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Vip Tours | 1 | 2
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No
Rating
October - 2011 |
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No
Rating
Overall - 'Service & Comfort' |
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The Ultimate Award:
Seven Stars and Stripes® |
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| EgyptAir was our flight choice from Amsterdam via
Cairo to Kuala Lumpur with
Airbus
321 (CLICK HERE), and the Boeing 777-300ER for our long-haul flights from
Cairo to Kuala Lumpur and back, (which was equipped with EgyptAir’s
largest business cabin to-date) to assure that we would be able to get a good
rest on our twenty-hour journey. We were on the way to a very special award
presentation with a hundred and fifty invited guests from Asia’s high
society, as well as Malaysian Royalty. EgyptAir’s Business Class Lounge at
Amsterdam International is shared with other airlines and allowed us a first
look through large windows of
EgyptAir’s
Airbus 321. |
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| The non-smoking lounge
appeared well maintained and food and drinks were in order and well presented.
At check in, we felt that something was wrong or at least ‘unusual’,
because we didn’t receive any boarding passes for our connecting flights
from Cairo to Kuala Lumpur. However, the extremely wide chairs on this route,
with plenty of leg space were comfortable and EgyptAir’s entertainment
system required my undivided attention. There was no clear introduction to any
of the movies on the screen to be found. |
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Egypt Air - European Business Class - Thorsten Buehrmann |
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| For those who prefer an aperitif, a glass of wine, or
an after dinner drink with their meal during their flight, alcohol is not
served on board, but guests may bring their own and must serve it themselves.
There were also no printed menus explaining the three different meals one could
chose from.
EgyptAir’s
main courses (CLICK HERE) had obviously been packed on a per person count,
so the last guests being served had to eat whatever was left and there was no
exception to the rule. The place settings for dining were well presented
throughout all flights, nicely logoed china, cloth napkins and classy flatware.
EgyptAir
A321 food presention (CLICK HERE). I was not really impressed with the
onboard
food (CLICK HERE), and decided to skip the main course to try some of the
food at EgyptAir’s Business Class Lounge at Cairo International, assuming
that EgyptAir as the flag carrier airline of Egypt and member of Star Alliance,
would be outstanding. We arrived at Cairo International Airport October 5th
with a one hour delay at 9:30pm / 21:30h local time - our long-haul flight to
Kuala Lumpur via Bangkok was scheduled for October 5th at 11:30pm /
23:30h. |
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| EgyptAir
- Strike |
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| Little did we know that we would be trapped at Cairo
International for over twenty hours with little or no food during that time.
What we experienced during this twenty-two hour ordeal, with more and more
passengers arriving and crammed into Cairo International’s departure
halls, was beyond anything I ever experienced before. Apparently there was a
strike by Air Traffic Controllers, which in turn caused serious altercations
between passengers and employees. At no time for almost twelve hours were we
given any explanations by any official representative of EgyptAir, clarifying
what was going on, nor did we receive any food during the night after the
already
limited
buffet lines (CLICK HERE) were cleaned out by more and more passengers
arriving. The 'hot-station' indicated: Pasta & Sauté, but was
empty from the beginning; same as the Mushroom Soup - and was not
refilled. I completely understand that a strike can happen to any airport in
any country, at any time, but then passenger rights are defined, or least are
available upon request, which we ask for, but here at Cairo International this
was not the case. |
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In the Business Class
Lounge I offered my seat to an older man and was practically on my feet almost
for the entire time, because I was afraid to lie down and be stepped on, due to
the cramped situation. At one point when we asked the EgyptAir business class
lounge manager to speak with the responsible people at EgyptAir, we were told
that they had gone home. We asked the EgyptAir’s Business Class supervisor
for accommodations, which were denied. Then we asked for an alternative
solution to stretch out and requested a simple blanket, but she said that these
were not available either. |
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| Some passengers offered to pay for their own
accommodations and they were told by EgyptAir’s Business Class supervisor:
“If you leave the airport you loose your flight and you cannot leave the
airport because your luggage cannot be unloaded at this time.” - Outside
the Business Class Lounge: Many passengers did lie down or sat down on the cold
floors with no pillows or anything to cover them. Having to go to the bathroom
meant standing in long lines and eventually the facilities ran out of the most
essential supplies. |
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| We truly felt sorry for
a fellow Business Class traveler who with a back operation and still under
medication, was sitting in an old, rusty wheel chair from EgyptsAir for over
eight hours. When we asked the EgyptAir Business Class Lounge manager to give
this poor man at least a cot or a bench to stretch out on, she answered:
“It is not possible. We don’t have such facilities.” EgyptAir's
Business Class Lounge had no shower facilities for premium guests to freshen up
after a long-haul flight not even a toothbrush or a shaver was
available. |
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| Egypt Air - Cairo International Airport - Gate F5 |
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| Next Day, October 6th: After such a night we were told
that our flight would finally be leaving at 8:00 am. EgyptAir kept us at Gate
F5 waiting once again for more than two additional hours without any
information about our actual departure time. Here we witnessed another fellow
traveler with bandaged legs collapse in an EgyptAir wheel chair after we
requested several times medical attention for him. A young mother with a baby
told us in tears that she, at no time during her ordeal, was offered help or
even fresh water for her baby. Our EgyptAir flight was now, once again,
postponed, as it turned out for another six hours. One cannot imagine how
surprised we were to hear after hours and hours of promising and postponing our
departures, and not officially knowing what was going on, a massage in German
coming through the main airport speakers. |
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| EgyptAir
- Boeing 777 - 300 ER |
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| A male voice identifying himself as captain of a
delayed Austrian Airlines flight, informed his passengers over the public
airport speaker system, heard by all, that they were the victims of a strike
and that he was at this time intending to give out all the meals and drinks
that were previously scheduled to be served on their upcoming flight. A mensch.
