Little-known and underrated: what a spectacle Oman Air's business class is
The famous Gulf companies are Emirates, Qatar and Etihad. This will not last much longer given Arabia's plans [...]

Famous Gulf companies are Emirates, Qatar and Etihad. This will not last much longer since Saudi Arabia's plans to gain a place at the sole and become the largest of all. However, there are at least a couple of other companies which to call minor would be wrong, but smaller is certainly correct.
In this article:

- Specifications
- Aircraft:
- 787/9
- Class:
- Business
- Treat:
- BKK - MCT
- Price:
- 950€
- Book
Oman Air is one of them. Born in the early 1990s, after a decade of living together with Gulf Air, another niche airline in the area, has changed pace and cut the umbilical cord with the Bahraini carrier.
Today Oman Air flies exclusively from Europe to Asia, via Muscat the capital of the southernmost state in the Arabian Peninsula. I had wanted to fly to Oman for years, because all the reviews I read and videos I came across on YT had convinced me that it was an experience worth having and telling.
The reason for all this hype is because of the cabin. Oman's business class since the 2000s has always been one of the best in the world, and it is not said by Matteo Rainisio, it is said by FFs all over the world, try googling Oman old business class to believe.
Today the old biz ( which is still beautiful and unique) is still installed on A330s, but Aboard the 787/9 are the Apex Suites, one of the rarest business class cabins in the world. Few people have installed it because it is expensive, it is the most expensive cabin in the world, and, as always, expensive things are also often beautiful things.
Reservation
I had been hunting Oman Air for at least a couple of years., unfortunately the company is not (yet) part of any alliance. It is scheduled to join OneWorld in 2024, until then from Italy it is complicated to book an award ticket. It is feasible via Etihad Guest and a few other routes, but difficult to travel from Italy.
That's why when I was looking for a way back from Bangkok where I'm flown aboard Qatar's AMAZING QSuite and of the much less exciting first class also from Qatar, I took a look at the possibility of flying Oman.
Unfortunately, one-way tickets are getting more and more expensive. A BKK/MXP ticket, via MCT cost nearly €2,000., way too much. As I have explained many times my strategy when looking for tickets (both premium and paid) is flexibility. I never always just look at one airport, but I take advantage of Google Flights by putting stopovers in the vicinity or where I can easily move and in this case it paid off.
I found the same ticket from BKK to MXP departing from Chang Mai for less the €950, all inclusive. A first leg that should have been in economy with Bangkok Airways and instead was also in business included.
In Airport
I arrived at the airport around 7 a.m. with the flight leaving at 9:15 a.m. Bangkok airport can be hell compared to other international airports, So better to avoid risks and arrive too late.
Even though I had already checked in online I still went to the Oman counters and when I arrived there was an endless line, but I quickly realized it was for the Qatar counters which were the ones exactly next. From Oman there was a small queue, but boarding a 787 is different than filling an A380.
Having taken the tickets and gone through security, I headed to the lounge in Oman.. Bangkok Airport is a huge single terminal. Piers A and B are for domestic flights, from C onward are dedicated to international passengers. In 2022, about 15 million passengers passed through here; however, the 2019 record is still far off.
The Lounge is nice, and it is in the Priority Pass network, so it is accessible to everyone. It is not large, but it is strategically located near the gates that Oman then uses for departure.
I decided not to gobble and settled for a glass of orange juice, as I was going to have breakfast/lunch on board the plane anyway.
By Air
As soon as the airport staff announced the opening of the boarding I sprinted Usain Bolt style to jump in front and run toward the plane first, goal to make pictures of the cabin without passengers. Mission accomplished.
The configuration of the Apex Suites could be scary and make one think of little space or give a feeling of suffocation. Nothing could be more wrong, credit to the absence above the middle row of hat racks, and credit to the plenty of space each passenger has.
The configuration is 2-2-2, but unlike what you may think. all passengers have direct access to the aisle, which as I often say is essential for a business class cabin.
