This is a report which I enjoy elaborating as I enjoyed the flight as itself and wanted to share my experience with all my fellow readers here.
As I reported some minutes ago, my flight stated in Cologne with an overnight stay at Amsterdam Airport. Next morning took a quick hop from AMS to CDG on AF Business which there is nothing to write about but only that it was a pleasant 45 minutes flight with a very professional and friendly crew.
After arrival I proceeded to terminal 2E and assigned gate for my 12:20 flight to Lima was going to be M45.
AF lounge was a great surprise. From my last visit a year ago the offer has been greatly upgraded. Now beside some decent french wines, hot dishes are offered as well as some very tasty desserts and all kinds of treats to make your stay more enjoyable. This lounge is light years away from any american carrier including Delta to the level of Business Class. Funny enough, I was amused to see an american couple asking how much was a glass of wine going to cost or if a voucher was needed from the check in desk :D
The must picture with a chilled glass of Deutz Champagne
My selection of some high calorie treats :)
Boarding time was getting close so I headed to gate M45. The bird today assigned for this flight was a Boeing 777-200 F-GSPN with NEV4 seats on Business Class.
Upon boarding I was friendly welcomed by the flight attendant dedicated to my aisle. It was such a pleasure to interact to her and I will give further comments on the conclusion section of this report.
Seat was 3A, good luck flight was almost full but managed to get 3B free so I would have more space for my things and be able to hop to the aisle without jumping over anyone.
Welcome drink was offered, on this opportunity Drappier Blanc de Blancs was being served. Very nice taste though it is not Krug or Dom P offered in F :P
Pushback was ontime and we quickly taxied to the runway in use. A very powerful takeoff followed and captain informed us that flight time was going to be 12:20hrs because of the strong headwinds on the crossing of the Atlantic to S.America.
Le Bourget
After some minutes service began. Here are some pictures of the menu for this flight.
The amouse bouche was excellent. There was sadly some mistake with the catering which the dish I wanted (Guinea Hen) was not offered. I had to choose the pasta option and it was acceptable, not up to Alitalia standards but it was tasty enough :D My glass was oftenly refilled with a beautiful glass of Saint Julien rouge and plenty of Evian to keep myself hydrated.
Here are some shots of the main lunch service
The new tableware was very nice, I have to say in every aspect the product of Business has been upgraded on many ways, congratulations to chez AF.
Dessert was given on a separate tray, unfortunately there was an accident with the sorbets which ended up on the empty seat next to me. So for this flight, no sorbets for anyone :(
The meal was completed with a good cup of Espresso and a bit of cognac. So far the flight was up to my very high standards of service. The flight attendant in charge of my aisle ( a lady on its late 40's) was very professional,refined and caring. It was just a pleasure to interact with her and made me think I will keep loyal to AF for all my life when often you get to deal with some nasty dragons around on other legacy airlines around :P (not mentioning one)
IFE as we all know is basic on the NEV4, having tried the BEST seat on the flight from Lima to Paris two months ago I was very sad to have to deal with the IFE offered but understanding changes take time and eventually the BEST seat will be offered on all the 777 fleet.
Before descent a light meal was offered, prosciutto with mozzarella di buffala and I opted for a veggie risotto which was tasty. I was still stuffed from the lunch but managed to finish my meal.
Landing was sharp at 20:15 as scheduled and we deplaned via the L2 door. I personally thanked the crew for its great service and care during the flight. I noticed some courtesy upgrades were made as Economy was overbooked, though Business meals were not offered to them which in the USA would have been a scandal for the elites I guess? Anyway, it was better than being seated on Cattle Class for almost 13 hours! :D
Lima Jorge Chavez Airport is a very nice small airport that manages almost 16 million passengers per year. Mostly a OneWorld hub and Star Alliance, AF and KL have managed to make it a very profitable destination for them serving Lima 11 times a week during winter season and up to 13 flights a week during summer peak season. This was the last 772 flight for this year as starting Sunday it will be switched to COI 77W and winter 2015 served by the 35J 77W.
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Verdict
Air France
8.3/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Meal/catering8.0
Air France Lounge - 2E, Hall M
8.4/10
Comfort8.0
Meal/catering8.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Services9.5
Paris - CDG
6.6/10
Efficiency7.5
Access5.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness6.5
Lima - LIM
8.9/10
Efficiency8.5
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.0
Conclusion
AirFrance has a strong product to offer on its long haul Business Class. The new campaign of France is in the Air together with the refinement and excellent french cuisine has evolved to notice that the management is clearly making upgrades on some areas that needed for a long time to be done. The lady taking care of me during the flight was above standard. Almost to a level of a First Class cabin. Interaction with the crew was just amazing. Wine selection was adequate and time just passed by. I am a very proud client of AF and hopefully to continue to enjoy their service for many years to come.
Thank you for reading and hope you guys liked my pictures!
Questions and comments are very welcomed!
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Thanks for sharing this very nice report on AF business Class.
Classic Flight in Air France's business Class. The catering seems to be better than usually. Hopefully, you had a very great flight attendant, and it's very appreciable. Did they open a bar in the galley ?
Nice spotting at CDG and beautiful landscape's pictures.
Yes indeed catering was better than before and by far superior than Iberia,Lan or KLM on this route. Bar was opened mid flight with offerings of champagne,juices,some fruit puree snacks and cookies.
