Air Algerie Business Class Airbus A330neo Review: Utterly Awful

For the first long haul segment of my Orient Express adventure via Africa trip, my first class quest to Japan, I flew Air Algerie’s Airbus A330-900neo business class on the 6hr50min flight from Montreal (YUL) to Algiers (ALG). I had heard almost entirely negative things about Air Algerie, which intrigued me, naturally! Well, now that I’ve flown Air Algerie I can confirm that everything I heard was true, and then some. I don’t want to be dramatic — obviously flying business class is better than economy — but honestly, just about everything sucked. On the plus side, the seats as such were fine, but that’s where the good news ends. The food was not good, and took an insanely long amount of time to be served. There were no amenity kits… or menus… or meal choice… or alcohol… or diet soda. If the crew were any more indifferent, they would’ve been invisible. I wouldn’t fly Air Algerie again unless I absolutely had to, which… I can’t imagine that’ll ever be the case. Honestly, Air Algerie made me yearn for my recent flight on Turkmenistan Airlines, which was at least fun. How I booked my Air Algerie business class ticketAir Algerie business class check-in, lounge, & boardingAir Algerie A330neo business class cabin & seatsAir Algerie A330neo business class entertainmentAir Algerie business class amenitiesAir Algerie A330neo departure from MontrealAir Algerie business class dinner meal serviceAir Algerie A330neo business class lavatoryAir Algerie A330neo business class bedAir Algerie business class breakfast meal serviceAir Algerie business class crew & serviceAir Algerie A330neo arrival in AlgiersBottom line How I booked my Air Algerie business class ticket Air Algerie is a pretty isolated airline, which perhaps reflects Algeria overall — the country just isn’t interested in visitors, and getting a visa requires jumping through hoops. So Air Algerie doesn’t have any useful partnerships when it comes to earning or redeeming miles. As a result, booking a cash ticket is just about the only option, unless you’re a frequent flyer with the airline. Air Algerie tends to have rather steep business class fares, despite its lackluster product. However, I did manage to find a rather attractive one-way business class fare. I booked the following in business class for $1,171 in cash: 10/03 AH2701 Montreal to Algiers departing 4:10PM arriving 5:00AM (+1 day)10/04 AH4000 Algiers to Tunis departing 7:10AM arriving 8:30AM The first segment was operated by an Airbus A330-900neo, while the second segment was operated by an Airbus A320 that was wet leased from Avion Express. Air Algerie business class check-in, lounge, & boarding I had flown into Montreal the same day from Miami (MIA) on Air Canada Rouge, so I had an extended layover. I was at the Air Algerie check-in counter before it opened at 12:30PM, and there was already quite the queue of passengers waiting. Unsurprisingly, and as is very common for North Africa flights, people had a ton of checked bags. It took me around 30 minutes to get checked in, since there was one counter for business class, and there were half a dozen people in front of me. At first I was asked if I had a visa for Algeria, though I explained I was in transit, which seemed to catch the check-in agent off guard. Air Algerie is clearly targeted at the local community, and doesn’t see much international connecting traffic. Air Algerie check-in Montreal Airport Security was a breeze, and Air Algerie sends its business class passengers to the National Bank Lounge, which is the contract lounge in the international portion of the terminal. I won’t do a full review, but it was actually a pretty pleasant facility, with plenty of seating, lots of natural light, and it wasn’t very crowded. Bank National Lounge Montreal Airport seating Bank National Lounge Montreal Airport seating The food selection was pretty average, with a handful of hot options, plus cheese, cold cuts, etc. There was coffee, tea, wine, beer, and soft drinks. I made the mistake of saving my hunger and thirst for onboard the Air Algerie flight! Bank National Lounge Montreal Airport buffet Bank National Lounge Montreal Airport bar My Air Algerie flight was departing from gate A58, with boarding scheduled for 3:10PM, a full hour before departure. I was at the gate early enough to see the inbound aircraft arrive, and goodness, what a stunner it was! The Montreal route is primarily served by an A330neo with the registration code 7T-VLB, which is in a special livery celebrating the country’s football team. Looking at the plane was honestly the best part of the flight experience, unfortunately. Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo Montreal Airport Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo Montreal Airport The boarding area got very full before departure, with lots of passengers in wheelchairs, and lots of crowding around the gate. Boarding ended up starting at 3:20PM, with those needing extra time, as well as business class passengers, being invited to board first. Air Algerie departure gate Montreal Airport I can’t describe how excited I was to step onboard, as I always love trying new airlines! I wasn’t fully prepared for the level of indifference shown by every part of the experience, though. Before I get into this review, I should mention that Air Algerie has recently started taking delivery of Airbus A330-900neos as part of its fleet modernization initiative. However, the airline isn’t just taking delivery of these planes factory fresh, but has also acquired a couple secondhand from Air Belgium, which went out of business in 2024. Air Algerie maintained the Air Belgium interiors — they also have staggered seats, but it’s a slightly different configuration. I boarded through the second door on the left, and then turned left into the business class cabin. Business class takes up the entire space between the first and second set of doors, and consists of 30 seats, spread across eight rows, in a 1-2-1 configuration. These seats are from the Stelia Aerospace Solstys line, so they’re typical last generation staggered business class seats. When it comes to the seat details, they have 44″ of pitch, 21″ of width, and convert into 77″ flat beds. On the plus side, it’s really easy to photograph Air Algerie cabins, since crews are nowhere to be seen. 😉 Air Algerie business class cabin Airbus A330-900neo Air Algerie business class cabin Airbus A330-900neo If you’re traveling with someone, you may appreciate the sets of center seats in odd numbered rows, as these are “honeymoon” seats, which allow you to sit really close to your companion. Meanwhile in even numbered rows, the seats in the center section are further from one another and really close to the aisles, so those would be my least preferred seats in this configuration. Air Algerie business class seats Airbus A330-900neo Along the windows, seats alternate between being closer to the aisle and closer to the windows. In odd numbered rows, seats are closer to the aisle. What I particularly don’t like about these staggered seats is just how exposed some of them are to the aisle, as you really have no separation. Air Algerie business class seat Airbus A330-900neo In even numbered rows, seats are closer to the windows, and these are the best seats in the house, in terms of offering some separation from the aisle, and an easy view out the window. Air Algerie business class seat Airbus A330-900neo I assigned myself seat 6A, the window seat on the left side in the third to last row. Air Algerie business class seat Airbus A330-900neo These staggered seats have a console to the side of the seat, and on the side of that is a panel with seat controls, an entertainment controller, and a small armrest. Air Algerie business class seat features Airbus A330-900neo There’s an exposed storage area above the panel, where you can store things, or even hang the headphones. As you can see, the seat just wasn’t well maintained, and also wasn’t clean, as it also needed a good wiping down. Air Algerie business class seat features Airbus A330-900neo In terms of charging, the AC power outlet and USB-A outlet were located underneath the seat. There was no USB-C or wireless charging, unsurprisingly. Air Algerie business class seat charging Airbus A330-900neo Looking at the front of the seat, the tray table is stored behind the seat in front, and can be extended by being lowered and then moved over. One of the nice things about these tray tables is that you can angle them away from you, so it’s possible to get up during the meal service. Air Algerie business class seat tray table Airbus A330-900neo The entertainment system is in a fixed position and is located above the ottoman. The monitor here was 16″ and was touchscreen, but wasn’t terribly high definition. Air Algerie business class seat entertainment Airbus A330-900neo As much as there are many aspects of this seat I don’t love, I do like how big the footwell is, which is great for those of us with big feet. It’s not necessarily that comfortable when you’re laying sideways in terms of space for knees, but still, there was a great amount of space here. Air Algerie business class seat footwell Airbus A330-900neo One other interesting note is that there were no overhead bins in the center of the cabin, so the overhead bins along the windows got pretty full, since the A330neo doesn’t have huge bins. On top of that, there were no individual air nozzles above seats, sadly. That was a problem on this flight, given how warm the cabin was kept. Air Algerie business class overhead console Airbus A330-900neo All-in-all, Air Algerie’s business class hard product is okay. The cabin maintenance could definitely use some help, but honestly, this is the least of Air Algerie’s problems. Air Algerie A330neo business class entertainment The Air Algerie business class entertainment system on the A330neo is pretty awful. For one, there’s not even a map feature. I’m sorry, I’m not sure the last time I flew an airline with seat back entertainment that didn’t have a map feature. What’s going on there? The system did have some movies, TV shows, and music, but it was a really lackluster selection. Air Algerie business