Fiji Airways A330-200 Economy Class Review

After a very pleasant and relaxing few days in Fiji, it was time for me to fly from Nadi to Singapore. For this flight, I was booked in Economy on the Fiji Airways Airbus A330-200.

I really enjoyed my previous flight in Fiji Airways’ A350 Economy Class from Sydney to Nadi, so I was looking forward to trying out the airline’s other long-haul aircraft.

Flight Details

Flight number	FJ361
Route	Nadi (NAN) to Singapore (SIN)
Aircraft type	Airbus A330-200
Class of travel	Economy
Seat number	11G
On-time performance	We arrived 45 minutes late
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

I had booked a one-way Economy Value ticket from Sydney to Singapore via Nadi, which cost me AU$544.

A quick search shows that, if booked as a standalone ticket, an Economy Value fare from Nadi to Singapore would normally cost around AU$655 one-way or AU$1,233 return. That said, most passengers on this flight seemed to be connecting beyond Singapore, including to various destinations in India.

As Fiji Airways is a partner of Qantas, you could also book an Economy Classic Reward seat from Nadi to Singapore for 31,500 Qantas Points + FJD193 (~AU$134) in taxes. Fiji Airways does not charge fuel or carrier surcharges on frequent flyer redemption tickets.

Airport Experience

There were four check-in queues: Bag drop, Economy, Priority and Premier. This flight to Singapore was completely full and there was a bit of a queue for Economy check-in, but you could avoid the long wait by checking in online and then just joining the Bag Drop queue.

Fiji Airways is currently a Oneworld Connect member and I was able to access the short Priority queue for Tabua Club and Oneworld frequent flyers thanks to my Qantas status. The separate Premier check-in area is reserved for Business Class passengers.

After checking in, I headed through security and passport control. This took a while because the computers at passport control seemed to be on Fiji time, so the queue didn’t move for some time.

Lounge access isn’t a standard inclusion of a Fiji Airways Economy Class ticket, so it’s not a factor in my “airport experience” rating for this review. But you can access the Fiji Airways Premier Lounge in Nadi if you have Oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status with Qantas, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific or British Airways. This includes Qantas Gold and Platinum status. The lounge also accepts Priority Pass.

This lounge is located on the ground floor of the airport and doesn’t have any natural light, but is otherwise a very pleasant space.

It has a variety of seating areas, a good buffet selection and a staffed bar.

Just like pretty much all of the Fiji Airways flights departing Nadi that morning, my flight was slightly delayed “due to operational reasons”. The airline didn’t provide any further explanation for the delay. Eventually, boarding began with Business Class, Oneworld Emerald and Oneworld Sapphire passengers called forward first.

Thanks to the design of Nadi Airport, we got to enjoy the warm Fijian weather for one final time as we walked from the terminal out to the waiting Airbus A330-200 that would take us to Singapore.

The Hard Product

The Airbus A330-200 is not Fiji Airways’ most modern long-haul aircraft. That title goes to the Airbus A350-900, which I do think offers a better overall passenger experience. Nonetheless, this was a pleasant aircraft to fly on – even in Economy.

Fiji Airways A330-200 Economy seats

Fiji Airways uses a standard 2-4-2 Economy seating configuration on its Airbus A330s, which is one of my favourite Economy layouts. The seat pairs by the windows are great for couples, and there are only two middle seats per row.

The plane was clean, and the cabin felt bright and airy. The cloth seats were comfortable and had adjustable headrests.

The best legroom can be found in the exit rows, as well as the front row of Economy Class:

I didn’t pay extra for one of those extra legroom seats, but I was very happy with my aisle seat in row 11:

My seat had a good amount of width and legroom for Economy Class. I’m around six feet tall and there was enough space for my knees, as well as to spread my legs out under the seat in front.

In-flight entertainment

The seat-back entertainment screens weren’t quite as modern or responsive as on Fiji Airways’ A350-900, and had a slightly different content library. Nonetheless, there was a good amount of TV shows, movies, music and games available. I didn’t get bored.

Although Fiji Airways offers Wi-Fi on some of its aircraft, it was not available at all on the Airbus A330-200.

The Soft Product

The cabin crew were all in a good mood. That seems to be a fairly standard thing on Fiji Airways, an airline known for its good hospitality. I suspect this set of crew was also particularly looking forward to their five-night layover in Singapore after this flight!

Fiji Airways provided a pillow, blanket and headphones to every passenger in Economy Class.

After take-off, the cabin crew handed out paper menus:

Lunch was served after take-off. I’d really enjoyed the vegetarian meal on my previous Fiji Airways flight, so I asked for the vegetarian curry again. The flight attendant mentioned that it was also his favourite, and that most of the other crew thought it was the best one too.

Once again, the curry was absolutely delicious. It came with a bread roll and coleslaw, and the local Fijian beer rounded off the meal really well.

I mentioned to the flight attendant how much I liked the curry, and I was pleasantly shocked when he asked if I wanted another one. I initially thought he was joking, but they happened to have some leftover meals and he did in fact bring me another one. That was very much appreciated and I enjoyed the second serve just as much!

The crew served tea and coffee after lunch. During the flight, they also came through the cabin regularly to hand out cups of water and clear rubbish. Other drinks were available on request throughout the flight.

Around four hours before landing in Singapore, the crew handed out cold towels and began the dinner service. I again chose the vegetarian option, which this time was a Tandoori potato wrap with cabbage. It doesn’t look that exciting in the photo, but it had a great flavour and was really satisfying.

To be honest, with the second meal served so long before we landed in Singapore, I was already a bit hungry when we arrived. Luckily, I was in Singapore and it was dinner time, so finding a delicious cheap feed at the destination wasn’t a problem at all!

There was a duty-free shopping magazine in the seat pocket, and a flight attendant came through the aisles with the duty-free trolley before landing.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.