The beautiful weather of Paris on Friday helped for the spotting ;)
Oh yes , I forgot to mention IB. I tried IB new Business last year and yes the seats were very nice but food was kept to minimum. I felt very hungry after a couple of hours and the pre arrival snack was a joke! The self service bar was stocked only of chips and olives. Cabin crew was unprofessional and lazy. You can change the seats and the image of the airline but you can't change the staff and culture of the company that has been around for decades and that sure is a big weight on the shoulders of Iberia.
I absolutely share your point of view about AZ's marriage with Etihad. Even if it will probably save AZ, this joint venture / merger signed the end of AZ. I dunno a lot about LAN, but 767 is good compromise (smaller plane & faster boarding).
Concerning IB, many Flight Reportists experienced bad flight attendants despite of a good business class.
Thank you for your very kind and detailed precisions. I agree with, I think that AF is bit superior than Iberia, LAN & KLM. But the new IB's Business class is very acceptable.
I suppose you're italian, why did not you chose AZ ? The AZ Hard product is good too and the magnifica class is very pretty.
Lima is not served by AZ, used to many years ago on the golden age of the 747 via Caracas, but the route was axed on 1997 with one of the many crisis of Alitalia.
I am half peruvian half italian so yes it would make sense to choose AZ too but I don't entirely like the marriage of Etihad with AZ... so I don't think they will see my business anytime soon.
LAN has a decent product too on some of the 767's that fly to Lima but involves making a stop in Madrid. I will return to Europe on KLM so I might have to be prepared for some occasional fire from maybe one of intercontinental dragons serving the World Business Class :D
Hi KL, indeed the seats are a bit old style but are OK for a day flight, I mean I have to return on the old WBC seats of KLM back to Europe so it won't get any better than the NEV4 offering.
I see the pasta dish published...I will upload it again. No, it was offered as part of the menu as there seems to have been some lapse of the catering department with the loading of the meals on this flight.
Flight was hurried to leave on time and according to the crew there were issues with catering and apparently seemed also to forgot boarding the Haagen Dazs ice cream cups for the inflight bar...which hugely made me sad! hahaha
What do you mean if its good or not? It is a modern, efficient and small airport with 20 jetways and a main terminal. It has been awarded as the best latin american airport for 7 years in a row by Skytrax and is one of the top 50 airports in the world for quality and services. It handles about 16 million pax per year and is a big hub for south american travel to North America and the Caribbean. It is managed by Fraport and the peruvian state is in charge of the navigation services and radar surveillance.
Giancarlo, Does the 330 stand for A330 ? Well today is 3-30...so it is A330 day :-) Nice report. Would have liked to see picture of the IFE, in particular the airshow. And some pictures from your arrival in Lima. Thank you for the nice reading.
Hi Flywunala, Yes sorry for the lack of this pictures missing for the report,this is my second report so on the next one I will make it more complete. Yes, 330 as I used to fly this huge bird before :)
I have an AZ one that i need to post and I will let you know... Don't worry about the missing pictures. I have also only just started posting flight report and I tend to always forget to take pictures of the food....lol
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13 Comments
Thanks for sharing this very nice report on AF business Class.
Classic Flight in Air France's business Class.
The catering seems to be better than usually.
Hopefully, you had a very great flight attendant, and it's very appreciable.
Did they open a bar in the galley ?
Nice spotting at CDG and beautiful landscape's pictures.
See you,
Yes indeed catering was better than before and by far superior than Iberia,Lan or KLM on this route.
Bar was opened mid flight with offerings of champagne,juices,some fruit puree snacks and cookies.
The beautiful weather of Paris on Friday helped for the spotting ;)
Thanks for the feedback,
GC.
I absolutely share your point of view about AZ's marriage with Etihad. Even if it will probably save AZ, this joint venture / merger signed the end of AZ.
I dunno a lot about LAN, but 767 is good compromise (smaller plane & faster boarding).
Concerning IB, many Flight Reportists experienced bad flight attendants despite of a good business class.
I sent you en email ;)
My shoot is done,
See you,
I agree with, I think that AF is bit superior than Iberia, LAN & KLM. But the new IB's Business class is very acceptable.
I suppose you're italian, why did not you chose AZ ? The AZ Hard product is good too and the magnifica class is very pretty.
See you,
Math'
Lima is not served by AZ, used to many years ago on the golden age of the 747 via Caracas, but the route was axed on 1997 with one of the many crisis of Alitalia.
I am half peruvian half italian so yes it would make sense to choose AZ too but I don't entirely like the marriage of Etihad with AZ... so I don't think they will see my business anytime soon.
LAN has a decent product too on some of the 767's that fly to Lima but involves making a stop in Madrid. I will return to Europe on KLM so I might have to be prepared for some occasional fire from maybe one of intercontinental dragons serving the World Business Class :D
Any other question of comment feel free to shoot!
Giancarlo.
I see the pasta dish published...I will upload it again. No, it was offered as part of the menu as there seems to have been some lapse of the catering department with the loading of the meals on this flight.
Flight was hurried to leave on time and according to the crew there were issues with catering and apparently seemed also to forgot boarding the Haagen Dazs ice cream cups for the inflight bar...which hugely made me sad! hahaha
Thanks for the comment!
Does the 330 stand for A330 ? Well today is 3-30...so it is A330 day :-)
Nice report. Would have liked to see picture of the IFE, in particular the airshow. And some pictures from your arrival in Lima.
Thank you for the nice reading.
Thanks for the feedback!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/123039076@N08/16544913920/
I have an AZ one that i need to post and I will let you know...
Don't worry about the missing pictures. I have also only just started posting flight report and I tend to always forget to take pictures of the food....lol
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