class entertainment Airbus A330-900neo In total, there were 100 movies and 36 TV shows, but it definitely felt like the number of “popular” options was limited. Air Algerie business class entertainment Airbus A330-900neo Air Algerie business class entertainment Airbus A330-900neo Air Algerie business class entertainment Airbus A330-900neo The airline presumably went with the cheapest entertainment package available. For example, when it comes to sitcoms, there was one episode of “Fresh Off The Boat,” and it was the pilot episode from 2015. Yikes. Air Algerie business class entertainment Airbus A330-900neo When it comes to Wi-Fi, that’s something that just isn’t offered by Air Algerie. Funny enough, these ex-Air Belgium A330neos have Wi-Fi installed, but the airline just chooses not to use the system. So expect that you’re going to disconnect when flying with Air Algerie. Air Algerie business class amenities When it comes to amenities in Air Algerie business class, they were also very limited. The highlight was the pillow and blanket, which were at the seat upon boarding, but not exactly very nicely presented. Air Algerie business class blanket Anyway, this was the highlight of the amenities, and while they were nothing amazing, they were at least decent. Air Algerie business class pillow & blanket Headphones were also passed out well after takeoff, though the quality of them was very poor. This was closer to what you’d expect in economy than business class. Air Algerie business class headphones There were no amenity kits, or anything else to speak of. I don’t remember the last overnight business class flight I’ve taken where I wasn’t offered an amenity kit? Despite the very drawn out boarding process, the crew was nowhere to be seen for most of boarding. Finally at 4:10PM, right at departure time, they came around with pre-departure drinks. There was no “hello” or “welcome onboard,” but instead, just the tray being held out with orange juice or water. At least it was served in glassware… yay? Air Algerie business class pre-departure drink Air Algerie A330neo departure from Montreal Boarding this Air Algerie A330neo took an incredibly long time. Every seat was taken (business class seemed to be occupied mostly by operational upgrades plus friends and family). There was just endless confusion, and the crew’s only involvement with things was to occasionally check on people they knew and have chats with them, while everyone else was ignored. Boarding was also rough because it seemed like the APU was broken, so the cabin was incredibly hot. During boarding, I had asked the flight attendant if I could use the lavatory (I try to do that as a courtesy, even though it showed as unoccupied), and she responded “wait.” I checked with her again some time later, and she again said “wait.” I didn’t end up getting to go before departure… oh well! Our departure time came and went, and about 20 minutes later I asked a flight attendant if we were delayed. She didn’t understand my question, but after rephrasing, her answer was “no.” The door ended up closing at 4:35PM, 25 minutes behind the scheduled departure time. At that point the manual safety demonstration began, which was exclusively performed in French and Arabic, and not in English. In fairness, I was probably the only person onboard who didn’t have French or Arabic as my first language. I should also mention there were no safety checks during taxi — some people had their seats reclined, plenty of people still had their (glass) pre-departure beverages, and the guy across from me didn’t even have his seatbelt on. We began our pushback at 4:40PM, and then at 4:50PM we began our taxi. Taxiing Montreal Airport Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo While taxiing (and turning a corner), the captain made his welcome onboard announcement at 4:55PM, telling us “this is captain, good morning, taking off shortly.” Okay, we’ll ignore the “morning” part (I’ll assume it just means he’s well rested!), but I assume at Air Algerie the captain is also the one taxiing, right? If so, that’s a lot of multitasking, especially when you’re actively turning. But hey, credit where credit’s due, this guy was good at turning corners. When we got to runway 24R at 5PM and were cleared for takeoff, we didn’t slowly make the turn and then accelerate. Instead, we started accelerating pretty aggressively in our turn, and were going over 15 knots, while turning at a 90 degree angle. Seriously, check the Flightradar24 data. Taxiing Montreal Airport Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo We had a very powerful takeoff roll and the captain pulled up on the sidestick as if we were in a fighter jet. The views on the climb out were gorgeous — what a lovely afternoon! View after takeoff Montreal Airport Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo View after takeoff Montreal Airport Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo We made a sharp turn after takeoff, and had some nice views of the airport thanks to that. View after takeoff Montreal Airport Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo View after