After this it seemed as the leaders of this unorganized strike finally
understood that it was ‘common’ to inform their passengers of what
was actually going on. Shortly thereafter an announcement came over the public
airport speaker system, in Arabic and English, that this was an Air Traffic
Controller strike and that ‘they’ would now be giving out water &
food (pizza). This announcement came around noontime on October 6th. At circa
3:00pm / 15:00h we boarded 'once again', and our flight took finally of at
4:30pm / 16:30h on October 6th. |
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The EgyptAir crew on
board flight MS960 apologized profusely and looked almost as exhausted as we
were at this point. The first question we asked was: “Do you have a
toothbrush and toothpaste and a shaver for us?” Unfortunately the answer
was “No, in general we don’t offer these items.” We found out
that the EgyptAir crew had not been given any accommodations either but that
they had been able to crash somewhere and got at least some sleep. Though we
were tired and really exhausted, we were so hungry that we both ate the
entire
meal (CLICK HERE). |
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| After our ordeal EgyptAir’s
new
160-degree angle seats (CLICK HERE) felt heavenly, which was almost like a
joke since the last thing I remember was the surreal,
star-studded
blue cabin ceiling (CLICK HERE) before I fell into a deep six-hour sleep.
After we landed at Kuala Lumpur International the engines were turned off and
we all got up ready to leave the plane. Because of the fogged windows we
didn’t realize right away that we, at this point, had actually not arrived
at the gate and after standing still for thirty minutes on the runway the
aircraft then had to be pulled to the gate with help from local ground
personnel. Neither information nor explanation about the incident came from the
captain or the crew. |
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| Petronas
Towners - Malaysia |
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| After two amazing weeks in Asia, with the Petrona
Towers freshly on my mind we returned to Kuala Lumpur International airport for
our departure to Europe. Here at KUL EgyptAir is using the
Business
Class Lounge of Malaysian Airlines (CLICK HERE), which has shower
facilities, a separate coffee and business area and was overall very well
equipped and serviced. The food was plentyful and diverse and excellent for
Business Class Lounge food. |
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| We were both very much
looking forward to a good night’s sleep under the blue star studded sky
and boarded in time. One may imagine our disappointment when we entered the
aircraft and found outdated seats with little legroom and very limited recliner
capability to sleep, and no power supply to work. |
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| Those types of seats might be ok for shorter daytime
flights and some airlines might offer them in their ‘premium economy’
category, but for long haul overnight business flights, we cannot recommend
them. The crew explained that due to an unexpected last minute technical
problem the original scheduled Boeing 777-300ER had to be replaced, but made us
hope that during our short technical stop in Bangkok two hours later could
hopefully be switched to an aircraft with appropriate seats. |
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When we saw
EgyptAir’s
advertisement (CLICK HERE) shortly before re-boarding in Bangkok, for their
new flat bed flights right next to the boarding gate we were hopeful once again
to get some sleep. This was not the case. It was the same aircraft with the
uncomfortable
outdated,
worn out seats. (CLICK HERE)
We understand that Hussein Massoud, the
Chairman and CEO of EgyptAir’s Holding Company is not personally
responsible for any of this, however, we, until today, have not received a
simple apology from him or any member of his management team. |
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| EgyptAir is a member of the Star Alliance
organization.
Star Alliance announced on December 14th, 2011 that its
Chief Executive Board appointed Mark Schwab to head the Star Alliance central
organization, based in Frankfurt, Germany as its new Chief Executive. Schwab
comes from Star Alliance member United where he was responsible for the
company’s alliances as Senior Vice President Alliances. He succeeds Jaan
Albrecht, who was appointed as CEO of Austrian Airlines on November 1st,
2011. |
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by Thorsten & Edmund Buehrmann
Editor-in-Chief: John
Lomitola |
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| © 2011 ~ Seven Stars and Stripes,
Inc. |
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Vip Tours | 1 | 2
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