Air France is changing its strategy – and is trying to go more up-market. But to get there, let’s go through their latest announcements
Boeing 787
Yes, Air France will finally take delivery of their first 787 soon, and commence operations with it from 9th January.
The Boeing 787-9 will be operated on the Paris Charles de Gaulle to Cairo segment.
The plane will be configured in a three-class configuration
- 30 Business Class Seats
- 21 Premium Economy Seats
- 225 Economy Class seats
No seat map has been released that I have access to, but it wouldn’t be a hazard to suggest the economy seats will be in a 3-3-3 formation. Premium Economy and Business layouts have not been discussed… yet.
Thankfully there’s always booking engines – which reveal a 2-3-2 formation in Premium Economy…
Air France Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Seat Map.
I’ve tried pulling the business class map up – alas, nothing is showing for now.
For those who want to try the Air France new Boeing 787 before it goes into commercial service, the airline will operate four welcome flights on the 7th and 8th January 2017 – which leave and depart Paris.
(Editors note: Did Air France ship a rendering of their new Boeing 787? Nope…. which is why I have to talk about seats now.)
New Premium Economy Seats
Premium Economy is always a tough pitch – it’s either a “Business Minus” product or an “Upgraded Economy” product. Here’s the Air France version of their new Premium Economy product:
New Premium Economy Seats.
These will fly initially aboard the Air France 787-9 fleet, featuring:
- A 2.5 cm-wider seat, with more comfortable seat cushions and a reinforced lower back
- More legroom and an increased seat pitch of 5 cm
- A fixed-shell seat
- A seat recline of 130 degrees
- More space between seats with a central armrest
- A groove cut into the seat table enabling passengers to keep their book or digital tablet straight
The seats themselves look reasonable from the back (although is there an image of the new seats from the front? No…).
There’s a lot of promise in these two announcements – although if Air France showed off the product a bit better (for example, a plane image and actual seat images), I’d make better comments.
For now, you’ll have to wait until the 9th January 2017 to see these new products in commercial service.
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