Better Than I Expected: AeroMexico 787-9 Business Class Paris To Mexico City

In the depths of the Omicron variant spreading fast across the world, I came across a fare that was hard to pass up. It was a Italy (MXP) to Brazil (GRU) SkyTeam Business Class fare for under £1200, or £802 one-way.

I was already booked to fly to Brazil with United for Carnival. I was able to cancel the United booking and book this instead! I had flown AeroMexico a very long time ago when I first went to Mexico after university so was keen to see what they were like now.

I would have avoided them only a couple of years back when they mostly had Dreamliner’s with a 2-2-2 configuration. But these flights were all on a 789, on a more comfortable 1-2-1 config. It was a risky booking, as there was every chance it will get cancelled/I will not be able to travel. I decided to have faith and book anyway!

Flight Details

Route: Paris CDG – Mexico City
Flight No: AM004
Date: 27.02.2022
Departure Time: 23:45
Aircraft: Boeing 787-900
Seats/Suite: 3J Premier Class

Check-in / Lounge

As this was the second leg of my booking, check-in by Air France was smooth and quick. In Paris, I was able to use any of the Air France lounges. On this occasion I decided to use Salon Lounge in Terminal 2E, as that was the closest lounge to my departure gates.

Onboard AeroMexico 787-9 Business Class

I headed to the flight gate just 30 minutes before departure. Boarding was well organised by priority groups. With Business Class boarding in full swing when I arrived..

As I entered through door 2, I was greeted by 2 flight attendants and directed to my seat.

There are 36 lie flat seats in Class Premier on a 1-2-1 configuration split into this large cabin in the forward section and a small intimate cabin behind door 2. Immediately in front small Economy Plus cabin followed by Economy.

If this seat looks familiar, it is because it is the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat, that several airlines have used in various modifications. It’s an excellent hard product. What was surprising however was that AeroMexico did not adapt/customise this seat at all.. there were very little AeroMexico branding incorporated into the actual cabin.

There was several passengers boarding at the same time, so it was difficult for me to capture cabin pictures without them in it. Below is some pictures from my follow on daytime flight from Mexico City to Sao Paolo, which I will probably not have time to review separately!

As you can see, it’s all very bland, this cabin especially without any mood lighting looks dull.

After dropping my bag, I quickly checkout out the mini business cabin, which was empty for this night flight.. the crew mentioned I was welcomed to move here, but because of the lavatories right in front of this cabin, its usually more noisy.

Back to my seat, each seat comes with plenty of storage compartments, with a bedding pack & headphones packaged in a bag.

Cabin crew also handed out amenity kits in a nice leather case..

The amenity kit consisted of essentials such as eye marks, earplugs, some light slippers, moisturizer & lip balm as well as a  dental kit and a comb and pen. There was also a small mouthwash provided, which I really appreciated since not every airline provides this.

We left the gate on time and the cockpit crew informed us of an expected smooth flight out.

AeroMexico 787-9 Business Class Service

About 20 minutes into take-off I realised that we had not even been served any drinks whatsoever. And what’s more there was even no menu for this 12 hour flight into Mexico City. I mean how could this be? I am in business class right?

Minutes later, as I was playing with the IFE selection, I noticed they have the food menus all on there!

Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of the entire menu.. but the selection seemed about average for a long haul business class product.

Almost a full hour later, while we were over Manchester, service began…

Yep, the very first drinks of this long 12 hour flight was served with the appetizer, and it was at this point they took our choices or mains.

As far as starters go, this was decent, and reasonably substantial.

There were 4 main choices between

“Beef collier, demi-glace with mashed potato”,

“Chicken, Blanquette sauce with rice”,

“Salmon, drill sauce with broccoli”

and finally “Risotto with asparagus”

After a salmon heavy appetiser, I certainly did not want a salmon main. I asked the crew what would be better between the chicken and beef dishes. For some reason the crew recommended I choose the beef, but mindful of my red meat intake that week I opted for the chicken…

This duly arrived about 30 minutes after the starter..

Unfortunately, this meal was about as good as it looked! I immediately realized why the crew recommended I go for the beef. The chicken and rice was mostly dry and overcooked. The salad was the only good thing about this dish.. Most of the chicken & rice was left untouched.

This main, very much reminded me of some Iberia Business Class meals I had in the past. Very substandard.

I chose to have Ice-cream for dessert. The other options where Apple Tart or a Dianduja Tart.

To give you an idea of my daytime, lunch and dinner meals to Sao Paulo later that week…

AeroMexico 787-9 Business Class Bed

Back to this flight, about an hour after the dinner service, I finished the film I was watching and was ready for bed. Turndown service was not proactively offered, so I made the bed myself..

The bedding provided were perfectly adequate. The duvet was soft, not overly warm and large enough to full stretch out with.

Pillows provided were also full sized and about medium firm.

As you can see this looks very comfy, which indeed it was. There was still almost 9 hours left to go and I was hoping to sleep at least 7.30min of it.

I woke up about 5 hours later naturally though. I suppose it would have been around my normal wake up time in London at that point. While the bed was mostly comfy, I did find it a little restrictive on the shoulders and legs, if you happen to toss around in your sleep.

There is every chance I’ve been somewhat spoilt by First Class beds recently, so truthfully I can’t expect that level of comfort on a business class product.

AeroMexico 787-9 Business Class Breakfast

Since I was already a awake I was mostly lounging in the seat and watching some episodes of Young Sheldon. It was still pitch black outside, around 3am time in Mexico City.

90 minutes the landing the breakfast service began with fresh fruit and yogurt.

Breakfast main choices were:

“Quiche Lorraine with spinach”,

“Smoked Salmon, capers and cream cheese”

“French toast, pineapple and crème anglaise “

Seeing as we had catering from Paris, I decided on the French toast

The French toast was great, but I almost could not help but think if there was something missing on that plate!

I later orders some croissants with my coffee (think it was instant!)

And then, we were almost at the end of our 12 hour flight and making our descent into Mexico city. It was still pitch black!

Overall Thoughts

This was a good business class flight. It did not feel particularly warm on the hospitality front or class leading in any way. It certain felt like a 12 hour flight, not more or less.

The hard product and beddings etc is on par with other top airlines for sure. I would say Aeromexico is a decent choice if this worked better for your schedule and the prices are very competitive. Will I go out of my way to book them again? Probably not.

The good thing is Aeromexico frequently has good deals from Europe, so keep an eye out on Flyertalk!