The A350, the new Jeep of the air for Air France?

Friday, October 27, 2019 marked an important day in the history of Air France, our national airline: it received the keys to its very first Airbus A350, the first of a series of 28 to be delivered over the next five years.

The airline wanted to celebrate this event in a notable way by inviting many of its employees to visit the cabins of this brand new aircraft.

TravelGuys was therefore invited to attend the arrival of the aircraft’s delivery flight from the Airbus factories in Toulouse to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport where an inauguration ceremony was scheduled.

Oh no, we will not be the inaugural flight, but just the photos of the beast… We are still too critical on TravelGuys to make the *ferry flight!*

The plane coming from Toulouse was a bit late, and its cab time was extended by its passage in front of the airline’s headquarters.

A beautiful plane

The Airbus A350 is a beautiful aircraft, and the Air France livery suits it perfectly. The arrival under a stormy weather is superb.

Landing of the first Air France A350 on the southern doublet of Paris Charles-de-Gaulle

After a long cab time, and a passage in front of the headquarters of the tricolored airline for a greeting by the employees, the aircraft arrived in front of the door M50 of the terminal 2E for a very long water cannon salute.

A second water cannon salute for the first Airbus A350 of the French airline

The plane came then to position itself slowly towards the door, for the biggest happiness of the bloggers that we were on the tarmac.

A magnificent aircraft under a stormy weather, even mystical, and huge engines although energy efficient

Passengers from the ferry flight then disembarked via the gangway to Concourse M of Terminal 2E, some with connecting flights, others to attend the official ceremony.

A hail of honor for the distinguished passengers of this *ferry flight* of which we were not part

A proud crew to have “brought the new kid home”!

A recent cabin but lacking in innovation

After hearing short speeches by Anne Rigail, CEO of Air France and Benjamin Smith, CEO of the Franco-Dutch group, we boarded the brand new A350.

Ready to board this flight to Paris from Paris

The boarding will be delayed for a few minutes, the time for the different product managers to settle on board and prepare their explanations.

*Skyteam* is present on the fuselage… But for how long?

A Business Class up to the market standards, without frills or innovation

We recognize the positioning of an airline by the quality of its Business Class, it is our opinion on TravelGuys. In this sense, SAS’ rather no-frills reputation has been belied by the quality of its business class, praised here both from one of its hubs and from an end-of-line stopover.

With this Airbus A350, Air France is doing something classic but solid, with a 1-2-1 staggered product, exactly similar to the one proposed by SAS.

The new *Businessclass* seat on board the Air France A350, here a solo window seat, the most popular configuration for business travelers because it is isolated from the aisle and close to the window.

We could have expected a bit of innovation or an alignment with the best products on the market such as the Delta One suite or the Q Suite from Qatar Airways, but it won’t be.

The new Business seat, in “1-2-1 staggered” configuration, here in *lounging position*

In *Business Class*, some of the middle rows are further apart and allow passengers who were not lucky enough to have a window to retain some privacy

The seat follows the overall philosophy of the BEST seats, especially with this very practical (but difficult to open) storage.

The storage units are inspired by the BEST cabin, but rather complicated to open

Unlike the herringbone, or reverse-herringbone, configuration of the Cirrus or Super Diamond seats, this configuration eliminates the need for two passengers to be separated by a massive center console, and offers different moods for each seat.

*Business Class* duos can be separated by a highly insulating partition, like the one separating seats 01E and 01F in the *La Première* cabin on Boeing B777-300ERs equipped with this cabin.

The new configuration, which is not in herringbone, allows to make real duets, contrary to the *BEST* configuration which already prepares the divorce…

The IFE is a very good size, and it would be difficult to make it much bigger anyway.

The *IFE* in *Business class* is a very nice size with 18.5′ screens

The footwell is rather larger than the competition, but not as large as the Super Diamond seats for sure.

The footwell, equivalent to the one on the *BEST* seats in the *Business Class cabins* of the retrofitted Air France Boeing 777

Air France has ordered rather expensive options in Business, such as these motorized window clinds of limited interest, but with a very Premium appearance (like the La Première cabin equipped with such a system).

