Air Belgium Airbus A330neo Enterprise Class

September 6, 2023

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Wednesday newsletters at all times function a lodge or flight evaluate.

Final month (July 2023), I loved an outstanding safari & seaside vacation in South Africa and Mozambique, in all probability my greatest vacation ever. I’ll publish nearly all of my opinions & movies of that journey this fall, however I already needed to share with you a small teaser of what’s to return.

Evaluation: Air Belgium Airbus A330neo Enterprise Class from Brussels to Johannesburg (right now)
Evaluation: Air France Boeing 777 new Enterprise Class from Paris to Johannesburg
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Evaluation: Lion Sands Ivory Lodge (Sabi Sand Nature Reserve, South Africa)
Evaluation: Kruger Shalati – The Practice on the Bridge (Kruger Nationwide Park, South Africa)
Evaluation: Kisawa Sanctuary (Mozambique)
Evaluation: Air France Boeing 777 new Enterprise Class from Johannesburg to Paris
Evaluation: Air Belgium Airbus A330neo Enterprise Class from Johannesburg to Brussels

At the moment: Evaluation of Air Belgium’s Airbus A330neo Enterprise Class (Brussels to Johannesburg)

A number of weeks in the past, I traveled with pals to Southern Africa. I flew with Air France onboard a Boeing 777 geared up with the provider’s latest Enterprise Class cabin with sliding doorways (I’ll publish my journey report & video of this phenomenal product in October). My pals booked a Enterprise Class ticket onboard an Air Belgium Airbus A330neo and I requested them to take some movies & images of their onboard expertise (I imagine they did a fairly good job, so kudos to them). Air Belgium is Belgium’s second largest airline (after Brussels Airways) and has a fleet of 5 Airbus A330s, together with two comparatively new Airbus A330neos (which had been initially destined to be delivered to the bankrupt German airline Air Berlin). Air Belgium at present flies scheduled passenger service between Brussels and Southern Africa (Johannesburg, Cape City, Windhoek and Mauritius) but in addition operates constitution flights on behalf of different airways, reminiscent of British Airways and LOT Polish Airways. As you possibly can learn under, the provider affords a stable Enterprise Class product, which is in actual fact a lot better than the one supplied by Belgium’s flag provider Brussels Airways.

Have you ever ever flown with Air Belgium? In that case, what was your expertise? Depart a remark.

Journey: Brussels (BRU) to Johannesburg (JNB)
Airline: Air Belgium
Plane sort: Airbus A330neo
Plane registration quantity: OO-ABG
On time departure: sure (7:45 pm)
On time arrival: sure (6:45 am)
Miles: 5510 mi (8870 km)
Flight time: 10 hours
Seat: 4H
Class: Enterprise Class

On this evaluate (extra info & images under the Youtube video):

Value of the ticket
Diamond Lounge at Brussels Airport
Enterprise Class cabin
Enterprise Class seat (+ greatest & worst seats)
Facilities & bedding
Meals
Leisure
Onboard web
Different inflight experiences
Verdict (rating)

1. COST OF THE TICKET

The worth for the roundtrip ticket (Brussels-Johannesburg-Brussels) was 1800 euros. The ticket was booked on the Air Belgium web site throughout a web based sale.

AIR BELGIUM BUSINESS CLASS — AIR BELGIUM AIRBUS A330NEO

2. DIAMOND LOUNGE AT BRUSSELS AIRPORT

Air Belgium doesn’t have its personal lounge at Brussels Airport. As a substitute, the airline offers its Enterprise Class passengers entry to the Diamond Lounge, a contract lounge positioned one ground above the principle concourse. The lounge is mainly one massive room divided in two separate areas by the reception space within the heart. One house incorporates a trendy bar space, whereas the opposite house has a buffet station (with a good number of meals & drinks). Dozens of comfy seats can be found in each areas, with giant home windows providing view of the plane and airport’s apron.

3. BUSINESS CLASS CABIN

Air Belgium’s Airbus A330neo plane options one Enterprise Class cabin on the entrance of the cabin with 30 lie-flat seats. Behind this are 21 Premium Financial system Class seats, with one other 235 Financial system Class seats on the plane’s rear. This offers a complete passenger capability of 286.

The provider has chosen to put in Solstys-style, totally lie flat seats in its Enterprise Class cabin. The seats are unfold over 8 rows and organized in a 1-2-1 format, with all seat going through ahead and providing direct aisle entry. The window seats are solo seats, and so they alternate between seats nearer to the window (which provide extra privateness) and seats nearer to the aisle (that are extra uncovered). The seats within the heart of the airplane are paired seats, alternating between ‘honeymoon’ seats (seats subsequent to one another with a divider which may be raised or lowered) and seats separated by a console. The center pair and window seats have a couple of inches/cm extra size in mattress mode in comparison with their aisle counterparts. It is a related product just like the one you discover on Iberia, Emirates (A380 plane), Qantas, Asiana, and Thai Airways.

