To begin this flight, there was a tone-setting act of radical extremism that shook the core of my belief system and made me wonder would intra-Europe business class travel ever be the same. I was served – before departure, on the ground – an actual glass of champagne, making Aegean without fail the European outlier before so much as a single piece of silverware had been presented.
Airline: Aegean Airlines A3 630
Route: Athens – Dublin (Approx. 4 hours)
Class: Business
Although it was another 40 minutes before the meal service was to continue, I was still barely sitting upright, jaw slung open like a seal waiting to be tossed a herring, unable to contain my shock at the preprandial offerings on the ground.
Once levelled off, the crew wasted not a moment in wheeling out the meal service cart, doing so literally in sync with the seatbelt sign being extinguished. Dinner was immediately served, all put together quite tidily on one tray, and served with my chosen glass of wine – which was thoughtfully poured to the brim, and then topped up again after I took my first sip.
While not an initially pleasing meal in terms of appearance, it was in fact very much to my liking, and surprisingly filling given the size of the plate, such that I could barely manage a few leaves from the salad towards the end – leaving room, naturally, only for an additional glass of wine which I quickly managed to acquire from the crew.
Our seatmate/s in Row 1 A & C, having either very unfortunate alcohol tolerance or – more probably – consumed more than their fare share in the lounge earlier on, were by now becoming quite boisterous and as is often the case proving that business class does not in fact necessarily equal having any class.
With that, dessert was very prudently offered, dispensed to all passengers irrespective of whether it was requested or not; a very sturdy slice of chocolate cake sure to sober up the majority of excessive tipplers.
Overall, service and the meal itself on this flight was excellent – my one piece of feedback would be that, likely because of the drunkards in Row 1, the crew, duties completed, beat a hasty retreat to the galley not to be seen again until landing. I quite understand, and assume this was partly to avoid having to be asked for (and probably refuse) another drink from our friends up front, but it did mean the rest of the cabin went largely bereft of additional service unless requested.
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