New Air France A330 Cabins Now Flying (New Business Class + Wifi)

Air France-KLM is in the process of overhauling their long-haul fleet. Recently KLM finished reconfiguring all of their planes, so they now have flat beds on all their longhaul aircraft. Now it’s time for Air France to catch up.

Which Air France planes feature flatbeds?

As it stands in the Air France fleet:

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• All 787s have flat beds
• Most 777s have flat beds, and those that don’t are getting them
• A380s feature angled seats, but those should be updated over the coming years
• Over the coming months, A330s will be reconfigured with new business class seats

Air France’s 787 business class

Speaking of the A330s, initially, Air France was supposed to reconfigure these planes with new seats a while back. In April 2016 it was announced that the airline would be installing reverse herringbone seats on all A330 aircraft by the end of 2018.

That didn’t happen — not only is the airline no longer installing reverse herringbone seats on the plane, but not a single plane had been reconfigured by the end of 2018.

The good news is that they’ve finally made progress on this front.

Air France’s new A330 cabins are now flying

Air France’s first A330 featuring new business class seats is now flying, so let’s take a look at the plane.

Air France will reconfigure their 15 Airbus A330-200 aircraft to feature new cabins by 2020. These reconfigured planes feature a total of 227 seats, including 36 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 167 economy seats.

Air France’s new A330 business class

As mentioned above, Air France’s A330s feature a total of 36 business class seats, spread across six rows in a 2-2-2 configuration. These seats are fully flat, and feature beds that are 2m long and 57.1cm wide.

Air France’s new A330 business class

Air France’s new A330 business class

While the 2-2-2 configuration isn’t ideal, I do appreciate that they installed a sliding panel between seats, for those who want more privacy.

Air France’s new A330 business class

Each seat also features an HD touchscreen measuring over 18.5 inches, with over 1,400 hours of entertainment.

Air France’s new A330 business class cabin

There’s also a self service bar in business class.

Air France’s new A330 business class bar

Air France’s new A330 premium economy

Air France’s A330s feature a total of 21 premium economy seats, spread across three rows in a 2-3-2 configuration. Seats feature 130 degrees of recline in a fixed shell.

Air France’s new A330 premium economy

Air France’s new A330 premium economy

Seat pitch measures 102cm, and seat width measures 48.5cm. Each seat also has a 13.3″ HD screen.

Air France’s new A330 premium economy

Air France’s new A330 economy

Air France’s A330s feature a total of 167 economy seats, in a 2-4-2 configuration. The seats feature 118 degrees recline, 79cm of pitch, and an 11.6″ HD touchscreen.

Air France’s new A330 economy

Air France’s new A330 economy

Air France A330 Wi-Fi

Air France’s reconfigured A330s feature Wi-Fi, with the following pricing options:

• A free “message” pass — passengers will be allowed to use WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, WeChat, and the Air France website and app from their smartphone or tablet at no cost throughout the flight
• A paid “surf” pass — passengers will be able to pay for a Wi-Fi service that offers internet that’s ideal for sending emails and other stuff that doesn’t require much data, at the cost of 3EUR per short-haul flight, 5EUR per medium-haul flight, and 18EUR per long-haul flight
• A paid “stream” pass — on long-haul flights only, passengers will be able to pay for the fastest Wi-Fi available, ideal for streaming and downloading, at the cost of 30EUR per flight

Which routes feature Air France’s new A330s?

Starting this winter, Air France will fly their new A330s to:

• Accra (Ghana)
• Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)
• Houston (USA)

Then starting in the summer of 2019, Air France will additionally fly these planes to:

• Cotonou (Benin)
• Lagos (Nigeria)
• Niamey (Niger)
• Bengaluru and Delhi (India)
• Chicago, Dallas, and Seattle (USA)

The easiest way to tell for sure if your A330 is scheduled to feature the new cabins is to look at the seatmaps. If business class features 36 seats, it should be the new cabins.

Meanwhile if business class features 40 seats, it should be the old cabins.

Of course, I imagine this all remains subject to change.

Bottom line

It’s exciting to see Air France finally begin the process of reconfiguring their A330s. While the new cabins aren’t cutting edge, they represent a huge improvement over the old products that they had on their A330s. I’m also happy to see that the A330s are getting Wi-Fi.