Review: Air India Business Class Boeing 787-9 [DEL - SIN]
Air India Business class on their Boeing 787-9 from Delhi to Singapore offers good value for a decent experience on this route. But be careful to check exactly which airplane and flight number as some Air India flights are allegedly less than kosher.
Overall Rating:
Air India recently purchased a ‘premium’ Indian carrier called Vistara and is looking to become a leading airline in Asia with major fleet overhauls, lounge updates, etc to come. Little early for that now, but with the mergers Air India now operates these Vistara flights – the more ‘premium’ experience in India.
Flight numbers with four digits beginning with a ‘2’ utilize Vistara airplanes and crew. My understanding is this is the Air India to fly for now – as the current Air India can be found quite lacking in the service and hard product department. This specific flight is on a Vistara 787-9 – a newer plane (2020) with the better business class seats in a 1-2-1 rather than 2-2-2 on the standard Air India planes.
Hopefully in the future Air India can manifest their goal of becoming a leading carrier as there are regularly good value redemption flights from West Coast USA to Singapore. For now we will see how they currently stack up.
In This Post:
How I Booked Air India Business Class
Air India 787 Business Class Pre Flight
-Air India 787 Business Class Lounge
-Air India 787 Business Class Boarding
Air India 787 Business Class In Flight
-Air India 787 Business Class Seat
-Air India 787 Business Class In Flight Entertainment
-Air India 787 Business Class Meals
-Air India 787 Business Class In Flight Service
Bottom Line
Photo Gallery
How I Booked Air India Business Class
I was looking at options for return flights from Delhi to Singapore after a little spontaneous jaunt post Indonesia. I had originally intended to book something using miles/points but came across a deal on Air India for a cash fare.
There is quite a bit of nay saying on the internet about the quality of Air India flights, however the consensus is that any former Vistara (now operated by Air India) flight will be ok.
This cost me $523 thru the Capital One travel portal (earning 5x points) which was price matched to a $473 that was available elsewhere. Great value I think for a 6 hour overnight business class flight in a lie flat anywhere in the world.
Air India 787 Business Class Lounge
Business Class passengers fortunately are granted access to a separate dedicated security queue at the airport which is notorious for slow security lines. Nevertheless my camera gear is meticulously inspected and it takes quite a bit of time.
The Air India International lounge proper in Terminal 3 is currently closed for renovations. Allegedly reopening December 2025, it seems I am a bit early.
For now I have been given access to the ‘Encalm Prive’ lounge, which is also a Priority Pass lounge
Encalm Prive | Indira Gandhi International Airport
After a bit of a trek through Duty Free, this lounge is located across a hall and up an elevator to the 3rd floor above immigration.
The Encalm Prive is a huge lounge with many seating areas. Quite full at the moment, hopefully gets a little quieter as the night moves on.
Further from the entrance, more seating is available towards the back.
Staffed juice and coffee bar
Several ‘nap pods’
Massive restaurant area with a huge selection of food items.
Arguably the best section – Mezze and olives and other bits
Desserts selection
Several live food stations including a waffle station for some reason.
More fresh food selections
Quite a lot of buffet style dishes on offer. Food is all very good – some of the best lounge food I have had.
But very busy so some food disappears faster than others.
Despite how busy, staff are frequently around clearing plates in a timely manner.
I was able to squeeze in for a quick shower at 9p. Showers are clean and spacious, but a bit musty smelling. No provided extra amenities (toothbrush, etc as other showers commonly do)
Basic but more than sufficient.
Air India 787 Business Class Boarding
Departing from Gate 21, about a 6 minute walk from the lounge. Boarding appears a little late – allegedly 945 but the gate staff has not yet arrived. Flight crew is still showing up until about 10.
Boarding actually starts about 1010, with a separate bridge for business class.
The cabin is clean and bright, but has the middle overhead bins which I don’t particularly like. Good for storage, but makes the cabin feel a bit tighter.
Menus are passed around shortly after taking seats, letting us know orders will be taken shortly.
Welcome drink of orange juice and buttermilk (?) offered.
Shortly after the lead flight attendant around to introduce herself, followed by an FA with hot or cold towel options. These were uniquely microfiber – softer than the normal ones. Quite nice actually. But not particularly hot.
