Our Fiji Airways Business Class reward ticket redeemed through Alaska Mileage Plan offered a complimentary stopover. We used the stopover for a break in our travels in Fiji. We spent the week in Fiji exploring it’s beaches and resorts, before continuing onwards to our final destination on a Fiji Airways destination of New Zealand. How would a Fiji Airways Business Class medium haul flight compare ?

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This post is one chapter on our trip to Fiji, New Zealand and French Polynesia. This trip was redeemed through Alaska Mileage Plan and AAdvantage frequent flier programs and enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: Fiji Airways Business Class A330-2, Nadi International Airport – Auckland International Airport

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We departed the Fiji Airways Tabua Lounge Nadi at about forty five minutes before our departure time and headed upstairs to the international departure concourse. It was a bit of mayhem as we wandered through the large duty free area and into a United Kingdom style holding area where all gates shared the same seats and each flight fed off of the main concourse area. Although what appeared to be a brand new facility, it was very congested and lacking in areas to sit. We just stood around close to our gate as there was no where else really to go or hang out.

Boarding Fiji Airways:

At thirty minutes before the flight, flight boarding was announced. The boarding process was prompt with separate staff checking passports and boarding passes being checked at the podium.

We headed outside on the outdoor walkways of Nadi International Airport for our last breath of Fiji air and took a few photos from the outdoor jet bridges before we left.

Fiji Airways
Business Class (U)
NAN-AKL (Nadi – Auckland)
FJ 411
June 8, 2017
Booked: Airbus 330-200
Flown: Airbus 330-200
Departure: 8:45 AM
Arrival: 11:45 AM

On Board Fiji Airways Business Class:

We settled on board into the beautiful Fiji business class cabin. The Fiji Airways Business Class Cabin offers a 2 – 2 – 2 configuration. The seats are similar to what can be expected on Singapore Airlines Business Class Regional Flights. The Fiji Airways load today was much quieter than our Fiji Airways Business Class Los Angeles – Nadi flight down at 9 out of 24 seats occupied today, making for a very nice quiet and intimate cabin ambience. It’s a super treat to have a wide body aircraft and large seat for such a short 3 hour flight.

The Fiji Airways Business Class seats are great for travelling with a partner, although they may not be so great for those that are travelling on their own. The interior seats do not have direct aisle access, meaning that you may have to step over your seat mate to get out to the aisle.

Pre Departure Services:

The boarding process was complete at about ten minutes before departure. We settled into our seat with a Fijian Cocktail Paradise of Liqueur Rare, Fiji Rum, Fiji Rum Coconut liqueur, lemon syrup topped with ginger ale. MrsWT73 heard the ingredients as I read them out and commented about the sugar intake. That will teach you for taking a holiday ! 

Concluding the pre-departure process, a towel service was provided, followed by a menu drop off for todays breakfast meal. There were no amenity kits were offered today, on what they described as a “medium haul” flight.

The in flight entertainment system crashed on the taxi out to the departure runway so the cabin crew improvised and did a manual safety demonstration. There were some neat aircraft on the apron as we headed for runway 20. It was a treat to actually be able to see it in the day light, compared to our night time arrival into Fiji a few days ago.

As the flight door was closed, I had moved from Seat 2B over to Seat 1A to take a look at the view on take off. We departed Nadi International Airport on Runway 20. There were some fabulous views from the wing over scenic Fiji as we took off. We were lucky that sun this morning held for us to see it.

The Meal: A Full Breakfast

As we got to altitude, it was show time for today; with the same wine list as our long haul flights.

I had the fresh fruit, banana yoghurt berry compote parfait, butter and a selection from the bakery to start.

This was followed by a main consisting of a basil and cheese egg omelette, served with chicken sausage, lyonnaise potato with fried onions and parsley with tomato relish, and champignon mushroom. I paired this with the 2015 Robert Oatley Signature Chardonnay, Margaret River, Australia.

The meal service concluded with coffee and chocolates. I gave the coffee a miss this morning since the instant powdered coffee on the last flight was pretty bad and uninspiring.

The meal service was pretty tasty for a breakfast. The lack of travellers in the business class cabin made the meal a much more leisurely and less rushed affair.

A Beautiful Arrival into New Zealand:

As our short three hour flight wrapped up, we had some beautiful scenery as we arrived into New Zealand. With beautiful coastlines and green landscapes over New Zealand’s North Island Coastlines; what a spectacular place to arrive to!

After landing, it was a short taxi from the runway to the Auckland International Terminal where we deplaned without any issues. We saw a LATAM Boeing 777-200 that usually serves Santiago parked on the apron.

Overall it was a really special quiet flight, in a comfortable cabin with great service.

On arrival to New Zealand, we deplaned and headed for immigration. We passed through a large Duty Free on arrival. We headed for the immigration and actually managed to use the E-Gates (for NZ, Australia, USA and Canadian passports), negating the need to get a New Zealand Passport stamp. We had the quarantine interview and a bag x ray and were cleared to enter New Zealand.

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The Bottom Line: Travelling with Fiji Airways Business Class

I was initially a little skeptical about flying Fiji Airways. Although they’ve been around for almost fifty years, they’ve only got a long haul fleet of four wide body aircraft and don’t seem to be on a growth trajectory. Despite this, our experiences with them were wonderful. The planes were in good operating condition and exceptionally clean. The service, as with all Fijian service, is warm and hospitable. I would easily fly Fiji Airways again without any hesitation.

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If you’ve connected on Fiji Airways to destinations in South Pacific, have you enjoyed your connection ?

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