Review: Austrian Business Class B777-200 SYD-KUL
Trip Report
OS002
Sydney-Kuala Lumpur
29 Sept 2006
B777-2Z9/ER OE-LPB
STD1650 ATD1645
STA2315 ATA2235
Flying time 7hr 33mins @ FL380
Austrian check in counter opens 3 hour in advance in Sydney and use Air New Zealand lounge. On this flight we have 29 out of 49 in Business class and 250 out of 258 in Economy Class makes total 279 pax out of 307 total seats.
The inbound OS001 flight from KUL arrived late at 1540, 25minutes behind schedule. At 1625 pax were called for boarding. The crew were under great rush to prepare pre-departures and got the door closed at 1640(Amazingly fast with 279pax!) and push back at 1645 on the way to KUL! That is very efficient, only an hour to turn around a B777 after an 8 hrs flight! Once onboard, the flight is equipped with new lie flat sleeper seats in Business, one can immediately notice the bright and contrast color of the cabin, the yellow pillow, multi color blanket and blue seats and birch décor. Good job for the color mix in the cabin makes it feel very comfortable to fly with.
Takeoff was very powerful, rotated in front of the Sydney ATC tower. You can see the shadow of the 777
Climbing over Qantas domestic terminal.
After climbing out of the airport from Rwy34L, the usual grand Sydney skyline can be seen on the right hand side of the aircraft.
In flight service started shortly after airborne, the onboard chef came around to introduce to each pax and hand out the menu. I am quite surprised OS have an onboard chef, nice feature!
Here is a cabin photo from my seat, seating is 2-3-2 across, and first business cabin have 35 seats and second cabin have 2 more rows, 14 seats makes total 49 seats.
Austrian cabin ambience
Another photo of the new Business Class seat
Dinner started very quickly, like only 25 mins after airborne.
First Canapés and drinks, note I have an Almdudler, the FA told me it is a herbal soft drink from Austria.
Then come the hors’ Dourves cart, you get six choices-Salmon, Asparagus, Prawn, Tomato Mozzarella, Chilled roast beef ….I prefer this way over the choose only one out of two from the menu.
For main course, I have Grilled Salmon which is cook to perfection!
After the meal service, I checked out the in-flight entertainment, they have 19 video channels playing recorded video stream but non AVOD type. They also have a good selection of audio channels.
About the new seats: At first, it seems just another lie flat sleeper seats but after a while, it became quite comfortable. There are 3 buttons for 3 different positions: Seat right up, relax and flat. I found by pressing the relax button then have the leg-rest upward the most comfortable position for rest. There are many ways to adjust the seat to find a comfy position. The seat also comes with massage function. The best thing for these type of seats is no matter how the person in front of you reclining, it does not affect you at all!
About an hour before arriving KUL, the second meal is served; I have the curry somosa which are again delicious. The flight landed in KLIA 40 mins ahead of schedule and I took KLIA express and into the city within 45 mins.
Overall I think the best thing of OS is the food onboard, service was quite good with constant refill of drinks. It was a quick and pleasant experience with Austrian Airlines. I do like their all red uniforms too!