Low-cost airlines are not known for their comfort factor, but flydubai has ventured into the business-class segment to attract more executive travellers.
Given a welcome drink of apple or orange juice to begin my 45-minute flight with the Dubai carrier to Doha, I immediately felt more at ease than flying economy class.
The airline rolled out its business-class offering in October on select routes, a number which has since increased to 26 – including to Jeddah, launched at the beginning of the month.
Passengers can expect more than just wider seats (42 inches) upholstered in Italian leather. In addition to the welcome drink, I was supplied a hot towel and complimentary earphones to ease my short journey.
And there was a sense of exclusivity, as my flight to Qatar had just 12 business-class seats in the cabin, with each seat almost fully reclinable.
While budget airlines are traditionally known to charge extra for everything, even for a bottle of water, I was pleased to see a complimentary bottle for every seat on this service.
During my outbound flight, I enjoyed a complimentary cold meal of chicken sandwich, fruit platter, butter, juice and wafers. On the return journey, there was an Arabic platter with stuffed leaves, grilled vegetables and a pie, as well as extra juice and water.
Passengers on longer journeys receive a hot meal on white china crockery.
For entertainment, I had 1,300 hours of content to choose from, including Arabic, English or Indian movies on a 12-inch, high-definition touchscreen. However, there was no Wi-Fi available to catch up on work emails.
Flydubai’s business-class service will be available on 14 Boeing 737 aircraft by the end of the year. The carrier will continue adding business class cabins to all of its existing aircraft throughout 2014.
Next month, flydubai will introduce the service on more routes, including to Yerevan, Madina, Ashgabat, Belgrade, Tabuk, Samara, Tbilisi, Krasnodar, Volgograd and Odessa.
But remember, you may be getting more comfort but you will be paying for it. A single journey to Doha in economy class costs Dh300. The same flight in the plusher business-class cabin is Dh1,100.
ssahoo@thenational.ae
