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Last update - 06:20 13/06/2008 The classiest business class By Rina Rozenberg Tags: El Al The airlines realized a long time ago that business class brings much larger profits than coach does, so that's where they've invested the bulk of their resources. El Al has defined the business sector as one of its main targets, with the understanding that establishing a solid, high-quality image among this sector will strengthen and boost the airline among all its clientele. El Al analyzed the business sector's relative financial contribution to its sales, and found it to be three times larger than its quantitative size. Though the business class section can hold only a two-digit number of passengers, while coach can hold many more, the company's profit from each business class traveler is more significant. Since a business class customer flies with great frequency regardless of the season, and is dependent on company projects or on business meetings he has scheduled around the world, an enjoyable flight will make him want to continue using the same airline in the future. "The business customer likes to be pampered," says Yarom Vadish, head of El Al's business class division. "I'm not just talking about good food and a comfortable seat, but about check-in from home or the office, being able to get to the flight quickly and having pleasant lounges." Advertisement He says that a business class flight can affect the passenger's entire business day, once he reaches his destination. "The passenger arrives refreshed for his meetings in the foreign country, as if he'd slept all night at home, and he's really able to work the entire day. Also, he's able to work while he's on the plane, as if he were at the office." Tourists with a lot of cash in their pockets, or who've amassed enough frequent flyer points to upgrade to business class, can also enjoy the services and comforts there, without having to crowd in with the rest of the coach passengers. The price difference between coach and business can be tens or hundreds of percent. So if you're making that kind of investment, you might as well get the ultimate in return. To help you choose the most worthwhile business class flight, we've done a comparison of several airlines that fly out of Tel Aviv: El Al, Lufthansa, Continental, British Airways, BMI, Israir and Air Canada, to see which airline pampers its business class passengers the most. The information was provided by the airlines themselves, and the comparison was made based on the following parameters: number of seats in the business class section, angle of seat recline, seat width, legroom, seat arrangement, movie-watching options, music, laptop access and number of flight attendants per passenger. Air France, which operates a direct flight from Tel Aviv to France, did not wish to take part in the comparison, saying that its connecting flights, and not its Tel Aviv-Paris line, are more important to the company. Since the foreign airlines fly directly to different destinations, while El Al flies to all those destinations, we also did a price comparison between El Al and each of the foreign airlines, to see if there were significant price differences between the flights. Pre-flight lounge For business class passengers, the experience begins before they board the flight, in the special airport lounges. At Ben-Gurion Airport, business class passengers can relax in the Dan, Arbel or Masada lounge and enjoy light meals, drinks, wireless Internet and a rest area. The El Al business class passenger can visit the King David lounge, which also offers a spa room in cooperation with the Carmel Forest Spa, as well as meals from Arcaffe. In their countries of origin, the airlines provide their customers with lounges where they can find meals, alcoholic drinks, newspapers, magazines, a business center that includes computers, telephones and Internet access, and showers. But each airline adds its own goodies: Air Canada has an HD television and a conference room; the Continental lounge at Newark airport also has conference rooms, some with video games and family rooms; British Airways offers rooms to nap, televisions and game rooms for kids, and in its lounges at Heathrow and in New York, the traveler can also enjoy various spa treatments. Legroom Traveling coach means being crowded in with lots of other passengers, but in business class, the conditions are much more attractive: Long-legged travelers who don't want to bother the passenger in front of them will be glad to hear that British Airways offers the most space between rows - 183 centimeters; while on Air Canada, this isn't even an issue, as there are private sleeping suites separated by a divider. On El Al's 737s and 757s, however, the space between rows is only 114 centimeters. The width of a business class seat is usually about 50 centimeters, though Israir offers a much wider seat than its competitors - 68 centimeters, while the seats on El Al's Boeing 767s are the only ones that are narrower than 50 centimeters (measuring just 48 centimeters across). If you like to sleep on the plane and to feel as much as possible like you're in your bed at home, then you'll like the seats offered by British Airways and Air Canada, which recline completely, to 