Hello from India, as I’m in the middle of a review trip. After my Turkmenistan Airlines 777 and 737 business class adventure, it’s time to fly Air India’s 777 first class from Delhi (DEL) to Frankfurt (FRA).
Okay, I must admit, my primary motive for flying Air India wasn’t the flight as such (since I’ve heard… not great things), but instead, to check out the new Air India Maharaja Lounge Delhi, which has both a first class and business class section.
While I’ll publish a full review of both sections of the lounge soon, I’d like to share some initial musings on my visit to the first class lounge (hint: I think this will make my updated rankings of the world’s best first class lounges).
The Air India first lounge Delhi is small but impressive
The new Air India first class lounge is a lovely little facility. It’s worth pointing out that the carrier’s first class network is quite small, so very few people actually have access to this lounge. So the lounge is small but super high quality.
The lounge consists of a dining area with four tables, and an open kitchen across from it.
Then there’s an area for lounging around, with sofas.
There’s also an elegant bar area with some banquettes.
And then there are several little semi-private nooks.
The lounge has individual, private bathrooms that are meticulously cleaned, literally after every use (in the sense that the toilet paper is always in a perfect triangle, there are always two cloth hand towels next to the sink and none in the bin, etc.).
The lounge also has rather luxurious shower suites.
Oh, there’s also a proper bedroom, plus a second room for lounging around, with both rooms having desks (also making these good spaces if you have to make a voice or video call).
The lounge’s soft product is what impressed me most
The dining and service in Air India’s first class lounge are really what makes this exquisite, in my opinion. The food is legitimately great, though admittedly I love Indian food. I opted for “The Maharaja Thali,” with small portions of the signature dishes (and I had the veg version).
I was proactively brought a delicious Indian twist on a cheesecake.
Later in my layover I also had some chaat.
The food was phenomenal, as were the drinks. For one, I love how imaginative and local the drink selection was.
As an example, I had the Pancha Taara cocktail, meaning “five stars” in Sanskrit, blending ginger, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom, with cognac, representing the five traditional tastes. How incredibly fun!
I also loved the tea trolley service, where they’d prepare tea tableside.
Honestly, the lounge has a great hard product, but it’s the soft product, service, and the attention to detail that really sets it apart. For one, the staff in the lounge are incredibly proud and professional, as you’d expect, given that there are typically more staff than guests.
Beyond that, I love when it’s obvious that an airline puts effort into incorporating its brand and culture into the passenger experience, and that’s exactly what the Air India lounge does, from the food and drinks, to the background music, to the art. For example, I missed it the first couple of times I walked by, but there’s art on the wall that includes fuselage parts of former Air India aircraft.
It’s fantastic to see the evolution of Air India, and how good the airline can be, when it actually puts in the effort. Unfortunately the issue remains that taking delivery of new planes and installing new seats is very much a slow (and expensive) process, so it’s quite a contrast to go from this lounge to stepping onboard an Air India 777 in first class…
Bottom line
I don’t remember the last time we’ve seen an airline have quite so much of a lounge glow-up as Air India has, with its new Maharaja Lounge Delhi. In particular, the first class section is phenomenal, with delicious a la carte dining and imaginative cocktails, nice design, a private bedroom, luxurious shower suites, and very friendly staff.
In particular, the lounge has such a great sense of place, and really reminds you at every turn that you’re in India. Well done, Air India!