However, the system is so fragile that Qatar Airways has not renewed the option on its latest A350s.

Finally recliners in Premium Economy!

It was about time: Air France has finally understood that the French are now over 1m80and that the idea of “fixed shell seat that slides on itselfêwhile preserving the passenger’s privacy“only makes sense if the passenger doesn’t have his knees knocking on the front seat when he lies down.

The *bulkhead* duos in *Premium Economy* will surely be the most popular seats, as they are not affected by the *recline* of the passengers in front

The choice was therefore made to align with the market (British Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines) by deploying recliners in Premium Economy.

In *Premium Economy*, there is a clear gain in comfort for taller passengers compared to the old cabins, but there is a loss in working comfort with this ridiculously small shelf

The seat recline has been significantly increased, with a near alignment with the former Business class, at 123°.

*Premium Economy* seats are the most reclining on the market, at 127°.

A real revolution, which may make me go back to Premium for night flights, who knows?

A refreshed Economy class

Difficult to make big revolutions on the hard product in economy class.

Nevertheless, the seat chosen is quite comfortable and the 3-3-3 configuration makes the comfort acceptable.

The cabin harmony of the *Economy* class is rather successful, with multicolored headrests, but the seat is not very comfortable

As for the basics, they are more than respected with spacious and numerous luggage compartments.

The luggage compartments are numerous and deep in *Economy class*

Entertainment is not overlooked with 11-inch screens and a very responsive IFE system. Individual USB sockets are available to recharge our ever-greedy devices.

The IFE is a good size, even in economy class, but Air France is already working on enlarging the useful surface by removing the black bands, increasing the screen from 11 to 13 inches

The color harmonies are worked to brighten up this cabin which would be very sad in all blue night.

The seat width is much more limited in the first row of *Economy class* due to the presence of screens and the retractable tray table in the armrests

Particular attention has been paid to the toilets, a must for passengers in this class.

The toilets at the back of the plane, more spacious than those located in the middle of the economy cabin

The cabin harmony is modern, even in the sanitary fittings in the economy class

The toilets, even in the *Economy class*, have been given special attention

We were able to take some pictures of the cabin crew rest, traditionally a secret place where the crew rests outside the duty hours on board.

A place you never see: the *crew rest* of the PNC, in front of the back galley

In summary, a beautiful cabin, but no revolutionary product. Let’s bet that the soft-product will make a real qualitative leap.

The A350, a real Game Changer for Air France?

Remember, the disastrous strategy of the previous management of the Air France KLM group led to an absurdity: the dual presence of Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s, in roughly the same market segments, in the two airlines that are Air France and KLM.

As a result, Benjamin Smith, newly appointed CEO of the group, had proceeded to a healthy rationalization of orders, directing the aircraft of the U.S. aircraft manufacturer to KLM, natively more Boeing, and the aircraft of the European aircraft manufacturer to Air France. There are still a few Air France 787s… Which could well go to the Dutch side, the Business cabins being similar except for the cabin harmony.

Air France 787 in front of the maintenance hangars of the French airline at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle

By receiving the Airbus A350, Air France begins the rejuvenation of its fleet, replacing the A340s which are ending their service at the moment as well as the older 777-200s (those which have not been retrofitted).

Above all, Air France is entering the 21st century with an aircraft that is more respectful of the environment in which it operates:

In environmental terms, with 25% less fuel consumption than previous generation aircraft, such as the Boeing 777 or the Airbus A330: “This aircraft consumes 25% less fuel (2.5 liters per passenger per 100 kilometers) thanks to the incorporation of 67% lighter materials: 53% composites and 14% titanium;
In societal terms, with a 40% reduction in noise during takeoff and landing (rotation and approach circuit) thanks to more modern engines.

Not a revolution for the French airline, but an evolution that will also allow it to accelerate the modernization of its cabins, including the long-haul Business Class cabin, whose full-flat equipment remains slightly below 50%, and which will, via these new aircraft, get out of the 20-year-old cabins.