I am sitting in Business class seat 1A, on this Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight bound for Delhi from Singapore. My first impression is that the seat is old-school, and a little dirty in the tray area which I wipe with a wet tissue. But my concerns are soon put to rest with lovely flight attendants, a hot wet towel, and a delicious cup of Masala Chai tea before take-off. I am further happily surprised when the newspaper and magazine trolley comes around! I haven’t seen this since before Covid – a lovely touch and something I have missed. Shortly after, the amenity kits are handed out – Air India uses ‘Tumi’. Finally, the menu comes – it is breakfast. Not a bad selection but I have a pre-ordered Kosher meal. We now are ready to take off about 40 mins behind schedule.

The Kosher meal that my partner actually ordered for me (without asking me 🤪) is ok – some dips and bread, and a kind of meatloaf and rice pilaf. A bit salty and not heated up enough.

I watch only one movie on this 4+ hour flight called ‘Pretty Problems’ starring no one in particular, and it’s no too bad.

For the rest of the flight I sleep for a couple of hours in the fully lie-flat bed which is comfortable.

I went into this flight with pretty negative expectations having read a number of reviews about the old/bad product and service, but I was happily surprised. No, it’s not SQ, but I feel the genuine service is there, unlike the robotic service one gets with SQ.

Rating: 8/10