Review: EgyptAir Business Class Airbus A320neo (MUC-CAI) (2024)

For the next portion ofmy Allegris round the world journey, I flew EgyptAir’s Airbus A320neo business class on the 3hr15min flight from Munich (MUC) to Cairo (CAI). My EgyptAir flight was a mixed bag, with some real highs and lows.

On the plus side, EgyptAir’s hard product is excellent, especially when you consider that Lufthansa operates a standard short haul product in this market. Furthermore, the flight attendant working business class on this flight couldn’t have been lovelier.

At the same time, EgyptAir is kind of a mess. While the airline has personal entertainment, the options are extremely limited. A320neos are also supposed to have Wi-Fi, but it was broken, just like it was on my last EgyptAir Boeing 787-9 flight. And on top of that, EgyptAir’s meal service is extensive, but not very high quality.

So in the end, I’d probably choose EgyptAir again over Lufthansa in this market, while still wishing that EgyptAir would be a bit better — or at least deliver on the products it promotes (like Wi-Fi).

How I booked my EgyptAir business class ticket

I booked this portion of my trip usingAir Canada Aeroplan points. Specifically, I booked the following award in business class for 90,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $88.24 in taxes and fees:

5/01 LH477 Vancouver to Munich departing 6:50PM arriving 1:30PM (+1 day)
5/02 MS788 Munich to Cairo departing 3:55PM arriving 8:40PM

In a previous installment, I reviewed the Lufthansa Allegris business class flight from Munich to Vancouver.

Aeroplan pointsare easy to come by, as the program is transfer partnerswithAmex Membership Rewards,Bilt Rewards,Capital One, andChase Ultimate Rewards. On top of that, Aeroplanoften sells points at a discount, and also has theAeroplan® Credit Card(review),which is pretty lucrative.

EgyptAir business class lounge & boarding

During my layover I visited the Lufthansa Business Lounge Munich, which is where EgyptAir sends its business class passengers (Star Alliance Gold members can use the Lufthansa Senator Lounge Munich).

The flight was departing from gate L7, with boarding scheduled for 3:25PM, 30 minutes before scheduled departure. However, boarding ended up being delayed by quite a bit, as the inbound aircraft only arrived around 3:15PM, and it takes time to deplane passengers, refresh the cabin, etc.

Boarding actually started at 3:50PM, with business class passengers being invited to board first.

EgyptAir A320neo business class cabin & seats

At the forward door of the aircraft I was warmly welcomed by Dalia, the flight attendant working business class on this sector. EgyptAir’s A320neos are in a super spacious configuration, with a total of just 142 seats, including 16 business class seats and 126 economy class seats.

The business class cabin is spread across four rows, in a 2-2 configuration. The business class seats are the Collins Aerospace MiQ product, which is the same that you’ll find on many airlines, including American Airlines, for example.

What sets EgyptAir business class apart is the absolutely massive 48″ seat pitch the airline offers in business class. That’s around 11″ more pitch than you’ll find in first class on most US airlines. This might just be the most spacious layout I’ve ever experienced for these exact seats.

I assigned myself seat 10K, the window seat on the right side in the third row of the cabin. Business class seats have 13″ personal entertainment monitors.

The seat positions can be adjusted via three buttons to the side of the seat. The seats even have foot and leg rests, which you don’t find on most airlines offering this product.

Then underneath the center console is a storage pocket, as well as AC and USB-A power outlets, plus the headphone jack for the entertainment. This is also where you’ll find the entertainment controller, which personally I find kind of unnecessary, since the personal entertainment monitor is also touchscreen.

Above the center console is a drink tray, and an extra little tray that can be extended with the push of a button.

The tray table extends from the far armrest. If you flip it over, you’ll get the full tray table. Meanwhile if you keep it folded over, then the tray can double as a personal device holder, so that you can “stand up” a tablet or phone.

EgyptAir’s A320neos have individual air nozzles, which is something I’m always happy to see…

All-in-all, EgyptAir’s A320neo business class hard product is phenomenal. Commercially, it seems hard to justify such a spacious layout, since you could easily cram an extra row of seats in the cabin by just decreasing business class seat pitch, while still having a very competitive product.

EgyptAir business class amenities

Waiting at each business class seat upon boarding were a basic pillow and blanket. They’re better than nothing, but not exactly substantial bedding.

There was also a pair of headphones, which were super cheap, and had poor audio quality.

As is standard on EgyptAir, there were also little stickers to indicate if you want to be woken up for meals, want to not be disturbed, etc. While I can appreciate the idea behind these, I’ve never once seen an EgyptAir passenger use these.

Then there was also a large bottle of water at each seat.

During boarding, cold refreshing towels were distributed.

Toward the end of boarding, pre-departure drinks were offered in proper glassware, with the choice of orange juice or strawberry juice. I’ve gotta say, EgyptAir’s strawberry juice is kind of epic (though very sweet, so I didn’t have more than one glass).

EgyptAir A320neo business class entertainment & Wi-Fi

Here’s what I find so annoying about EgyptAir. On the surface, EgyptAir’s entertainment select should be excellent, given that the airline has invested in seat back entertainment, and also is supposed to offer Wi-Fi. Yet the reality is that at least for English speakers, the entertainment is very limited.

The seat back entertainment had around 25 movies in English, most of which were far from box office hits.

On most airlines, you can at least count on a bunch of sitcoms in English, like The Big Bang Theory. On EgyptAir, there was a single sitcom in English, which was Night Court (so I ended up watching that).

In theory, EgyptAir also has live TV, but that was broken on this flight.