takeoff Montreal Airport Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo The seatbelt sign was turned off around five minutes after takeoff. A little while later, we started to get a beautiful sunset view as well. View after takeoff Montreal Airport Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo Air Algerie business class dinner meal service Dinner was served after takeoff in Air Algerie business class, but my gosh, what a bad and drawn out meal it was. I can deal with bad food or slow service, but bad food, bad drinks, and slow service? BLEH. The first thing to understand is that there were no menus or choices. You’re just served stuff, and it’s a “take it or leave it” situation. Service began 50 minutes after takeoff, when warm towels were distributed. Air Algerie business class warm towels Then around 15 minutes later, tablecloths were handed out. These felt more like large, flimsy napkins, than actual tablecloths, but whatever, no biggie. Air Algerie business class tablecloths Another 10 minutes later, the first course was served. The actual food was a little smoked salmon, some egg, some olives, etc. It didn’t taste good at all, but what was worse was the presentation. It’s as if they just threw a bunch of packaging on the tray, and put zero effort into how it’s presented. Air Algerie business class dinner — appetizer I couldn’t help but do their job for them, and make it look a little nicer, because it’s just embarrassing. Oh, and bread is just served by hand out of the basket. Nice. Air Algerie business class dinner — appetizer I kind of loved the Air Algerie branding on the cutlery, but that’s the same cutlery you have to use for the entire meal. For that matter, the cutlery was downright sticky when I removed it from the packaging, so clearly it just hadn’t been cleaned properly. Air Algerie business class cutlery Drinks were brought out separately from the meal, but they might as well not have bothered. I didn’t realize that Air Algerie is a “dry” airline — it hadn’t even made my list of airlines that are dry. As it turns out, this is only a fairly recent development, as the airline switched to being dry a few years ago. It’s not only that they don’t have alcohol, but they don’t even have any diet sodas. They have juice or full calorie soda. There was also a huge language barrier here: “Drink?”“Do you have wine?”“Soda, juice.”“Do you have Diet Coke?”“Coke?”“No, Diet Coke.”“What?”“Coke Zero? Diet Pepsi? Pepsi Max?”*stares blankly*“I’ll have a water, please.”*serves me Sprite* Air Algerie business class drink Another 15 minutes later the main course was served. Again, there was no option, and it seemed to be some sort of a swordfish, or something. As someone who typically loves fish (and orders it way too often on planes), I found this to be way overcooked, dry, and completely tasteless. If you’re not going to offer people a choice of meals, what a random thing to serve! Air Algerie business class dinner — main course After an additional pause, the crew came around with cheese plates. I mean, they certainly serve quite a quantity of food, the issue is just that there are no choices, and none of it is actually good. They also don’t actually clear any plates. They just keep bringing more and more food, and if your tray is overflowing, so be it (for the below picture, I had placed the other stuff from the tray over on the side console). Air Algerie business class dinner — cheese course Next up, two whole apples were served, which… I mean, I can’t blame them for the excessive amount of food, serving cheese, fruit, and dessert. But still, this very much feels like an afterthought. I also couldn’t help but wonder if those apples had been washed, given that we’re talking about an airline that serves bread by hand. Air Algerie business class dinner — apples Lastly there was a little dessert tart trio. I tried to order a tea without caffeine, but that was a challenge: “Coffee or tea?”“Do you have any tea without caffeine?”“Coffee or tea?”“Tea please, but no caffeine.”“Coffee?”“Tea, please.” Air Algerie business class dinner — dessert The entire meal service took close to three hours. Nothing about it was good. The food wasn’t good. The service was terrible. I mean, everything was just so poorly timed. There was never even the offer for more drinks (even just bottled water), and when I did ask, it took them 15 minutes and multiple reminders to actually get some more water. I just don’t get it. As another example, they served the cheese plates, and then 10 minutes later they came around with more bread, after just about everyone had finished their cheese course. I’m exhausted writing about this. I need a drink. Air Algerie A330neo business class lavatory The Air Algerie A330neo business class lavatory is located at the very front of the cabin. One lavatory really isn’t enough for a full business class cabin plus the crew, so there was often a wait. While there are two lavatories behind the cabin, they’re shared with economy passengers, so there’s usually a line. The lavatories were fine. Toward the end of the flight they definitely weren’t clean, but