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Having abandoned First class in 2005, Aeroflot have now opted for a
premium Business class product on all of their long haul services, and
installed new, angled lie-flat seats in this new Business class cabin.
The seats we tested are available onboard Boeing 767 aircraft, and
constitute a dramatic product improvement from the previous Business
class standards.
Arranged in a 2 x 2 configuration each seat is contained within the seat
pod format - in other words, in the full lie-flat recline position your
feet area is housed in the hollow section of the seat in front of you.
Finished in dark blue leather, the seats provide an attractive look to
this cabin, with different shades of blue providing the predominant
ambience.
In the upright seated position the seat was found to be comfortable,
with a reasonably generous amount of seat cushion width between the arm
rests. The headrest support has a reasonable amount of side and vertical
support and a certain level of adjustment. Each seat is fitted with an
individual reading light on a flexible and adjustable stalk.
All of the seat controls are electronic and we found that these are easy
to operate and quite responsive - particularly in terms of being able to
adjust different seat positions for the back rest, seat base cushion and
leg rest.
In a semi-reclined, relaxation position that one may use for dining, or
simply sitting back and watching the IFE or reading, the general support
and comfort for these seats was at a good standard.
There is a metal foot support on the bottom of the leg rest, although we
did find that this does not provide much in the way of adjustment.
Switch the seat into its full recline position, and it does slide down
to a fairly comfortable - however, this is not a true flat-bed format,
and the back rest support area is angled at something in the region of
15 or 18 degrees compared to the seat base and leg rest area - these
latter two aspects being generally quite flat.
In overall summary, this may certainly not be the best of angled
lie-flat seats in the market, but it is nevertheless a huge advancement
for Aeroflot in terms of the general comfort being provided to Business
class passengers.
For inflight entertainment, Aeroflot have opted to provide Business
class passengers with the digEplayer. Similar to a DVD player, this
provides a reasonable clear LCD screen of 21 cm width, and programming
offers up to 30 movies and approximately 100 hours of music channels.
The ease of usage for the digEplayer is generally well rated, and we did
find that Aeroflot provide a good back-up of spare batteries should the
power source run out on your particular player during the flight.
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