began getting confused by the directions the Thai airport security agents were giving him.  Despite the delay, I was airside and admitted to the lounge in less than 10 minutes.

Lounge

Sadly I’m currently on the road and do no have access to the pictures I took of my lounge experience at Thai’s Royal Silk facility.  I will publish my thoughts on that aspect as a separate post when I return to Chicago.

Seat & IFE

Boarding was not announced in the lounge for MS passengers, so when the time for boarding printed on my pass was close I grabbed my bags and made my way toward the gate.  The flight between BKK and KUL operates as a tag flight from Cairo to BKK.  The gate area was filled with quite a few passengers who seemed to have come off the previous flight and were patiently (and impatiently in some cases) waiting for their opportunity to re-board the flight.  Most folks were crowded around the entrance to the boarding area, so I immediately headed to the rear of the waiting area where not a soul was standing.  It was from here that I broke out my camera and tried to get a few decent shots of the MS 773 that would be taking me to KUL.

During my photography shoot the gate agents started the boarding process and seemed to have loaded the plane quite quickly.  By the time I had put my camera back in its case the sign above the gate had changed to “Final Boarding” and the entire waiting area was empty.  I quickly ran over to the counter and handed over my ticket.  The gate agent smiled and simply said, “We’re waiting for you.  Enjoy your flight.”  I walked down an empty jet bridge and was greeted at the door by an Egyptian (I’m assuming) man in a nice suit who glanced at my ticket and directed me to my seat for this flight – 8A.

Walking in to this flight, I had rather dismal expectations of the service and hard product MS was going to offer.  All my research seemed to indicate folks were largely unimpressed with the entire experience, which is why it was so surprising to me that I was overall quite pleased with what I saw and experienced on this short flight.

Despite having 56 seats in their business class cabin, there were only 5 passengers booked into the J cabin for this flight.  Seating starts at row 8 and goes back to row 15 in a 2-3-2 configuration.  My seat, 8A, was against the window on the bulkhead row.  Further back in seats 12A&C were an older Arab couple in traditional clothing.  Directly behind them was a large Arab man in a sport coat.  The way he watched the cabin during boarding and the remainder of the flight makes me think he was a bodyguard for the couple sitting in front of him.  Further back in the cabin in seat 14K was a European gentleman.  All four passengers seemed be continuing their journey from Cairo, so I was the only passenger who joined the trip in BKK.

My first impressions of the seat were very positive.  The amount of space between each seat is pretty large, and the bulkhead seats seem quite spacious without another seat in front.  The blue and white motif running through the cabin was a bit plain but that seems to be the status quo for many airlines in this day and age.

I reclined the empty seat next to me to its full bed position to give it a test.  This raised a bit of curiosity amongst the FAs on board since I only laid in the bed for about a minute before returning the seat to its upright position.  It’s an angled lie-flat seat much like American’s current offering on non-773 aircraft.  While it’s completely unscientific, I felt like this seat was a bit more comfortable than what I normally ride with AA.  The pillow was nice and plush and the day blanket provided (not sure if they provide a different one for longer, overnight flights) was also quite nice.