As always, the window-side passenger has more space at his or her disposal, and in this case also all the privacy that those who are seated near the aisle instead lack.
The thing to know, however, is that, the seats near the window are also more spacious, being longer to allow precisely to have access to the corridor.
The seats in rows 11,12,13 and 14 obviously seats A and K are the ones that provide the most space for passengers. Here you will have a 2.20m bed, which is incredible and is not even offered in first class by far more emblazoned companies.
If you want maximum peace of mind, I recommend choosing the seat in the second cabin Of business class. The reason is that there are only 6 seats in this cabin, or one row of seats.
The very muted colors give a sense of relaxation and help make the presence of the chair frames feel less heavy.
I also went to browse in economy, Oman does not have premium economy in its fleet, the configuration is the classic 3-3-3 with a very generous screen installed on all seats.
The chair
I in row 10 had "only" three windows and felt like a needle in a haystack, really a good feeling.
The chair has all the standard functions, including massage, lumbar adjustment and all possible positions. Only flaw the last piece of the leg support did not rise to the top, leaving a hole with the fixed part of the seat.
Adjustable headrest and restraining flaps.
Several cavities where I can hide all my junk, you can see that this design is meant to give comfort
The chair not only has leg support, but in fact you can extend it making it almost a chaise lounge, it is really comfortable and personally surpasses any product I have ever tried before.
When it turns into a bed, which is why you choose to fly business class, it wipes out every rival, QSuite included, no one offers such a large and spacious bed in business class. The fact is that since all passengers are seated upright facing the direction of travel you have plenty of legroom and not, as in the herringbone solutions, with your feet having to squeeze into a small cavity making it uncomfortable to move around and turn around.
Here you get to have 2.20m of bed, even in my house I don't have such a long mattress And that is the strength of the Apex Suites. Obviously those who have the most space are the window-side passengers, who are also the ones who have a lot of privacy compared to those who sit aisle-side and therefore have less privacy and less cm for their legs, but it's still a lot.
If you are traveling as a couple I still recommend the two outer seats, true they are slightly misaligned, but you still have more space and windows to share. If you don't know your neighbor, on the other hand, the electric bulkhead allows for privacy and no problems whatsoever.
I see only minor flaws.
The first is the hand control to operate the armchair which is on the armrest that makes it troublesome to maneuver the seat, but once you figure out how to do it you can avoid making mistakes.
The second is that the crew has "top-down" management of the electric windows. In fact on takeoff all but the ones in the first row were darkened, and I did not have the option to make them darker. Above all, it is mandatory to operate all the windows in the same way, so it is not possible to leave one open and close the others.
Third is that there are no air vents.. BAD.
Food & Beverage
First of all, the service is "eat when you want" aka dine on demand. This means that you can ask the crew to serve meals whenever you want. This is not a given, not all companies do this and those who do definitely have an extra percentage gear allows the passenger to totally manage his or her own pace on board.
Just before departure, menus and wine list are distributed. And the order is taken during taxiing. Lunch always starts with a small entree or amuse a bouche as Oman calls it.
Then there are 4 appetizers, 4 main courses and 3 or 4 desserts, depending on the flight in addition to the classic cheese board, at the passenger's choice.
I must say that everything I ate was really delicious.
I started with the shrimp with mashed sweet potato, the classic mezze or the typical Arabic appetizer of humus and snacks. For the main course I went for the fish fillet with curry sauce.
The service was perfect, the mise en place taken care of down to the smallest details, the ceramics used for the service really beautiful.
What I liked most was the care and pace that, despite the biz booth being full, the attendant managed to maintain.
The flight lasted just over 6 hours and, peanuts aside, only one meal was served, whereas other carriers on these lengths also offer a small pre-arrival snack, but given the length of the flight this may be okay.
These are the dishes for the next flight, the one from Muscat to Malpensa.
