DELLAS

They have never had a large J seat. Olympic Air did on their A320s which they used on the LHR route ( See pic below ). There is simply no way it would be economical to offer that on the A3 network these days. Look at AF BA LH KL IB LX etc...

KLouis

KL's 737s have 6 seats abreast (according to their official seat maps), the Embraer do have 4 seats abreast in C, but that is also true for the back of the plane. I never flew Tarom or any Russian airline, so no personal knowledge.

Are you sure this is a picture of an OA bus? The cabin looks much narrower and lower than that, and the colours don't match. In terms of European OA flights I remember wider seats only in the A300s that had these super comfortable single "thrones" in the front (they were flying to LHR) as well as wide seats (4 abreast) in some 727s, but that was the time of Olympic Airways ('70s, early '80s).

DELLAS

Yes if you go back far enough on the Olympic Air FB page you can even see it there still.





As for the A300's with OA I was on them many many times in the 80's/90's. They were the good old days.


Business Class Olympian Executive Class A300




Last year I was lucky enough to get a tour onboard the old B742 at Hellinikon. A real trip down memory lane. They have done a great job of restoring it. It was also the first of the 747 fleet I flew as a kid LHR-ATH. Here you can see the old J Class section.


Lower deck Olympian Executive Class. Note the references to Greek culture on the Zones and window blinds. This was custom made by Boeing on the instruction of Onassis in the 70's.




Upper Deck Olympian Executive Class




I dont think we will ever see anything like that in Greek aviation again. The glory days have gone sadly. Just like I doubt we will ever see A3 get aircraft where they can justify a dedicated buiness class seat.

GBobon

@Dallas, do you know if still possible to visit these birds at Hellinikon airport? I will be for 2 days in April in Athens and I would like to see them (I would consider even trespassing )

Xandrios

KLM for sure has not; I few an Tarom A318 to LHR and that one did not either I believe. Perhaps the Russian airlines do..but its very much an exception and not a rule. Perhaps related to the age of their fleet? (Same for Tarom, which still operates A310 aircraft!)

DELLAS

They do not run them that often but there is one 18th April if that date suits? If it does I can PM you more information. Certainly not advisable to be there other days as the area is locked and if you were seen police would be involved so I do not recommend it .

GBobon

@Xandrios, they retired both A310s in Oct 2016... indeed, their classics are a bit old but much more comfortable than any other seats you have available to choose in Europe right now (except THY).
@DELLAS, unfortunately I cannot make it then to ATH but on 21 April and return on 22. btw, are there any plane spotting places around ATH? I cannot find anything on the internet. thank you

DELLAS

GBobon sent you PM.

AlwaysFlyStar

So, looking at the, 'why would you pay for economy with a middle seat' comments, which are so often made when discussing European short haul business class, I just really have to throw this out there.
People often talk of the seat as being the reason Eurobiz is just so horrible, but I have taken several domestic 'first' flights in the US, and would much prefer the European product. First off, especially with A3, I find that at least 50% of the time, I have a whole row of 3 to myself. I definitely consider this better than the seats they have in the US. (where you will always have somebody sitting next to you) Plus, business class in Europe almost always includes a meal, even on very short flights. And not only does it include a meal, but the meal included on a one hour Aegean flight is better than the meal you are going to get on a transcontinental flight in US 'first'. (You know, if you are lucky enough to be on a flight during their fairly specific meal times and they don't just offer you a bag of crisps.) Add to that the lounge access that even a top tier status passenger flying 'first' class doesn't get in the states, not to mention how even a fairly mediocre lounge like Aegean's is better than virtually all of the US carriers' domestic lounge options, and I really think it is unfair for the European short haul business class to have the poor reputation it has. Honestly, I would fly Aegean business over United 'First' any day of the week.

/RantModeOff/

headingwest

Fair comment...and I agree with a lot of what you say. I've experienced the American Airlines' 'First' experience after being upgraded on a 2˝ hour flight only to discover that the catering consisted of a single packet of crisps. That said, all my other American Airlines domestic First flights had excellent catering (and seating!).

I quite like the A3 Business Class experience and I don't think the 'European business seating' is such an issue on the short hops, such as Athens to Rome or Budapest for example. It's the longer flights when you're in the seat for over 3 hours where it starts to get a little uncomfortable.

The main point for me is that as a status passenger I wouldn't bid an extra 85-375 EUR for an upgrade to sit in the same type of seat! Of course for non-status passengers the new auction will be more attractive.

Xandrios

The fact that First in the US is worse does not make Business in Europe good though. When you compare the two, yes, both have their pro's and con's.

If 85 euro is worth the upgrade depends greatly per person. I definitely appreciate the seating in business more than economy - the seat is wider and not having somebody next to you is much, much better. And I'd say that on special occasions I would easily value that at 85 euro, though perhaps not for every typical trip.

headingwest

I thought the seats have the same width as all others, or am I mistaken?

I'm a little surprised that Aegean won't be awarding business class miles on these upgraded flights, as the cost to them is very little and for some people it would make the option more attractive. I know that other airlines don't give more miles but I thought Aegean was a little bit better than most!

Xandrios

Actually the armrest is moved inwards to the middle seat to form a small table, giving you a few inches extra seat width. Detail pic of the mechanism.

Miles are not as expensive to the airline as they are to us; but they are not free. I'm pretty sure Aegean has them in the books for more than half a cent each - meaning that giving a few thousand extra miles will eat up a sizable portion of the upgrade fee.

headingwest

That's interesting. I didn't know that. ^

I just worked that out.....ATH-LHR from P fare to Business would be an extra 1,122 tier miles = 5.61 EUR by a half a cent calculation.

Knobbgb

That's absolutely NOT an Aegean a/c in the photo. A3's business class has the fold-down tables but the armrest do NOT move like that. The centre seat back and seatbelts are the wrong colour.