FlyerTalk Forums - Other Middle Eastern and African Airlines

Gulf Air

amnicoll — Wed, 13 May 2026 09:48:50 GMT

just received an email from Gulf announcing the introduction of Starlink on their first aircraft which is great but what I want to know is when will it be available as routine and not subject to pot luck

Ethiopian business class lounge - Addis

safari_7 — Wed, 06 May 2026 04:36:20 GMT

Hello,

I'd imagine the J lounge in Addis has adequate shower facilities for a lay over ? We will transit through Addis next week en route to JRO. Is it extremely crowded in the mornings?

Involuntary J→Y downgrade GF65 BOM-BAH (Jan 2026) � DGCA mandatory compensation ignor

jonfweber — Tue, 05 May 2026 20:47:17 GMT

Posting in hopes that someone has Gulf Air executive contacts or has navigated a similar situation.

Background: January 3, 2026, GF65 BOM-BAH dep. 21:35. Two confirmed J-class tickets ( INR 2,001 base fare each). Involuntarily downgraded to Y at the gate � seats 8A/8B assigned. Overbooking confirmed by the airline's own ticket endorsement: "DOWNGRADE J/Y GF65/03JAN26/BOMBAH." No prior notification, no offer of alternatives.

Gate agents at BOM promised full fare differential refund plus additional compensation. What followed was approximately three months of acknowledged-but-ignored follow-up. A partial refund of USD $1,357.12 arrived March 26 � only after a formal demand letter. Gulf Air's substantive response (April 13, from U.S. outside counsel Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott) asserts the partial payment fully satisfies all obligations and cites exclusively its internal Conditions of Carriage.

The problem with that position: GF65 departs Indian territory, which means DGCA CAR Section 3, Series M, Part IV applies � including mandatory compensation for involuntary denial of contracted class of service well beyond a bare fare differential. Gulf Air's counsel response doesn't mention the DGCA framework once. DGCA (via CPGRAMS), DOT Aviation Consumer Protection, and Bahrain BCAA complaints have now been filed. Net outstanding amount sought is USD $5,642.88.

Two questions for the community:

Does anyone have Gulf Air executive contacts above the standard customer relations level � VP Customer Experience, COO, or equivalent � willing to share by DM?
Has anyone successfully pursued a DGCA downgrade compensation claim against a non-Indian carrier on a BOM departure? Curious how the DGCA actually handles enforcement against foreign airlines in practice.

Documentation is solid. Happy to share specifics by DM if useful.

Any flight cancelations due to the war

Radiocycle — Sat, 02 May 2026 07:12:52 GMT

Are there currently any flight cancelations due to the war?

RC

Royal Air Maroc - Seat Selection Fees

binman — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:06:46 GMT

I have a booking coming up which is fortunately a shortfall flight from London to AGA via CMN. I am traveling with my OH and I hold a one world emerald. Have just found out that in order to avail myself of my one world benefit of free seats selection and still be seated with my OH, they would have to pay �48 euro for the privilege. I might be wrong but I cannot think of another example of such a policy across the one world eco system.

I called to seek further information and to see if there was any leeway, but there is not.

Pretty poor in my view

Royal Air Maroc - 737-8 legroom?

Flying Low — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:31:14 GMT

Hello friends,

I'm about to fly MAN-CMN on AT819, listed as a 737-800 "winglets". Seatmap has row 8 (front of Econ cabin) as extra legroom, but no mention of exit rows. 2 Qs:

1. What's row 8 like for legroom? Is there a bulkhead in front? (I'm 202cm tall and I'm concerned about bulkheads, as although the KNEE room is often great, bulkhead seats often prevent leg stretching, and as it's a 3.5hr flight ...)
2. Are there exit rows? If so - which rows (some sites suggest 17 & 18?) and what's the legroom like?

Thanks all!

Royal Air Maroc refusing to credit miles

Icycoolz — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 13:17:06 GMT

Hi all, I will appreciate some advice from anyone who has faced a similar situation.