The only aspect of the inflight entertainment that I really enjoyed was the map feature.

EgyptAir is supposed to have Wi-Fi on its Airbus A320neos, though unfortunately it wasn’t working on this flight. Okay, I can understand that sometimes things go wrong, but this is exactly the same story as my last EgyptAir flight, where Wi-Fi was supposed to be available, but it was also broken.

It just seems like EgyptAir isn’t doing a good job managing expectations, and in the future I’ll just assume that EgyptAir doesn’t offer Wi-Fi, and will be pleasantly surprised if it does work.

EgyptAir A320neo departure from Munich

Boarding was pretty efficient, and was completed by 4:05PM. Then five minutes after that, the main cabin door closed.

Six of the 16 business class seats were occupied by revenue passengers, not accounting for all the EgyptAir staff who ended up taking business class seats, including the inflight security officers. Fortunately the seat next to me stayed empty.

Once the door was closed, there was a prayer over the PA, followed by the safety video. This was my first time seeing EgyptAir’s new(ish) safety video, which is much better than the old one.

At 4:20PM we began our pushback, and then at 4:25PM we began our taxi.

The runway was only a short distance away, and by 4:30PM we were cleared for takeoff.

It was a beautiful afternoon in Munich, and I enjoyed the views on the climb out. The seatbelt sign was turned off around five minutes after takeoff.

As I’ve often found to be the case, I couldn’t help but notice how EgyptAir pilots have much “rougher” handling of the plane than on most other airlines, from the way they taxi, to the way they accelerate, to the sharp turns they make. It definitely gives more military flying vibes rather than airline flying vibes.

Around 30 minutes after takeoff, the captain made his welcome aboard announcement, informing us that we were at an altitude of 39,000 feet, and should be arriving on schedule.

EgyptAir business class meal service

Shortly after takeoff, the inflight service began, starting with landing cards being distributed for Egypt.

EgyptAir doesn’t have menus in business class, so it’s always a surprise what you’re going to get. Around 15 minutes after takeoff, service began with drinks — EgyptAir is a dry airline, so I had a Diet Pepsi to drink, which was served with smoked almonds and macadamias. For what it’s worth, there are reports of people being able to bring alcohol onboard EgyptAir, so the real restriction is that the airline doesn’t provide alcohol.

Then around 30 minutes after takeoff the starter was served. EgyptAir is certainly generous with the quantity of food that it serves. The tray had a starter consisting of smoked salmon and prawns, a salad with parmesan and sun dried tomatoes, and a cheese plate with dried fruit and walnuts. A selection of bread was also offered.

Once that was cleared, main courses were offered. The choices were described as chicken with rice, beef with potatoes, or shrimp. While y’all know I usually go for the fish option, I’ve been trying to mix things up, so I instead chosen the chicken.

The dish was just… not great. The meal was quite bland, and the chicken was just chewy and tasted very low quality (which I can’t say I’m surprised by).

Once main courses were cleared, dessert was served. The choices were either some sweets or a fruit plate, and the flight attendant ended up just proactively serving me both. I also had a coffee to go along with this.

The meal service was completed around 90 minutes after takeoff.

EgyptAir A320neo business class lavatory

There was a lavatory at the front of the cabin reserved for business class. The lavatory was super basic, and had no special amenities.

The A320neo I was on was only a few years old, but I couldn’t help but notice how beat up the bathroom looked, and these all seem like things that it would be easy for EgyptAir to maintain a bit better. It’s a shame how the airline invests so much money in modern aircraft, but then doesn’t maintain them to their potential.

EgyptAir business class service

The one thing I can only say positive things about is the crew. All the flight attendants on this flight, and in particular, Dalia, were stellar. While Egypt is a hospitable country, that doesn’t necessarily always “translate” in the service culture.

Dalia made each business class passenger feel genuinely welcome onboard, had a beautiful smile, and constantly checked on passengers. She was by far the best flight attendant I’ve ever had on EgyptAir, so that was a highlight of this flight.

I will say, during the flight, the crew asked me about my picture taking. Despite how EgyptAir has security officers onboard, I find the airline has no issues with passengers taking pictures, and this was no exception. When I explained I’m an aviation geek and that it was my first time on the carrier’s A320neo, they told me to continue with my business.

EgyptAir A320neo arrival in Cairo

After the meal, I spent most of the flight working on my laptop (without Wi-Fi). Soon enough, we were over the Mediterranean Sea, and starting our descent for Cairo. At 8:20PM Cairo time, the seatbelt sign was turned on, and the cabin was prepared for landing.

At this point there was an absolutely beautiful sunset, though it was hard to capture a good picture.

We ended up touching down at Cairo Airport at 8:45PM. We then had a 10 minute taxi to our arrival stand. Despite most gates at the terminal being empty, we ended up parking at a remote stand, quite a ways from the terminal.

I don’t actually mind that much in Cairo, given that EgyptAir at least has a special bus for business class passengers, and then you get dropped off right near the immigration checkpoint. So I quickly cleared immigration, and then headed for the Le Meridien Cairo Airport, where I’d be spending the night.

Bottom line

EgyptAir’s A320neo business class is a mixed bag. On the plus side, the plane has a very comfortable interior, especially in comparison to the short haul European business class I’d otherwise get on this route. Furthermore, the service on this flight was friendly, particularly from Dalia.

However, EgyptAir just falls short in some other areas, like a lackluster entertainment system, broken Wi-Fi, a lack of interior aircraft maintenance, and mediocre food and drinks.

What’s your take on EgyptAir’s A320neo business class? If flying from Munich to Cairo, would you rather fly this, or Lufthansa’s regional business class?