180 degrees. In comparison, BMI, which recently inaugurated flights on the London-Tel Aviv line, offers the smallest angle of recline - just 45 degrees, so passengers can only dream of catching some horizontal zzzs, rather than experiencing them. Flight attendants While the airlines aim to provide business class passengers with as much personal attention as possible, let us remember that we are not alone in this section. On Lufthansa, for example, business class can hold up to 88 passengers. In order to maximize the business class passenger's sense of how well he or she is being treated, each company tries to limit the number of passengers being served by a single flight attendant. Air Canada and Continental are the most attentive, it seems - with one flight attendant per eight passengers in business class. On El Al Boeing 737s, 747-200s, 777-200s and 757s, you'll need a bit more patience, since the company provides one flight attendant per 16 passengers. Personal phones Once the traveler takes his or her seat on the plane, adjusts it to the ideal position and has been served a meal and a drink, there are still all those hours of the flight to get through. Since the airlines understand that newspapers and magazines aren't enough to pass the time, they also offer a selection of movie channels. On almost all the airlines, the passenger can enjoy a personal screen with movies of his choice, except for on the El Al Boeing 737s, 757s and 767s, which have one screen for the entire compartment. El Al recently launched a pilot program of with personal entertainment consoles on some Boeing 767s, offering a selection of movies, television series, games and news programs. But it is only offered on certain flights to select destinations, and on some 747s, where each passenger already has a personal screen. BMI offers the least selection in its entertainment package - just four movies and eight audio channels for each passenger. Apart from El Al's Boeing 737s and 757s, all the airlines we looked at also provide an electrical outlet, to charge a laptop computer, for instance. On Continental and British Airways, each passenger can also use a personal phone; on Air Canada, the seats also include a massage mechanism, and on British Airways, passengers are given a 30-shekel voucher to purchase newspapers or magazines at Steimatzky. Israir offers its passengers inflatable support cushions for the lower back and adjustable lighting for each seat. In addition, British Airways and Israir provide passengers with personal grooming kits. Gourmet dining Good food is said to be one of life's pleasures. While in coach, the food is usually not better than fair. However, in business class, the airlines try to give travelers tasty and carefully prepared meals that go a little ways toward justifying the price of the ticket. We did not sample the food, but the descriptions are certainly mouthwatering. Air Canada offers a light meal and breakfast, and throughout the flight, passengers can help themselves to sandwiches, hot appetizers, drinks and wines. Israir main courses include chicken pullets, tilapia fish and pasta, and serves a selection of wines and liqueurs from the Binyamina winery. El Al serves breakfast that includes an omelet or salad, a plate of Strauss cheeses and fresh fruits and vegetables. On night flights to Europe, the airline serves meals provided by Arcaffe that include pasta, sandwiches and a salad. A hot meal includes a selection of tapas and varying main courses, such as veal patties in a root vegetable and beer sauce, or baked salmon fillet in pesto and lemon sauce. For dessert, there are a variety of cakes. El Al also serves fine Israeli wines, selection of cocktails, hot drinks and chocolates. British Airways serves four-course gourmet meals that change from month to month. The airline also offers a free snack bar where travelers can help themselves to chocolates, sandwiches, snacks and fresh fruit. It opens right after the main meal is served, and remains open for the duration of the flight. Flight attendants also serve wines and alcoholic drinks, including a variety of cocktails and shakes. On Lufthansa, the menu offers, among other things, veal ribs on a bed of fresh herbs, fish fillet with truffles and hearts of palm or tuna steak with spicy fruit chutney. The wine selection includes 40 types of wine from 30 international wineries, with an emphasis on wines from Germany. BMI offers a breakfast that includes a potato omelet, a tomato quiche or sweet blintzes. Lunch is wild mushroom risotto, hake and shrimp quiche or meat pie with peas, and a variety of desserts. Continental and Israir also offer gourmet meals with a wide selection of alcoholic drinks. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Hair apparent Ultra-Orthodox shop unveils 'Sarah Palin Wig' based on Alaska governor's famous 'do. Protocols of Wall Street 'Report': Jewish execs sent $400 billion to Israel before Lehman Brothers' demise.   1.   Classing business class 12:38  |  " 13/06/08   2.   Nothing compares to BA Club World 12:45  |  Phil 13/06/08   3.   Business Class from TLV 00:11  |  Josh 07/07/08   4.   Business class 20:54  |  David 25/09/08   5.   Delta Air Lines? 04:26  |  Nathan Gilbert 13/10/08

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