Trip Report: Oman Air, Lahore to Cairo via Muscat
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The flight was scheduled to depart LHE at 8:20am and check-in was
required 2 hours prior to departure (web check-in for Lahore was not
available). As Lahore has become an
increasingly important destination for Oman Air (it recently increased its
frequency to daily flights), check-in was a breeze with dedicated check-in
counters in the international terminal (one for business and 2 for economy) and
I received my boarding pass for both flights.
When we arrived at the gate, we noticed the plane was not at the gate
but parked to the side (all of Oman Air’s flights have a turnaround time of 2
hours or less); apparently we would have to take a bus to the airplane (unusual
for international flights at Lahore).
Boarding commenced at 7:30am and in no particular order passengers lined
up to present their boarding pass and get on the bus. The bus brought us to one of Oman Air’s newer
and biggest planes, an Airbus A332, with a 2-4-2 layout and each seat fitted
with personal IFEs, a headrest, and footrest.
The bus could only carry 20 – 30 people at a time to an airplane that
could hold over 200 and with a flight 80% full, thus resulting in a delayed
departure; however not many passengers noticed the delay since the IFE was
immediately available (unusual as most airlines make you wait until you have
climbed into the air before turning on the IFE). Oman Air’s IFE is very well stocked with
movies, TV shows, games, and music from all over the world and in a variety of
languages (English, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telegu, and Arabic). Internet is also available, for a small fee, once
above a certain altitude.
With a flying time of 3hours (3:05), the in-flight service started almost
immediately as we reached our cruising altitude. The international cabin crew, who spoke a
multitude of languages, started offering breakfast to the passengers. In custom with the Islamic nation, all meals
on Oman Air are halal and none include any pork products. We were offered a breakfast choice of either
a Western or Indian dish (the Indian dish was vegetarian catering to Oman Air’s
heavy traffic and clientele from South India).
I choose the Western dish which consisted of an omelet with mushrooms in
it and on the side, potatoes, bread, fruit, and water. The food wasn’t the best in the world – the
omelet was bland, the mushrooms were not fully cooked, and the potatoes as well
as were bland and not fully cooked. I
was travelling with family, one of whom also ordered the same meal and theirs
was also undercooked. Coffee and tea
were promptly served and about 1 hour prior to touchdown our trays were cleared
away, which gave the passengers time to continue to enjoy the IFE or the
in-flight magazine (with an option for duty free). We
landed in Muscat about 15-20 minutes behind schedule, but as almost everyone
had a lengthy connection in Muscat many passengers did not mind the delay.
Our flight to Cairo was scheduled to depart at 13:40 but at 12:00 we were told to head towards the gate. After presenting our boarding passes, passengers were asked to gather in the waiting area and wait to board the buses. The buses brought us to our awaiting plane, which was a Boeing 738 in a 3-3 layout and was a lot older, smaller, and did not have any of the amenities as the plane from Lahore; this was disconcerting since the flight time was almost 5 hours (4:40). We pushed back a bit behind schedule, but this was somewhat expected as the flight was completely full (and everyone had multiple hand bags). As soon as we reached a safe altitude, the flight attendants started the in-flight service of lunch and again the options were to choose either a Western or Indian dish. This time I choose the Indian dish which consisted of rice, lentils, curried vegetables, bread, achar, and desert, and again the quality and taste of the food left much to be desired as it was completely bland and looked like (and tasted like) it had been cooked and sitting for 3 days; it was completely unappetizing. The food was followed up with tea and coffee, and after about an hour the trays were cleared away. This left the passengers with over 2.5 hours left in the flight time with no IFE and no movie/TV shown on the main screen (the main screen was showing the flying route map). The seats were also extremely uncomfortable and had no leg room (a problem for this 6’1 passenger). After an uncomfortable 5 hours, the plane finally landed in Cairo and we deplaned and were bused to Cairo International.
This was not the first time I had flown Oman Air. I first flew Oman Air in 2011 from Lahore to
Kuala Lumpur (via Muscat for which Oman Air does provide a 24-hour layover at
no extra costs) and encountered new planes, excellent food, and excellent
service and this is why I choose to fly Oman Air again in 2012; however I did
not experience the same Oman Air. The
cabin crew on both flights, while international, were not gracious nor helpful
to a clientele which needed help to find their seats (example: on the flight
from Lahore, the flight crew did not speak nor understand the national language
of Urdu while a majority of the passengers only spoke that language; this led
to people sitting in wrong seats and lot of miscommunication and visible
frustration from both the passengers and flight attendants). Also, the food this time was appalling and
unappetizing (on the way back, we made sure to rely on food in either Cairo or
Muscat International and not rely on Oman Air).
Finally, the plane on the longest leg of the journey from Muscat to
Cairo was uncomfortable and made for a very unpleasant journey.
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| amenity kit with socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, eyeshades, and earplugs |
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