Air Belgium’s Enterprise Class cabin has a clear, trendy however considerably sterile look. The colour palette varies from white (cabin partitions) to mushy gray (seat shells, tray tables, and bedding) to darkish gray (seat cushions). The one colourful contact within the cabin is shaped by Air Belgium’s signature crimson brand, which is prominently displayed on the wall within the aft of the cabin.

Click on right here for a seat map of Air Belgium’s A330neo.

AIR BELGIUM A330NEO PREMIUM ECONOMY CLASS CABIN

4. BUSINESS CLASS SEAT (+ BEST & WORST SEATS)

Air Belgium’s Enterprise Class seat incorporates a pitch of 78 inch (198 cm) and width of 26 inch (66 cm). The seat is comfy and well-padded.

Subsequent to the seat is a console with some space for storing that can be utilized to stow away smaller gadgets reminiscent of glasses, wallets or a cell phone (bigger gadgets should be saved within the overhead bins or beneath the ottoman). This facet of the seat additionally incorporates a studying gentle, a panel & handset for the seat & inflight leisure controls, a USB port, an audio jack, and an influence outlet to cost private gadgets.

In entrance of the seat is a set 16-inch HD leisure display screen with an ottoman (footrest) beneath. The latter turns into a part of the flat-bed (when the seat is reclined) and lets you lengthen your legs as a lot as you wish to. Subsequent to the leisure display screen is a big tray desk, which is connected to the again of the seat in entrance and which may be pulled out fairly simply; the desk may also be moved out-of-the-way when you might want to stand up.

On the push of a button, the seat reclines into a totally and really comfy flatbed with a lenght of 78 inch (200 cm), together with the footrest.

What are the greatest Enterprise Class seats on Air Belgium’s A330neo?

Solo vacationers ought to go for the window seats. Home windows seats are alternately positioned nearer to the window (in rows 2, 4, 6 and eight) or to the aisle (in rows 1, 3, 5 and seven). The seats nearer to the window are those you need to select (you’ll really feel extra uncovered within the different seats, that are extra positioned alongside the aisle than the window).
{Couples} and good pals ought to go for one of many so-called ‘honeymoon’ center seats (in rows 1, 3, 5 and seven).

What are the worst Enterprise Class seats on Air Belgium’s A330neo?

Seats in row 1 and eight could endure from some noise from the galley and bathroom.
I additionally counsel to keep away from the final row of Enterprise Class, row 8, which is positioned in entrance of the Premium Financial system bassinet seats.
If you’re touring solo, you don’t need to select one of many honeymoon seats (it might be downright awkward when you find yourself subsequent to a stranger in that configuration). In case you’ll be assigned a honyemoon seat, there’s a divider that you could increase although for extra privateness.
The home windows seats in rows 1, 3, 5 and seven face into the aisle and are usually not as personal because the window seats in rows 2, 4, 6 and eight.

Click on right here for a seat map of Air Belgium’s A330neo.

5. AMENITIES & BEDDING

Air Belgium’s Enterprise Class passengers get the next facilities throughout a longhaul flight:

An amenity equipment with a dental equipment, comb, socks, eye shades and ear plugs
Respectable bedding, comprised of a fluffy pillow and heat blanket
Air Belgium labelled noise-cancelling headphones

6. MEALS

On this in a single day flight, a dinner (after takeoff) and breakfast (previous to touchdown) had been served.

My pals select the next choice from the menu:

Starter: creamy burrata and recent tomatoes
Essential course: North Sea waterzooi (genuine Belgian fish stew dish)
Essential course: Conventional meatballs in tomato sauce
Dessert: Trio of do-it-yourself mini-desserts
Cheese platter: number of Belgian cheeses

Ninety minutes prior touchdown, a breakfast was served with a alternative between two dishes: French Toast with dulce de leche or omelette with roasted tomatoes.

General, the service was flawless and the meals tasted nice, though my pals did miss some genuine Belgian touches which might have elevated the eating expertise a bit.

7. ENTERTAINMENT

Air Belgium’s inflight leisure system affords as much as 120 movies, documentaries, cartoons and TV sequence. There’s a various vary of leisure and passengers can entry a library of 600 music tracks and a dozen video games for all ages. ARC maps provide all the mandatory route info, together with info on the nation overflown, views from the cockpit, and 3D visualization.

8. ONBOARD INTERNET

Air Belgium’s A330neo planes are geared up with Wifi and three completely different web packages are supplied:

Chat (5€): permits to ship textual content messages from a pill or smartphone together with WhatsApp, iMessage and Messenger for the complete length of the flight.
Surf Simple (12€): permits to ship emails, surf on internet gentle pages and social media for the complete length of your flight.
Surf Plus (20€):: permits to browse on bigger internet pages and entry VPN and audio streaming all through your flight.

9. OTHER INFLIGHT EXPERIENCES

# CREW: The cabin crew on this flight was very well mannered, courteous and able to assist.

# LAVATORY: Air Belgium’s A330neo plane options three toilets for Enterprise Class passengers: one is positioned behind the cockpit and the opposite two within the galley behind the Enterprise Class cabin.

# VIEW: there have been some good views through the climbing part of the flight in addition to throughout sundown.