‘Loungewear’ (PJs) offered shortly after – a nice touch that isn’t offered by enough carriers.
Air India 787 Business Class Seat
The seat is clean and in good shape. It is the same seat used by Turkish Airlines on their newer A350s and 787s, as well as Singapore Airlines on their 787s.
Kind of a plain color palate – gray and lighter gray. Purple accents add a bit of flair. The seat itself is a bit narrow in the upper shoulder area, but at least its a 1-2-1 🙂
Even numbered seats have the console towards the aisle for additional privacy.
Its not a great seat, but not a bad seat. My first couple of trips with it I wasn’t a huge fan – but it is growing on me despite its flaws. There are certainly much better products out there, but its a solid baseline offering.
Good sized screen with decent leg space. A bit tight, but deep enough. Cubby underneath is good for shoes or a small bag.
Blankets, seat topper, and pillows are in the seat, along with an amentity kit, water bottle, and headphones in the console area.
Basic set of controls with headphone plug and an IFE remote. Still a bit annoyed by the placement as the remote is easy to bump turning on the light
Comfortable in bed mode with the provided seat topper.
Air India 787 Business Class In Flight Entertainment
Decent sized touch screen, though feels a bit smaller than Turkish/Singapore – should probably start measuring these. Pretty responsive though as it is newer.
Plenty of western and Bollywood films
Headphones are Air India branded and comfortable enough – though either the noise cancelling was really poor, or non existent.
There was also a weird feedback noise if the plug was bumped, or something placed on the top of the console. Super annoying. Not sure if it was a faulty seat or headset but I elected to not watch anything using the IFE.
Several games on Air India – including multiplayer Monopoly. Sadly no other users online at the time so had to play by myself.
Air India 787 Business Class Meals
There was a bit of turbulence after takeoff which may have delayed service a bit. There was also a loud crash from the forward galley shortly after takeoff – perhaps something wasn’t locked? Anyways – between the two of these, FAs were delayed and about one and a half hours after takeoff FAs were around to take orders.
Champagne and warm nuts shortly follow
Good looking menu options, I’ve gone with the seabass as I’m a bit ‘curried out’
Main Meal
Starter was brought out on a tray with the other sides. Weird purple ‘sticky’ tray feels a little cheap for business class. But I understand the use as something that prevents dishes from sliding around. Though I’ve not had that problem on other flights.
The ‘Thai Laab Gai’ starter was actually really tasty. Better than it looks – light, flavorful and a nice texture.
The seabass main was also really nice. Flavorful rice, well cooked fish, and a really nice sauce.
Dessert was nothing special, but still nice.
Air India Business Class In Flight Service
I always find it tough to judge fairly a redeye service as I know everyone is tired. There are some standouts (Singapore Airlines), but I’ve yet to have ‘bad’ service on these medium haul redeyes.
This flight was probably closer to ‘so so’ than anything else.
Service was quite slow between courses, with mains coming out after nearly 2 hours in the air. Now granted there was the turbulence and galley issues, but the galley for one was preventable.
At the end of the meal I had to call for my tray to be removed rather than the FAs proactively clearing. To be fair, after the call button was pushed they were very quick.
The lavatories were also quite dirty. Many suspect drops on the floor, and an un-flushed toilet. Perhaps more to do with the passengers of course, but nevertheless I’d expect it kept a bit tidier.
There was also no facial mist or other amenities stocked in the bathroom, so a bit of a let down there.
Bottom Line
There are 3 important factors in a good business class flight. Hard product, food, and service.
The hard product is about a par, food was actually quite good, but the service missed on a few marks.
It is hard to judge a service on a redeye flight, however there are some airlines that do it exceptionally well. I think Air India here missed the mark. What Singapore Air did in just one hour took Air India 2 hours and a call button press. The FAs were friendly enough but the delays and bathroom cleanliness were a miss for me.
For now Air India will remain in my ‘probably wont book’ category for the next few years. Especially considering the other options in the region – Middle Eastern carriers and a number of other Asian carriers. We will see how their Vistara buyout and alleged transformation pans out in the coming years before trying again.