Oman Air has recently become a new airline partner of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program and will join as a oneworld Alliance member by mid-2025. This partnership is welcome news for Qantas members, as it provides another option to use Qantas Points to fly to Europe, Africa and the Middle East from Australia. Not to mention, of course, visiting spectacular Oman en route to these destinations.
I am invited as a guest of Qantas and Oman Air on a five-day trip to opulent Oman. This review covers my first leg with Oman Air from Bangkok to Muscat, flying in its Business Studio Suite, its old First Class.
Redeem Qantas Points to fly with Oman Air.
Check-in and lounge
I can’t specifically detail the check-in process at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, as I am in transit from Sydney and remained airside. I just had to get my onward boarding pass at the relevant transit desk.
Just behind the transit desk is the Oman Air Lounge. The lounge welcomes Business and Business Studio guests on Oman Air as well as Sindbad Silver and Gold members (for international flights only).
Oman Air’s Bangkok lounge is on the smaller side for lounges, but it is still a very comfortable area in which to wait for your flight. It has a main seating area behind the reception desk and a small seating area to the right of the entrance.
A self-serve food and drinks bar offers hot and cold food options, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Hot dishes include kumra vegetable curry, rigatoni puttanesca, chicken biryani, seafood green curry, green chicken Thai style and vegetable croquettes. There are also cold options, including breads, fruit and pastries.
On the beverage side, you’ll find the standard alcoholic drops like Jack Daniel’s and Smirnoff, as well as beer. If you’re after something less hard, a variety of soft drinks, juices and bottled water are also available.
The one criticism I have for this lounge is that the shower and bathrooms are separate. This means I have to shave in the public men’s bathroom before making my way to a separate room for a shower. But all in all, it’s a minor quibble.
Oman Air Boeing 787 Business Studio seating
As I board the plane, I know I’m in for a luxurious trip. I enter the Business Studio cabin, my home for the next six hours. The cabin is all class. The brown and cream colour palette of the seat adds a touch of sophistication. Also, the dark green blanket is perfectly designed to complement the seat colouring and showcase the Oman Air colour branding.
Being an old First Class product, the level of space is immense. Even the tallest among us will be entirely comfortable. As I take my seat, the large entertainment screen seems to be a mile away from me. A very soft and fluffy blanket, and the world’s most comfortable airline pillow is provided. So, too, are other cool amenities like a self-serve in-seat bar populated with soft drinks and numerous storage compartments.
When it’s time to get some shut-eye, the seat folds out to a lie-flat bed. The cabin crew are more than happy to make the bed for me. They add a thick seat mattress to the seat to ensure a great night’s sleep. And helping with a great night’s sleep is the pillow. The more I travel, the more I realise that the pillow can be the make or break for a great rest. And this pillow does not disappoint. I am out like a light within seconds of my head touching it, and I get a good four-and-a-half hours of sleep after dinner.
Business Studio has sliding doors that offer an exceptional level of privacy without feeling too enclosed. Overall, this is a great hard product, especially in the Business/Business+ market.
Food and beverage in Oman Air Boeing 787 Business Studio
Oman Air offers a modern European à la carte menu and a traditional Omani set experience. I opt for the latter, as I want to fully experience Omani culture as soon as possible. The set experience comes in two courses, and a dessert option is chosen separately.
The first course entails lamb shorba, Arabic spiced eggplant, chickpea salad and Za’atar sambusa. The sambusa is especially delicious. For those unsure what this is, it’s like the more popular samosa. However, it has meat and onion inside instead of potato. I really like the way there is a sample of many dishes in small quantities. It makes this first course seem larger somehow.
The second course features an option from two favourite Omani dishes. The first is an oven-roasted chicken, served with makbus spiced rice, capsicum and lime. The other is grilled sea bass, served with coconut lemon sauce, fava beans, steamed rice and cumin roasted tomato. I choose the latter and am happy with my choice. The fish is tasty but not overpowering and is perfectly moist. I can’t stand overcooked, dry fish.
The cheese and dessert menu is extensive and can be viewed in the menu below. I choose the sweet bread pudding and it fully satisfies my sweet tooth cravings. I get so excited to eat it that I forget to take a picture before I start digging in.
Menu:
Entertainment and service in Oman Air Boeing 787 Business Studio
The in-flight entertainment screen is massive, coming in at 23 inches. The entertainment has a library of movies, TV shows and documentaries. In addition, all Business Studio guests are provided with a voucher for three hours of complimentary Wi-Fi. I test this out and can confirm that the speed was decent, similar to what you’ll find with 5G on the ground. Just make sure not to exceed 100 MB of data, or else additional charges apply.
When it comes to service, it is refined and polished. The cabin crew go out of their way to ensure that you are having a comfortable flight. They also emphasise that they are available at any time during the flight. No request is too big or small. Before landing, my cabin crew member goes through all the main places that I should visit while in Oman. He is definitely proud of his country, and as I later find out, he has every reason to be.
Summing up
Oman Air becoming a Qantas Frequent Flyer partner is fantastic news, and in early 2025, this means you’ll be able to redeem your Qantas Points for Oman Air’s most luxurious class, Business Studio. This ‘Business plus’ offering retains many of the hard product trimmings of its former days as First Class, as well as exceptional First Class service.
From the bedding to the fantastic meals, the trip is a comfortable one. In some respects, it’s a shame that the flight is not slightly longer to have more time to rest without having to awaken from a deep sleep. But it’s also wonderful to be landing in such a spectacular city and country.
It remains to be seen what the points cost will be for this class, as well as how the availability of reward seats will shape up. Whatever it is, having another option to fly to the Middle East and beyond in luxury using Qantas Points is a great thing.
Photography by Daniel Sciberras, who travelled as a guest of Oman Air.
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