Airbus A380: The Air France Experience

Image by loglouis. Source: Flickr. License: CC BY-SA 2.0

First Class Amenities

At the airport:
* Priority check-in and boarding
* Priority service at security checkpoints (at some airports, e.g. CDG)
* Free access to over 500 SkyTeam lounges

On-Board:
* Hot hand towels (oshiboris) after boarding
* Art gallery access
* Seat Amenities:
--- 24 inches wide
--- Reclines into a bed 6.5 ft long
--- 10.4" touchscreen TV with a remote-control, interactive gaming, and AVOD
--- Privacy divider
--- Automassage feature
--- Adjustable reading lamp
--- AC power outlet
--- Personal satellite telephone
--- Storage drawer
--- Noise-cancelling headphones
* Food Service:
--- Pre-takeoff beverage service (champagne or orange juice)
--- Amuse-bouches, (bite-sized hors d'oeuvres), various appetizers, salad
--- Choice of 4 main courses (menu is updated every 10 days)
--- Desert
--- Fruit
--- Sorbet
--- 1 exclusive buffet

Baggage:
--- Checked: 3 free bags (less than 70 lbs. each)
--- Carry-on: 3 free carry-on items (standard bag, small bag, and an accessory)
--- Priority baggage delivery post-arrival

LA PREMIERE REVIEW

First-class on the Air France A380 is located on the main deck behind the cockpit. There are 9 seats, framed in wood and fitted with leather upholstery and a duvet.

If you're on a red-eye and want to get some shut-eye, each seat can be converted into a flat bed 6 ft. long. For the more social parts of the flight, each seat rear facing bench in front of it, where fellow travelers can sit and chat. Each passenger has direct access to the aisle.

As a first-class passenger, you are also given a pair of pajamas, slippers, a shoe bag, and an amenity kit. The kit contains toiletries, a rejuvenating facial mask, and other Clarins skin care products for both men and women. There's a private changing room exclusively for La Premiere passengers where you can change into your pj's, and unlike most airplane bathrooms, there's a window to allow natural light in.

The menu for first-class passengers is equally as impressive. Through your touch-screen TV, you can order food entrees made by award-winning Chef Guy Martin.

Martin runs the 3-star Grand Véfour restaurant in Paris, has received a literary prize for his book "Gourmand Recipes," and was dubbed the "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the French Minister of Culture, Mr. Philippe Douste-Blazy. First class passengers also have an exclusive bar and buffet with vintage Champagne. Travelers can socialize here without disturbing the quiet ambiance of the cabin.

As always, expect to pay a premium price for first class. I checked first-class airfare from New York to Paris and round trip tickets were between $14,000 - $15,000 dollars. My assumption is that very few people are willing or able to dish out the big bucks needed to purchase a round trip ticket, and hence few first-class passengers have left any reviews. One reviewer, in his trip report noted the entire first class cabin was empty during his flight from Paris to Montreal.

Travelers who have written trip reports tend to rate the first-class seats as average, in terms of comfort. One reviewer was only marginally satisfied with the first-class seat quality compared to other carriers that operate the A380.

Quantas, Emirates, and Singapore Airlines, all have private suites in their A380 first class cabins, and so Air France has decided to be the oddball with its more traditional approach. On the plus side, without the domineering walls of private suites, you can truly appreciate the spaciousness of the cabin.

Seats are arranged in a 1x2x1 layout, with the exception of seat 1A, which is by itself at the front of the cabin. According to SeatGuru.com, the only potential "problem seat" in first class is seat 1A, where the close proximity of the stairs and galley may be bothersome.

Be sure to check out the Air France website 360 degree view of the La Premiere cabin.

Photo by AirlinesAngel. Source: flickr. License: CC BY-ND 2.0.

