As our trip around Ethiopia started and finished in Kenya, Real Africa chose Kenya Airways to get us there rather than British Airways. Presumably it was the cheapest option, but for us an overnight flight was preferable as we arrived early in the morning, refreshed after a reasonable night’s sleep.
The business class check in process was straightforward and simple.
The airline uses the Sky Team lounge at Heathrow and on arrival it was suggested the upstairs area may be quieter and it was, apart from an annoying screaming child. There was an excellent selection of alcoholic and soft drinks and an extensive buffet with salads, hummus, cheese and cold meats etc which we enjoyed although hot dishes were on offer. A separate tea/coffee station was available as was all the English language newspapers. It remained quiet and we sat reading the papers and indulging in G&T until we were asked if we’d like a glass of champagne – of course we did and it was Christmas Eve after all. It continued to remain very quiet and was probably one of the best starts to a holiday we’ve had!
We boarded our 787-7 Dreamliner in good time: an hour and a quarter before departure. The configuration in business class was 2 seats on either side and 2 in the middle and with only three rows in the section we were in, it felt very intimate. Water, cranberry juice or champagne was offered before take off – guess what we had! We actually took off five minutes early and as our flight time to Nairobi was said to only 7 hours 40 minutes, the pilot proudly announced we’d arrive early.
The menu was presented verbally and I plumped for a vegetarian mezze to start with which arrived beautifully presented and comprised of a stuffed vine leaf, hummus, tabouleh, hallumi cheese and sun dried tomatoes. It was excellent as was Roy’s smoked salmon and caviar. This boded well for mains which didn’t disappoint either with a vegetable jalfrezi for me and chicken curry for Roy. However, both were served with a huge portion of rice and we left half of it. We shared a plate of cheese for pudding with a glass of port (not shared) and finished with cointreau and coffee.
After such an excellent feast, we bedded down for the night with the seats reclining pretty well even for Roy who’s 6’2”. The temperature was good and we slept well declining breakfast as which we knew we’d get on arrival at our hotel. We landed in Nairobi 50 minutes early and were impressed with our experience which we felt compared favourably with the big boys like Virgin and BA.