After the article you recently read about Air France’s Boeing 787-9, which entered service on January 9 to Cairo, and which I discovered during a loop over France, I decided to fly this aircraft in real conditions, this time in Business.

When I learnt that the plane would be used on the Paris-London routefor crew training reasons, I jumped on the opportunity and booked a round trip for the modest sum of 310 euros, a fraction of the price proposed for the loops over France (in this case, 787 € in Business).

It is thus not without a certain enthusiasm that I awaited this weekend of February 11 to make this “real” flight.

Service on the ground

After a restful night at the Sheraton Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, as a result of my exhausting week, I got up at the crack of dawn to go to the terminal 2E of the airport, from which Air France flights outside the Schengen area traditionally depart.

At this hour, the terminal is deserted.

Having already my boarding pass on my cell phone and having also picked it up the day before at a Self-Service kiosk, I go directly to the PARAFES automated passport control.

…Which was running smoothly this morning, then to the security control, with very unpleasant agents, or badly awake, the second problem generating the first one… Then to thehall K lounge, which I know well.

Lounge

I am very familiar with the Hall K lounge, and particularly appreciate its mezzanine.

Unfortunately, as the La Première lounge is currently under construction, this mezzanine is used as a temporary lounge to accommodate these passengers, and is therefore inaccessible to Business class passengers during this 2-month period.

The offer is more or less the same as usual for breakfast, with a choice ofhot dishes, cold snacks, and a liquid offer as qualitative as ever.

The press offer was almost non-existent:

Here is my selection for this morning:

It’s always time for a glass of Billecart-Salmon!

Boarding

Boarding takes place from Gate K,at the usual LHR boarding location at Gate K49.

Self-boarding is in place, but with a document concordance check beforehand.

Priorities are respected, but I’m one of the last Business passengers on board.

Only one jetbridge is in place, which causes a small traffic jam… Even if the pleasure of turning leftmakes this moment a pleasant and quite rare moment in medium haul, unless you are a pilot!

Flight

No specific pre-flight service:no welcome drink or coat check. However, as on long-haul flights, IFEs are active from the moment of boarding.

As on the renovated 777s, these are the BEST cabins, made up of Cirrus seats manufactured by French equipment manufacturer Zodiac Aerospace, and ticking all the 3 Fs checkboxes: Full Flat, Full Access, Full Privacy.

However, as the 787-9 Dreamliner cabin is narrower than that of the 777, we had to cut back on storage space and, unfortunately, on the table.

And this is where it shows the most: the shelf is tiny: even unfolded, a medium-haul Business tray does not fit on it.

This hasty design also accentuated the fragility of this equipment, which was already broken on my seat barely a month after the aircraft was put into service!

Then, for an unexplained reason,the flight was heavily delayedat departure, a delay accentuated by the de-icing phase necessary in this season.

Once in the air, it’s a bit of a rush for the flight attendants because they have to serve 28 passengers in J, for a flight time of 45 minutes. But the large number of crew members and the experience of the flight attendants made it possible to carry out this service without any problem.

For unknown reasons, the Wifi on board was not working.

Good quality service, by the way:

Only a few minutes to enjoy the meal, then final descent initiated after a short waiting circuitover London.

Bottom line

A very good wayto test this new cabin at a very reasonable price. But there is still room for improvement, especially the design of the shelf, which needs to be completely redesigned to increase its surface and improve its solidity.