Service
Staff smiling (and maskless), attentive, and present. As it is a daytime flight leaving at 9 a.m. in Bangkok and landing at 2 p.m. in Muscat, passengers are unlikely to put themselves to sleep (I did) and so cabin presence is necessary, but the fact that each passenger chooses when to eat "forcing" the crew to be "attentive" at all times plays a role in this.
Of very high quality, on the other hand, is the mat that is provided to put on the chair when in bed mode, as well as Blanket and Cushion, with 5-star hotel embroidery and details.
A small disappointment was the beauty kit, which was really paltry.
Let's say it would be perfect for premium economy, not business class. Inside the pouch are socks, earplugs a brush, and an eye mask. A mask that is long (like the seat) and very opaque, perfect for counteracting the electronic windows that don't fully dim.
In contrast then the airline offers pajamas to business class passengers, something that in biz very few carriers do and only on long, overnight flights, while here I was offered along with the little sock from the beauty kit.
However, I realized on my second flight of the day that there is a real amenity kit instead, but that Oman delivers only on overnight flights. Thanks to the courtesy of the purse, and to make up for a little inconvenience, she brought me the real one explaining the difference. Frankly, Singapore also delivers the kit on demand, but what is delivered is the same for everyone.
The real kit is much, much better than the one we had in the first flight.
First of all, the aesthetics of the clutch is very nice and it is branded Amouage, which is the brand of the products contained inside. Inside is a different and equally good face mask. The same brush and earplugs. Plus there is a different pair of socks, a body and hand cream and a lip cream. All under the Amouage brand.
IFE
Oman has renamed its entertainment system ARIA. I like this marketing strategy started by Emirates with ICE and followed by many other airlines to enhance a product that has become increasingly strategic in attracting passengers from economy to first.
I think Aria is Oman's only weakness. There is not much content, in fact there is little compared to what other Gulf carriers offer. There are few movies and little TV content.
Also bad is the entertainment controller, unresponsive and not at all intuitive, and the screen is too far away to use touch.
Oman in its promo video advertises the possibility of watching Discovery+ content, too bad we are talking about 10, ten, episodes of 10 different programs, something without logic. The same goes for movies, they are considered new movie releases of 2021/22. I in fact only listened to music the whole time, given the presence of many BBC concerts available.
The worst thing though is the Wi-fi- I honestly thought that worse than ITA on the old A330s was impossible, but here it reaches unreachable heights.
There are 4 types of packages, advertised by time. 30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours and entire flight. So a distracted user (or one who does not speak English) would be led to think that you are going to buy a time package and instead NO. You buy a packet of data to be used in that specific time frame. The thing that makes you laugh is the amount of data: with the 30-minute package you are entitled to do 5mb of traffic. Stuff that as soon as you are on the network you have run out of data without knowing how, you have spent 4$.
It's not that the other solutions are any better: 60 minutes gives 10mb at the price of 11.9$, three hours at 24.9$ gives 40mb, while the "full Flight" package at the modest price of 39.9 allows 150mb of traffic. Meaningless stuff.
Fortunately, I always travel with the bluetooth adapter to use my headphones Because those provided were definitely below average.
In conclusion
Oman is the underdog of the Gulf carriers; it is a better product than Saudia, which has made leaps and bounds in recent years anyway, but just the fact that Oman serves alcohol on board alone is worth one more point than the Arab carrier.
The seat is really as everyone says, if it's not second behind the QSuite it's because of the IFE, but I would allow myself to rank it in my top5 of the best business classes that fly in Europe regularly.
Considering that I paid less than 1,000 euros for a ticket one-way from Chang Mai, via Bangkok and Muscat to Milan Malpensa I can only be super pleased with the experience. And to those who think this configuration is ugly, I dare to say that, perhaps, it is the photos that do not convey the quality of the product.

Pro
- The chair
- Catering
Against
- The wifi
- IFE
- No Beauty Kit