A few weeks ago, I flew with the A350 of Air France in their newest Business Class cabin to Ho Chi Minh City. This product includes the sliding privacy doors and it includes the special front row seats which offer an amazing amount of legroom. What I’m interested in though, is whether the ‘regular’ business class seats already provide sufficient legroom. Or should you be disappointed if you cannot reserve these bulkhead seats? Of course I’m also reviewing the soft product, hoping it’s still at the high level I’m expecting from Air France. So please read this review to find out if the new Air France A350 Business Class cabin can compete with the best Business Class cabins in the world!
A350 Business Class Cabin
A few months ago I also flew with Air France in Business Class. That was still with the ‘old’ business class cabin in the 777-300. Even though the soft product (service, meals, amenity kit) was still great, that cabin was starting to show its age.
When you enter the new Business Class cabin in the A350, you immediately notice the difference; the cabin looks new and fresh and every seat has a 20 inch, 4K screen.
The real attraction is the front row seat. Flying Blue Elite members can reserve these bulkhead seats for free and these offer a huge amount of legroom. More and more airlines are making something special of these front row business class seats and very often price these with a hefty surcharge. Until now, Air France doesn’t charge anything for these seats! I used a last minute upgrade for this flight and by then, all front row seats were already reserved.
But, I wasn’t really disappointed by that. The main reason for that is that the legroom for the ‘regular’ business class seats is already very generous. In fact, I believe these seats provide the most legroom of any reverse herringbone configuration I have flown with. The seat reclines to a bed of 2 meters (79 inches), with a width of 21 inch.
The contrast with the Business Class seats in Air France ‘sister airline’ KLM‘s is shocking. KLM’s business class seats in the 787’s and even in the refurbished 777’s don’t provide such a generous legroom. In fact, if you’re 6 ft4 (1M93), like I’m, these KLM seats are very uncomfortable in a lie flat position.
In these new Air France Business Class seats, I had no problem finding a comfortable sleeping position. With the sliding door, these seats are among the best business class seats in the industry. And you don’t even need to have the front row seat! Brilliant!
Meals
There is a choice of 4 main dishes and all main dishes are chef specials! I pick the pork loin which tasted very good. Of course a cheese plate is also handed out and after that, there is a choice of deserts. I still think Air France went backwards with the deserts. Probably the only area where I have some complaints. Deserts in Air France Business Class were always the highlight of my trip; they provided 3 little deserts which all tasted amazing! However, nowadays you just get 1 desert and these look a bit plain, especially if you pick the vanilla ice cream which I did on this trip. So please Air France; bring back the plate with the 3 little deserts!
Breakfast is always good the last couple of years with Air France in Business Class; I pick the salmon muffin and with a nice croissant, there is not much to complain about.
Other noticeable mentions
One day before departure, I received an email that there was no wireless available during my flight. I appreciated the heads-up and I guess this was related to the fact that Air France is rolling out Starlink. Air France is rolling out free of charge internet in all classes using Starling. This should be available in all planes by the summer of 2025.
And more improvements are coming! Air France recently announced they will start offering a mattress topper for their business class seats. This will be rolled out starting in July this year and by the end of the year, the mattress toppers will be available on all long haul flights.
With a new Business Class product which can compete with the best in the market, Air France is back on top. And more improvements are coming; free internet and a mattress topper on all long haul flights by the end of the year. This makes Air France Business Class a very attractive product. During this trip, I also visited the new Air France lounge in the 2E terminal. I thought that lounge was a bit underwhelming especially when you compare it with for example the Etihad Business Class lounge in Abu Dhabi. That’s certainly a point of improvement, but besides the lounge, you won’t be disappointed flying in the A350 with Air France in Business Class. And you don’t even need to have the bulkhead seat for that!
Please also have a look at my YouTube video I made of this trip. And don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel if you like the video!
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