I had a booking with Royal Air Maroc recently My itinerary was:

Paris → Casablanca → Beijing
However, the Paris → Casablanca flight was delayed and then cancelled due to technical issues, which caused me to miss my connecting flight.
I was eventually rebooked by Royal Air Maroc to another carrier, departed to Beijing the next night

Now the issue:
Royal Air Maroc has refused to credit any miles, stating that since the original flight was cancelled and I did not take it, I am not eligible for mileage accrual.

My concern is that this was not a voluntary change � it was caused by their technical issue, and I still completed the journey albeit by another airline. Shouldn't there be an original routing of miles?

Anyone encountered similar issues and managed to get back the miles? or this is expected and there is no other options for me to get Royal Air Maroc to deposit the miles to my account.

Some impressions from April....

Duck1981 — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:23:23 GMT

Quick impression from a recent Oman air flights LHR-MCT-BKK (mixed class) and return

- April 5th morning flight from LHR cancelled due to radar fault - after four hours in the lounge hotel room in Crowne Plaza given for J pax, Holiday Inn express for Eco
- UK261 claim approved after four days, no payment yet
- no J seats on new connection, so 13 hours stop over in MCT (was actually ok, bought pool pass for Mandarin Oriental)
- flight MCT to BKK delayed by three hours, so a loooong night with a toddler
- lounge in MCT pleasant though with good food
- in BKK only two of three bags arrived, expected the worst as bag tag did not include a bag nr, but surprisingly bag came to Ko Samui with Bangkok Airways after 27 hours
- Business seat nice, crew friendly, however no nuts for Champagne and only dinner, no breakfast (MCT to BKK on the night flight)
- BKK to MCT, lounge in BKK a bit of sad place with almost no windows
- again only course offering
- child meal missed hot food, had to ask purser, then she made him up an individual meal
- MCT to LHR in Eco - dreadful, completely fully booked, breakfast a muffin (I think even BA's better here)
- Crews overall nice, but could be a bit more proactive.

Overall, was good, but nothing outstanding.

UA award operated by ET-schedule change

Deltahater — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 01:20:59 GMT

This might be blatantly obvious to most of you, but I am mainly a OW guy, so I am struggling a bit. We booked JFK-ADD-JNB in J with United miles operated by ET. We have an overnight in ADD which I would like to avoid. Of course, there is no availability to get rebooked now on an earlier ADD-JNB. What are the odds of getting on the earlier ADD-JNB flight when checking in with ET in JFK on day of travel, assuming there are seats still available? Is ET pretty easy to work with like some carriers or are they like NH where not even an act of Congress would get them them to work with me?

Making a BA - Airlink connection in Jo'Burg - questions re: hand luggage and lounges

747_not_777 — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:27:23 GMT

Flying BA (Business) to JNB in a few weeks, and have a five-hour connection to an Airlink flight to LUN (Economy). Never flown in Africa, and therefore no experience of Airlink.

For the longer BA flight, and to minimise risk of luggage being lost, I plan to take my small wheelie trolley and a separate laptop bag. But I note the Airlink flight only allows 8KG / 1 piece of hand luggage, as it's a smaller aircraft. My main case in the hold will be checked all the way through to Lusaka, but does that just mean my small wheelie trolley will be taken by Airlink at the gate in JNB and placed into the hold there, or do you ever stand a chance of sneaking both on board? Wasn't sure how strict they were?!

And more importantly, on the flight back home, from LUN, via JNB, to LHR. If I can only take my laptop bag on board the aircraft at LUN, can you still gate check the small wheelie case to get back airside in JNB? Would dearly love it for the five hour wait (again) in JNB before my BA flight home, and to take onto the BA aircraft with me... I was not planning to clear immigration at JNB in either direction, so simply connect and never retrieve my big hold case.

Any advice appreciated. This is all new ground for me, and I like to know what to expect!

~~As a BAEC Gold, I'm guessing the fact Airlink is Economy only, there's no lounge in JNB whilst waiting for the connection to Lusaka? Or are there any lounges you can pay to enter, with showers?~~
Removed this question, after finding this excellent thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/othe...b-airport.html

Thank you in advance.