I just called the BKK town-office and was told that they will use the old A330 again for flights CAI

Egyptair, now firmly a member of the Star Alliance, serves the Cairo – Beijing route daily using an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The flight departs late evening and arrives in the afternoon the following day. There are plenty of connections available from throughout Europe and the Middle East; I was arriving from Istanbul on another flight, transferring onto Egyptair at Cairo's Terminal 3. Two words about the terminal: very impressive.  Seemingly light years away from the hustle and bustle of Cairo, Cairo International Airport's Terminal 3, the home of Egyptair and all other Star Alliance flights, costa rica travel information is a gleaming testimony to efficiency and change – and it looks and feels great, costa rica travel information too. I have never appreciated costa rica travel information air-conditioning and good insulation as much as when I walked through the glass enclosed costa rica travel information areas of this airport: costa rica travel information the outside world looks like the moon, with barren sand dunes all around. As already mentioned, I had already checked in when I departed Istanbul and so already had my boarding pass for the onward flight to Beijing. costa rica travel information I passed by the transfer desk on the arrivals level and proceeded directly upstairs to the transfer area.
Egyptair has several new lounges available at Terminal 3 – they all look much the same and offer the same services. I opted for the Gheniah Lounge and was greeted warmly by reception staff. This lounge offers free wi-fi (plus a few computers at the end of the lounge), ample seating space, a self service bar (no alcohol) with light snacks (nuts, crisps and the like), a few televisions broadcasting BBC World News and plenty of Egyptian and Arabic and other international reading matter. Everything looked and felt new (well, it is new) and the staff were friendly, costa rica travel information several times coming to see if I'd like a drink or something to eat. Despite offering no 'real' food, I was pleasantly surprised with this lounge.
No boarding call was made in the lounge, so it was good that I kept an eye on the time. The aircraft was parked at the last gate of the northern apron, a five minute walk from the lounge. Once at the gate, I was quickly identified as a business class passenger. The boarding lounge was full to the brim, so I was quite pleased that the boarding commenced within minutes of me arriving to the gate. Supposedly there was a separate queue for passengers in business class, but due to the narrow configuration of the boarding area at this particular gate, it didn't make a big difference which class you were in; I just had to wait.  Upon arriving to the aircraft costa rica travel information (through an airbridge – great), I was greeted by a sweet female costa rica travel information cabin crew who directed me to my seat by the window 4K.  Within a minute, I was offered a glass of either apple or orange juice or water; keep in mind that Egyptair is a 'dry' airline and no alcohol is served. There was a foam pillow and a blanket on my seat; nothing fancy – but ok.
Egyptair's business class seat configuration varies wildly across the fleet; so be careful. On the airline's new Boeing 777-300s you get a fully flat bed with a duvet and all the trimmings – whereas on its Boeing 777-200s costa rica travel information you get a decidedly subpar seat, more akin to a poor Premium Economy seat. On this A330-200, the seat has a decent level of recline, to about 145 degrees but does not go fully flat. A screen for limited IFE is hidden in the armrest and folds out at the touch of a button. A legrest costa rica travel information provides costa rica travel information sorely needed support for the legs legroom is ample. In the front seat pocket, a shining new edition of Egyptair s nice inflight magazine, Horus, was to be found. There's nothing luxurious costa rica travel information about this seat, nor about the cabin, but not much to complain about.
Take-off was on time, despite a lengthy drive to the runway. Once airborne, flight service commenced with another round of drinks. Tables were laid, a tray with a salad, water cup and cutlery was offered and then a trolley appeared and I was offered the choice of beef or chicken; that was it. There was no menu provided and no real guidance regarding options. Obviously, there was no wine list either (again, the airline is "dry"). While the service was friendly, the cabin attendants seemed almost a little embarrassed, possibly due to the poor meals on offer: the salad was good (dressing was provided) but my beef and mash was not great and I left most of it. A small chocolate costa rica travel information cake with thick icing was a passable dessert. All in all, for economy class, you'd have appreciated the added 'refinement' of being served from a trolley – but the meal was just like an average economy class meal. Following the poor meal, I was ready to try to get some sleep. This turned out to be surprisingly easy; the cabin was darkened and the seat started to feel more comfortable costa rica travel information than it had looked at first glance. I tried to operate the screen to watch a movie but gave up, partly due to how tired I was but certainly also because the screen was quite wobbly and not that easy to operate. I had to search in vain for an eye mask; according to the stewardess, no amenity kits had been loaded on this flight (note: on my return flight, a week later, no amenity kits had been loaded either ). I woke up to the smell of croissants – outside it was bright daylight and we were flying over Western China.  The stewardess presented a small tray with fruit salad and croissants with jam; all was great and seemed fresh – much better than the evening meal. Juices, coffee and tea followed. The remainder of the flight was uneventful but I have to admit I was quite happy when the captain announced our descent into Beijing.
We arrived ten minutes after scheduled arrival time to yet another great airport: Beijing Capital costa rica travel information Airport's Terminal 3; a beautiful structure – and huge – but seemingly unable costa rica travel information to cater for the volume of passengers; I spent one full hour trying to get through costa rica travel information immigration. costa rica travel information Once through, my priority tagged bags were duly waiting for me on the carousel.
Inconsistency is the name of the game on Egyptair; on this flight, the seat was ok, the food varied wildly in quality and the IFE and service were barely passable. On Egyptair's new aircraft, such as the 777-300, you might as well be onboard an entirely different airline. I'd happily fly Egyptair again though; prices are very competitive, I felt very safe and this flight (as all other Egyptair flights costa rica travel information I've been on) arrived on time. In addition, Cairo International Airport's Terminal 3 beats most European airports hands down and is a pleasure costa rica travel information to pass through.   FACT FILE
Hi Jonas, does Egyptair costa rica travel information still fly to Tokyo and on which routes do they use the new 777s? I m going to Bangkok next week and am thinking of getting a flight from London via Cairo, costa rica travel information I ll email you for a quote now
I just called the BKK town-office and was told that they will use the old A330 again for flights CAI-BKK from mid of June 2011 until 16th of Sept. starting 17th of Sept, they will use the new B777 again.
Hi Wolfy; thanks for this update. Unless you get a really good deal (consult costa rica travel information us!) on Egyptair s A330 routes then I d pay a little more for another airline or make sure that their new 777-300 really is rostered on the route. I d be happy to check the itineraries for you if you d like (of course you don t need to book through RASK for this service). Warm regards, Jonas@RASK