Business Class Amenities

At the airport:
* Priority check-in and boarding
* Priority service at security checkpoints (at some airports, e.g. CDG)
* Free access to over 500 SkyTeam lounges

On-Board:
* Hot hand towels (oshiboris) after boarding
* Art gallery access
* Seat Amenities:
--- 24 inches wide
--- Reclines into a bed 6.5 ft long
--- Bed is angled upwards at 10 degrees
--- Adjustable reading lamp
--- AC power outlet
--- Personal satellite telephone
--- 15-inch personal TV
* Food Service:
--- Pre-takeoff beverage service (champagne or orange juice)
--- Amuse-bouches, (bite-sized hors d'oeuvres), various appetizers, salad
--- Choice of 4 main courses (menu is updated every 10 days)
--- Desert
--- Fruit
--- Sorbet
--- 2 exclusive buffets

Baggage:
--- Checked: 2 free bags (less than 70 lbs. each)
--- Carry-on: 3 free carry-on items (standard bag, small bag, and an accessory)
--- Priority baggage delivery post-arrival

AFFAIRES REVIEW

Business class on the A380 is located on the upper deck, towards the front of the plane. In contrast to the leather seats in first-class, Affaires seats are upholstered with a sort of hard-fabric. Another key difference between first and business class is that business seats do not lie-fully flat (source: http://www.flatseats.com/Reviews/A-Z-Business.htm). The business seats can enter a "flat" position, but they are angled about 10 degrees upward from horizontal (see flatseas.com).

Some passengers find the angle very uncomfortable and may struggle to keep from slipping downwards. Most prefer to sleep in an upright position like a regular economy seat--this position seems to be more comfortable. When the seat is in its fully reclined position, your leg below the knee will be inside a carved out space on the bottom of the seat in front of you, somewhat restricting your movement and blocking the person in the window seat from leaving. Many recommend the bulkhead seats instead, as there is nothing in front of you. Despite these drawbacks, most reviewers agree that the seat, at least in its upright position, is very comfortable.

The in-flight entertainment system has a huge 15" cm screen, the largest on any Air France jet. Passengers are provided with Sennheiser noise-cancelling headphones.

Passengers speak highly of the food service, which, for Business Class passengers, begins as soon as the boarding doors close. Flight attendants come through the cabin with orange juice, champagne, and newspapers as the plane taxis to the runway.

On a Washington D.C. to Paris flight, one Affaires passenger speaks about his delightful steak and lobster meal which was followed by a two-part desert with Camembert and Jarlsberg cheese and an assortment of sweets.

Voyageur Premium Amenities

* Full fare VP earns 20% more frequent flier miles than regular Voyageur

At the airport:
* Priority check-in and boarding
* Access to select SkyTeam lounges (for a fee)

On-Board:
* Small, partitioned cabin
* Extra overhead storage space
* Free amenity kit
* Virgin wool blanket and feather pillow
* Seat Amenities:
--- 20% wider and 20% more leg room than coach
--- Adjustable reading lamp
--- AC power outlet
--- 10.4-inch personal TV
--- Noise-reducing headphones
--- Adjustable head, leg, and foot rests
--- Extra storage bins along the walls
--- Ultra-wide seat-back tray table
* Food Service:
--- Choose from among 2 main dishes
--- Free cocktails, wine, and champagne
--- 3 self-service buffets (shared with coach)

Baggage:
--- Checked: 2 free bags (less than 50 lbs. each)
--- Carry-on: 3 free carry-on items (standard bag, small bag, and an accessory. Max total weight 40 lbs.)
--- Priority baggage delivery post-arrival

PREMIUM VOYAGEUR REVIEW

The Voyageur Premium (VP) cabin is a recent addition to the long-haul Air France fleet and caters to people who want more comfort than economy class but without the business class price. VP on the A380 is located on the upper deck, partitioned off between rows 80-85. With only 6 rows of seats, the cabin feels more intimate and less crowded than the vast stretches of economy. Seats are arranged in a 2x3x2 layout, with one less seat per row.

In contrast to other airlines, whose "economy plus" is often nothing more than an economy seat with extra leg-room, AF's Voyageur Premium offers an entirely different seat altogether and comes with business class perks. The distinctive VP seat faintly resembles an Affaires seat with its "fixed-shell" design; the seat reclines within itself so it doesn't intrude on those seated behind you. See this YouTube video for a demonstration, this will give you an idea of how much you'll be able to recline.

According to AF, VP offers 40% more space than a regular economy seat, with 20% more leg-room and 20% more width. The VP seat reclines up to 123 degrees (33 degrees from vertical). This is a slight improvement over regular economy seats, which recline only up to 118 degrees (28 from vertical). Passengers say VP seats are very comfortable for normal seating, primarily because they are more spacious and provide a greater sense of privacy than typical coach seats. However, many say that VP seats aren't much better than regular economy when it comes to sleeping comfortably. The most common complaint is that there isn't enough recline.

