The Details

• Flight: GF944
• Aircraft: A320neo
• Class: Falcon Gold (Business)
• Seat: 4A and 4C
• Route: Larnaca (LCA)-Athens (ATH)
• Distance: 720miles
• Duration: 1hr 56min
• Departure: 8:26AM
• Arrival: 10:22AM

The Preflight

After a relaxing week in Cyprus, it was time for my fiance and I to fly back home. We were going to fly via Athens with Gulf Air, Frankfurt with Lufthansa, and New York with Singapore Airlines to get home to Indianapolis with Delta Air Lines. Our long journey home would span two days with a night in Frankfurt. It started with an early morning arrival at Larnaca Airport at 6:40AM an hour before our scheduled boarding time. Check-in was fast with a dedicated business class lane.

After clearing security, we made our way upstairs to the Aspire Aphrodite Executive Lounge.

To the right of the entrance was a dining area and breakfast buffet.

There was a variety of self-serve liquor and wine available.

Food options were limited to pastries, salads, sandwiches, rolls, and plain bread.

There was a lovely outdoor terrace in the lounge which had great views of the gates including our departure gate.

The terrace gave us a great view of our A320neo today, registration A9C-TB, that had been delivered to Gulf Air just three years ago.

Boarding began at 7:44AM.

The Flight

Gulf Air has two versions of the A320neo that either have 12 or 16 business class seats. Our A320neo was the type that had 16 Stelia Celeste seats arranged in a 2-2 configuration in the business class cabin. The economy class cabin had a total of 120 seats arranged in a 3-3 configuration.

We were seated in 4A and C, the last row of the cabin along the bulkhead. Each seat offered a generous 46″ of pitch with ample leg room. The seat padding was very comfortable and I fould the small pillow a nice gesture on the short two hour flight. The Stelia Celeste seats had an articulating recline which meant rather than go backwards, the seat itself would slide forward then recline backwards up to seven inches.

There was a massive 17″ HD touchscreen for the inflight entertainment. Below the screen was a large literature pocket as well as footwell for storing shoes or small personal items.

In between the two seatbacks were two separate storage bins and two bottle holders.

Along the seatback were individual coat hooks as well.

The center console featured a cocktail table.

The tray table was incredibly sturdy.

Underneath the center console were the power ouetls. Each passenger had three USB ports, a headphone jack, as well as 110V outlet.

Between the two seats were individual inflight entertainment remotes. Each remote had a separate touchscreen which could double as a second screen.

Beneath the aisle armrest was a thin storage bin.

I found the foldable headrest very comfortable.

Immediately upon boarding, we were offered a pre-departure beverage of juice or water. The purser then came through the cabin with refreshing warm towels.

Following the warm towels, the pre-flight service continued with Arabic dates and a small Arabic coffee.

We pushed back at 8:16AM and had a nine minute taxi to the runway. At 8:25AM we took off bound for Athens.

Brunch was served 30 minutes after take-off. Options included cold veggie sandwiches or a chicken salad. There was also a verry cake along with warm toasted bread from a basket.

After brunch, I browsed the entertainment selection which was rather limited.

There was a single lavatory at the font of the cabin for business class passengers. It was well maintained throughout the flight with basic toiletries.

The cabin was prepped for landing 15 minutes prior to landing and we touched down at 10:21AM.

We had a brief eight minute taxi to the gate and soon we were on our way to enter the Schengen zone for the next flight to Frankfurt.

I found the Gulf Air regional business class a phenomenal product on a short two hour flight. The excellent service, comfortable seat, and friendly service made Gulf Air an airline I would seek to fly again.