to be honest, I’ve seen much worse lavatories on airlines in the region, so I’m hardly going to complain. Air Algerie business class lavatory Airbus A330-900neo Air Algerie business class lavatory Airbus A330-900neo Air Algerie business class lavatory amenities Air Algerie A330neo business class bed By the time the meal service was complete, we had well under four hours remaining to Algiers. So I reclined my seat into bed mode, and tried to get a bit of rest. The bed was okay, and again, compared to the rest of the experience, it was one of the better things. Air Algerie business class bed Airbus A330-900neo The issue is how hard it was to actually get rest on this flight. The lights were fully on until after the meal service was complete, so at that point it was under four hours until our arrival in Algiers. Air Algerie business class cabin lights Airbus A330-900neo Then the cabin lights were once again fully turned on exactly two hours before arrival. So for those keeping track at home, on a 6hr50min flight, the lights were dimmed for around 1hr50min. I’m not sure I actually slept for a minute. The cabin was really warm, and with the lack of individual air nozzles, I just couldn’t get comfortable. Air Algerie business class breakfast meal service It absolutely boggles my mind why the crew has to start the pre-landing service a full two hours before landing, when the extent of the breakfast is a single tray with a small side of fruit, a small piece of cake, and a croissant. Seriously, this is what everyone is being woken up two hours before landing for?! Air Algerie business class breakfast Credit where credit’s due, the drip coffee with milk was drinkable, and perhaps the culinary highlight of the flight. Getting a refill was beyond my abilities, but I sure did savor that one cup! Air Algerie business class coffee Air Algerie business class crew & service I understand that North African countries are often known for warm hospitality in a non-transactional setting, where there’s a genuine warmth and generosity to hospitality. Clearly that doesn’t apply in a transactional setting, though, and certainly not on Air Algerie. I don’t want to say the crew was rude — that wouldn’t be fair, and I didn’t even communicate with them enough to draw that conclusion. They actually seemed to be very nice in how they chatted with their friends who were in the cabin. As a customer, though, everything about the service was terrible. The crew had no warmth, no attentiveness, they were incredibly disorganized and slow, and the service flow just made no sense. If I were to train a crew on how to provide good service in business class, I’d have them experience this flight, and then have them do exactly the opposite. I think I’ve ragged on them enough. You’ve gotta love how the refreshing towel has Air Algerie’s logo, and then says “Always caring for you.” If this is what care looks like, I’d love to see what not being cared for looks like! Air Algerie is always caring for us! Air Algerie A330neo arrival in Algiers I was excited when my Air Algerie flight was slowly coming to an end. At around 4:20AM Algiers time the seatbelt sign was turned on, and the crew prepared the cabin for landing. Now, that didn’t actually involve doing any security checks, but they made sure passengers were aware there would be no more service. We ended up touching down at 4:50AM, and it must’ve been one of the smoothest touchdowns of my life, as you could barely feel it. From there, we had a short five minute taxi to a remote stand, where we pulled in at 4:55AM. Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo Algiers Airport It’s very odd how an airport that has so many empty gates and that’s rather underutilized sends its “flagship” aircraft to remote stands, but whatever. Air Algerie Airbus A330-900neo Algiers Airport Upon deplaning, there wasn’t so much as a “goodbye” from the crew. There also wasn’t any priority deplaning for business class, or a separate business class bus. It was quite a long drive to the terminal, and we got there at 5:15AM, where my interesting transit experience started… Bottom line I highly recommend flying Air Algerie business class… if you want to be reminded how every other airline doesn’t actually suck that much, by comparison. Air Algerie’s A330neo business class hard product is okay, and is the least of the issues. The problem is everything else, from the completely indifferent crew, to the unnecessarily drawn out service, to the lack of meal options, amenity kits, menus, diet soda, alcohol, etc., to the subpar entertainment and lack of Wi-Fi… the list goes on and on. And that says nothing of the bizarre elements of the flight, like no English safety demos, no safety checks before takeoff or landing, etc. What’s sad is that I would’ve actually had a more favorable impression of the flight if they just said “this is a sleeper flight, and we have no inflight service.” Truly, no service would’ve been better than this. I’m happy I had the chance to fly Air Algerie, but you know, I think I’m good for the time being! What do you make of Air Algerie’s business class?