Concerning storage, however, VP is light years ahead of coach. The smaller VP cabin means that there is more overhead storage space per passenger. As you'll see in the photos from this passenger's trip report, the cabin walls have storage bins next to each window seat. This is great if you're traveling with a lot of stuff and don't want to constantly leave your seat to retrieve your stowed carry-on items. The drawback though, is that the wall itself is further away from the seat meaning you won't be able to rest your head there to sleep.

The perks of Voyageur Premium don't end at your seat. At the airport, VP passengers have a separate check-in line and are entitled to priority boarding. Like business-class passengers, you can check 2 bags at no charge (vs. 1 bag in coach). However, your bags must be lighter (50 lbs each for VP vs. 70 lbs each for business). When you arrive at your destination, your bags are always among the first to be retrieved.

In short, Voyageur Premium represents a truly unique class of service. It's definitely a step from say, United's Economy Plus. Not only do you get more legroom, but you also get an entirely different type of seat, more storage, and several other "business-class" perks. For these reasons, travelers say the extra-expense of VP is well worth it. In many cases, you can expect to pay about double the price of regular economy seat. Yes, to those of us who are accustomed to flying coach, that might seem like a pretty significant price difference, but it's loads cheaper than what you'd otherwise pay for business. But with that said, you shouldn't book VP seats and expect business class service. Meal service, for instance, is exactly the same as coach, and VP passengers must pay to enter a limited number of airport lounges that are free to business and first class passengers.

Photo by Mathieu Marquer. Source: flickr. License: CC BY-SA 2.0

Voyageur Amenities

On-Board:
* Amenity kit with headphones and sleep mask
* Seat Amenities:
--- Largest coach seat in the entire Air France fleet
--- Width: 19 inches
--- Pitch: 32 inches
--- 8.4-inch personal TV
--- Personal window storage bin (upper deck only)
* Food Service:
--- Choose from among 2 main dishes
--- Free cocktails, wine, and champagne
--- 3 self-service buffets

Baggage (between Europe and USA):
--- Checked: 1 free bag (less than 50 lbs. each)
--- Carry-on: 2 free carry-on items (standard bag and an accessory. Max total weight 26 lbs.)

VOYAGEUR REVIEW

Alas, we come to coach. For starters, the Voyageur seats on the A380 are the widest coach seats (19 inches) in the AF fleet. Whether or not there is actually more legroom than on other wide-body AF jets is debatable. According to Seatguru.com, seat pitch is the same as what you'll find in coach on most AF widebodies (32 inches). However, most passengers feel as though they they get extra legroom on the A380.

The distinctive design of the A380 Voyageur seat may explain this discrepancy. The magazine pouch beneath the tray table is positioned so that it doesn't take up as much legroom as in most other coach seats. According to Alex Hervet, an A380 design engineer, the hinge point on the back of the chair has been moved an inch higher. As a result, the seat does not recline directly into your knee space, but rather slightly above it.

Most coach passengers prefer the upper deck, where the Voyageur cabin is in the back and arranged in a 2x4x2 configuration--8 abreast. There are only 6 rows of economy seats upstairs, so the cabin doesn't feel as crowded. The walls of the cabin are noticeably more curved on the upper deck, creating space for the personal storage bins along the windows.

Downstairs, where the walls are pretty much vertical, there are 2 more seats in each row, bringing the total to 10 seats abreast--all arranged in a 3x4x3 configuration. Unaccompanied minors are seated on the left side of the plane between rows 30-42, so you may want to avoid that area if noise is a big issue. Likewise, there are cradle seats for babies in every class except first. These are usually bulkhead seats (see the seat map). Again, if noise is a problem, try to avoid these areas when booking your seat.

The 8.4-inch personal TVs in Voyageur are smaller than in other classes. However, the in-flight entertainment system is otherwise the same.
A major drawback in Voyageur is that there are no personal power ports; you'll want to make sure your ipods and laptops are fully charged before you fly. If you need to charge up during the flight, there are a few AC outlets for coach passengers on the main deck.

Plain and simple, Voyageur is just coach, but the size of the A380, its superior in-flight entertainment system, and the fact that is only half as loud as a 747, makes for a more enjoyable ride.