aceboy44

For easier view & reading kindly go here: http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...d.main/269078/

Greetings my beloved readers

Previously, I have flown on Kuwait Airways new A320 fleet and published a review which can be found here http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...d.main/262119/ . I’m not going to get into details this time since I wrote about the recently renovated check-in area and lounge at Kuwait Airport in my previous review. Today I’m going to share with you my experience in the premium economy (sold as J-class for flights to the west) and business class cabin (sold as first class for flights to the west) on the A330 which unfortunately turned out to be a disappointment. First of all, allow me to say that I got my upgrade to Premium Economy upon check-in, as you can not book such cabin when purchasing your ticket. I was seated in 6A and my first impressions were wow (not as cramped as Emirates J-cabin.) The new bird was less than 6 months old, was still shiny, and cabin looked clean and modern. I was informed that wi-fi was available on-board so that’s another bonus for Kuwait Airways.

Date & flight: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 (KU361)
Destination & time: Colombo, 20:00
Seat & cabin: 6A (premium economy)

This is how the premium economy cabin looks like. As I previously mentioned first impressions were amazing.





This is how big the screen is in premium economy. The safety video was being demonstrated.



Different cabin lighting zone onboard.



Forward camera on the runway (they also have a downard camera.)



You can see the Rolls Royce signature on the engine.



I liked how the water system was automated (sensorized) in the lavatory. It made the journey smoother for me. I wish Emirates would do the same.



Seat control panel with the headphone for the in-flight entertainment (what a shame! There is no comparison between Emirates Y class headphones and Kuwait Airways economy headphones!)



Seat in fully reclined mode (not a flat bed, however, it was comfortable.)



Arm-rest can be lowered/raised for privacy. The seat on the left had its arm-rest lowered while my mine had it raised to demonstrate the comparison.



The in-flight table for meals. Kuwait Airways is known for its super delicious food, and I had no issues eating two plates of chicken rice (yummy!) Unfortunately the service was slow and unprofessional for this flight compared to Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Oman Air, and Srilankan Airlines. It took them a long time to serve me my first meal, as I missed it while I was in the lavatory. In addition, It took them another long time to serve me my request of an extra meal. Furthermore, Passengers were freely switching seats between business, premium economy, and economy class!







The in-flight entertainment was good and had a variety of recent released movies such as the Hobbit (the kill of five armies,) insurgent, the avengers, and the house of magic. The Wi-Fi service was functioning, however, it was not economical. $10 USD would get you 30 minutes of connectivity, while $20 for 1 hour, and finally $40 for 180 minutes. The Wi-Fi service speed was similar to the speed of Emirates on-board Wi-Fi and it helped make my flight smoother and passed by time. I did not like how the flight route map looked like.















On the way back, I decided to fly business class to experience (and review it.) Below are the flight details:

Date & Flight: Today (KU 362)
Departing city & time:
Seat & Cabin: 4K (business class)

Expert flyer was showing only 3 occupied seats in business class, however, I was surprised to spot 5 passengers (including myself) in J class as opposed to 3. Again, I assume that passengers were freely switching seats as I was not impressed.



This is me disappointed with the quality of headphones in business class and how one of cabin crew asked me to shut down my cell phone in a mean way (I should have taken Emirates and achieved my gold status, lesson learned the hard way I guess!) In return, I asked in a mean way to get me a headphone where in the beginning she was surprised by my reaction, then she gave me my headphone in no time (I don’t like to treat people that way but if this the only way to get respected, then what else can I do to get my rights?) If you check Kuwait Airways official instagram account then you will see comments in arabic complaining about rude cabin crew attitude as well.



This was my seat. I liked the fact that it was spacious and each seat had aisle access, so I will give credit to Kuwait Airways for this achievement.







This is how the J cabin looks like (similar to Cathay Pacifics A330 J-class cabin)





I was enjoying the view of sunrise from my seat.



This is the seat in a fully reclined 180 degree mode. As you can see from the picture, the pillows and blankets were economy class standards as opposed to J-class standards similar to those found in Emirates and Oman Air. However, for the first time in J class, I was able to get a good quality sleep so once more I will give Kuwait Airways credit for that.



I was surprised that they didn’t have a menu for the J-class breakfast. However, I opted for an omelette which was just average. I ended up eating bread and croissant. For the service, some cabin members had that unprofessional arrogant attitude (the I’m doing you a favor by serving you food.) Sometimes that particular member smiled but overall it was nothing compared to the professional of Emirates cabin crew. Unfortunatelly all this was taking place while I was in J-class (I can’t imagine the treatment in economy class!)



J-class lavatory amenities (clip, shaving kit, dental kit, body lotion, and colone/perfume)



I know this might be a random picture but I thought some of you (literally!) were interested to know the power of the in-seat personal light while the cabin was dark.



We landed in Kuwait approximately 8:30 this morning, and we had to use the bus to transport us to the terminal.





Conclusion:

Overall, I have experienced both, the new A320 and A330 fleet of Kuwait Airways in business class and unfortunately some of my experiences turned out to be a disappointment. First, the cabin crew lacked professionalism where passengers were freely switching seats to different cabin classes without strict reaction from the crew (I would love to see this taking place in Emirates, but I know this wont happen since the crew there knows how to control the passengers.) Second, the overall service is slow and unpleasant (as I mentioned some cabin crew makes you feel like they are doing you a favor by serving you food, when in fact, it is their job to serve me food with a smile, especially when I paid to sit in a premium cabin.) Finally, the cabin seats and in-flight entertainment (despite being a huge improvement over the old fleet) are still nothing compared to ME3.

Thus, not only would I continue to use Emirates and suffer from my transit experience since Kuwait Airways failed to treat me with respect, but also would not recommend any civilized person to fly this airline if the attitude of some cabin crew will not change. I pay money to get treated with respect, not to be mistreated by some one who thinks he is doing me a favor when he is simply doing his job.

DanielW

I guess this is why EK can fill a A380 for the short-hop (and on to connecting flights) for KWI-DXB .

farbster

You might want to resize your pics to make them a bit smaller. Thanks for taking the time to do the report.

When I Travel The World

At least it looks like they have made a vast improvement in their business class cabins.

KU104

KU does not sell F class on that route only Y and J. The so called Premium Y is a regular Y ticket you bought but you were placed in the forward of the Y cabin, which places you in the J seats. Hence the meal, and the Y service.

The J seats you flew on are the New F seats, and are sold as F to other destinations where F is offered. On this route, F is used as the J cabin, which is why you were seated there.

brumbrum

the headphones are looking exactly like the AA ones. I had to ask twice for another pair since first and second phones did not work properly. Their lifespan seems to be shorter than the flight itself :-)