An early-twentieth-century amenity suddenly takes wing.

For all the perks airlines have added to their first-class service in recent years — lie-flat beds, five-star meals, dazzling multimedia options — they’ve never quite been able to replicate an aspect of white-glove pampering that peaked during the heyday of railroad and ocean-liner travel circa 1930: private cabins. There’s just no getting around it — turning in by shutting the door to your own quarters was a lot more civilized than staring across the aisle at a fellow passenger drooling onto his pillow.

With the introduction of its long-haul service, Jet Airways has finally rectified that situation by figuring out how to fit an old-fashioned sleeper car into the nose of a Boeing 777-300ER. Replacing the awkward cubicle-like partitions that have overtaken many first-class sections in recent years are actual wooden pocket doors with brass locks. The result is a genuine self-contained, 26-square-foot chamber complete with adjustable bed and goose-down comforter. Sit up and your berth sprouts a rumble seat and an expansive four feet of legroom, perfect for a game of hearts, in-flight meeting or hours of private viewing on your 23-inch plasma flat-screen.

Alas, there is no separate dining car or promenade deck. But the revamped meal service — including vegetarian canapés, pepper-crusted rack of lamb and a “bharwan murgh shahi,” stuffed chicken in cashew cream gravy — comes served on hand-painted Bernardaud porcelain by chic attendants in stylish canary-yellow porter jackets. There’s also a communal bar with its own Jet Airways Cocktail (made with fresh mango, yogurt and vodka), adding to the bonhomie of an experience the upstart Indian airline has dubbed the “Orient Express of the skies.”

The service, which debuted between London and Mumbai in May, began operating out of Newark last month. Its chairman, the London-based Naresh Goyal, recently declared that “our aim is to be one of the world’s top five airlines within five years.” Not clear was whether Goyal also plans to add baccarat and dancing.

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