Air France has recently released a few pictures of their future business class cabins, that will equip the French airline’s fleet of 15 Airbus A330s by 2020. Among the new features, the cabins will have fully flat seats with sliding panels for extra privacy, wider seats, big 18″ IFE screens and self service bars.
The seat is an Equinox 2D designed and created by Stelia Aerospace for the dedicated 2-2-2 seat configuration of the Airbus A330. While other airplanes have a 1-2-1 seat configuration in the business cabins, Air France decided to stick with the 2-2-2 in order to preserve their full business offer and fares while at the same time providing the most of comfort for their clients.
The business class isn’t the only one which will benefit of the change, as economy and economy premium classes will also get new seats.
Premium economy will get 130 degree seat recline in a fixed shell, with wider seats and footrest, additional storage space and a smaller, 13.3 inch screen. The economy class will come with a 118 degree recline with a little less leg room and even a smaller 11.6 inch screen. Power plugs and USB sockets will be available for both.
The new business cabins will be available before the end of the winter season on flights to Ghana, Burkina Faso and Houston, US. The expanse will follow for Benin, Nigeria, Niger, India, and Seattle, Chicago and Dallas in the US.
The A330 is not the only airplane in Air France’s fleet that will benefit the retrofit. The company’s A380s will follow suit in 2020. That’s not the only change happening for the company, as they will also be retiring five out of ten of these aircraft due to costs.
