For a short trip to Washington, I travelled on board a Brussels Airlines Airbus A330. After the very warm welcome by purser I. Holtzem and her team, I discovered another nice surprise: the aircraft (OO-SFZ) was equipped with brand new premium economy class seats. Indeed, between 20 February and 22 March, the aircraft stayed in Amman, Jordan for a technical checkup and the upgrade.
Flight: SN515
Date: 8 April 2019
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200 (OO-SFZ)
From Brussels to Washington Dulles (BRU-IAD)
Seats: 10F & 10G (premium economy)
Flight time: 7 hours 47 minutes
Premium Economy, the experience
Back in 2016, Brussels Airlines introduced economy plus on board its long-haul flights, and the concept has now been improved with a new and completely separated Premium economy class cabin with three rows of 7 seats. The airline provided a 38″ seat pitch and that’s about 23% more legroom compared to the regular economy class. Honestly, the seat is very comfortable. You don’t get the flatbed seat experience but still, a nice 40 degrees recline.
In-flight entertainment
A very wide table allows you to work or relax without disturbing the passenger(s) next to you. The in-flight entertainment content looks the same as the passengers in business class, the 13.3” HD screen is smaller than the ones up front but the screen is still one of the largest HD Premium Economy screens in Europe. The screen includes a USB power plug, and under the seat, you get an AC plug.
In-flight service: food and beverage
After the aperitif service, a choice between two main courses was offered: chicken (very tasty according to my 10-year-old) and fish (I am already used to aeroplane food 😉 ). Coffee/tea during another drink service, duty-free, then a light snack before landing: a barchetta caponata, a vegetarian stuffed pizza containing eggplants, peppers, zucchini and olives followed by another round of drinks.
Based on the pictures, I do not seem impressed. Seats look as narrow as in eco ( correct me if I am wrong ), plastic cups for drinks, looks like basic economy food trays. If the surcharge is €100 to €150 one way, I can understand you pay it for the recline and legroom, if it is about double of eco, I would expect more from the catering…