Air France HOP E190 Business Class: Good Food, Little Space

This is funny because everyone on the Flyertalk thread about AF's short-haul catering is convinced they are the worst in Europe by a mile. I guess on this stage length they may be better but it's worth noting that on their longest short-haul flights, like to Greece, they basically serve the same thing, whereas I believe LH Group airlines would serve a warm meal.

Finnair flights operated by NORRA on the E190 also do not feature a blocked seat in business class on the flights I’ve taken with them.

I don't understand why you wouldn't be in favor of using all available seats on the aircraft. Seems like a waste of fuel, energy, etc. to not have a flight go out full if they can manage to fill it with customers. To me, this is exactly what they should be doing... if you can't, or find it disappointing, to have to sit next to another human being for a whole 50 minute flight, then that says more about you than the airline.

"the conversation started with him asking me if I had cats while I was using headphones."

. . . lolwut

I can't wait to hear the full story lol.

I feel like the intra Europe J catering for both Air France and KLM has been improving quite a lot in the last few years. KLM has also pretty good stuff. As pointed by Bgriff a lot of people are complaining on Flyertalk about it, and maybe I'm biased because all these options are still better than the slop US airlines serve on domestic J (if they even serve anything).
I also find the price difference shocking between Y and J on those intra Europe flights. J pricing is often completely absurd since you get the same seat. I feel like most people in J on those flights are connecting from long haul J and it's just a way for airlines to accommodate them in a way.

Fortunately few ever seem to pay for that product, so you typically do end up with the seat next to you empty (in my experience).

Worth mentioning that the A220s are a totally different story for EU Biz - they block off every other seat on the 2-seat side, so you get the space all to yourself. Same with Swiss.

I have to give kudos to LH on their intra-Europe biz class, at least on the A320. I will mention that I'm one of those bizarre few who actually find Recaro slimline seats quite comfortable. On a recent flight, the cold lunch was actually super normal and tasty (some kind of cured beef with potatoes and frisée) and the crew was almost overly friendly and chatty, very surprising for Germans lol. Now operationally, the airline drives me bonkers. And I wouldn't choose them for TATL J class unless it's the ex-Philippines A350. But they are a solid option for connecting in Europe.

Horrible airline!

It sucks when you upgrade on a flight supposedly operated with an A320 family aircraft, then it's swapped to an E190 and of course the flight is then full.

The E190 is great to fly in economy but obviously it makes no sense to pay extra for the same experience, and as we all know, nobody in their right mind pays extra for the AY business class "service".

Months ago I booked a new AF flights from Ottaw-Paris-Capetown in premium economy for a good price. Since then AF has changed departure times often and finally changed the date of departure which would require an 28 hr layover in Paris. Unacceptable. So then.AF booked me from Montreal via a.bus to Montreal Airport. In so doing my Montreal-Paris segment was downgraded from status A to S and I lost my preferred seats. To add more insult to injury AF wants.me pay $59 for my seat.on Paris-Capetwn. First experience in some years with AF has been very disappointing, inconvenient and expensive with hotel & apartments. AF owes me compensation or at a free upgrade. N'est-ce pas?

I had a very similar meal to that last year on a CDG-BHX flight (A319 so middle was empty), flight time is only 45 minutes or so so was my expecting much but was very impressed and a really tasty meal. KLM BHX-AMS on the other hand was just a breakfast box with no plating etc so whilst better than nothing it was a bit underwhelming in comparison

Please be reminded that AF does provide adjecent seats on Europe flights such as on their LHR/CDG route with A220 machines in a usual 2-3 configuration, while Business Seating is 1-2. Otherwise completely agreed with you that Business flights on European routes are not overwhelming.

If you are not paying for extra physical space and comfort, then what accounts for the price difference? Picking a random day in March for this route, economy is $120 and business is $365. So $245 for just a small meal and extra baggage? I many people would be connecting on this leg, but still...

How can you say catering on Air France is good …. It is a total disgrace to the country who claims to be the nation of the gastronomy… honestly the bread is fluffy and cold the rest is barely edible and I am not talking about the industrial desert …. I never ever had a decent food on AF…. In the first class lounge yes but in board never !

LOL, yes, those FT folks are unhappy simply because AF no longer serves warm meals in Europe. Most of these short-haul offerings from AF are excellent.

ITA airways also doesn't block the adjacent seat in case of 2 seats even on the a220 left side, SAS has stopped a long time ago by rebranding business "plus"... So others will follow.

The understanding of designing business class product in Europe varies accordingly to the company.

It all started with 3x3 traditional narrowbodies layout and the respective blocked middle seat in business.

LH and LX extended the middle-seat blocking to regional jets. BA, AF and KL understand that because those jets are already 2x2, that's already a typical business class short-haul product.

Then all of them have a differentiated on-board service and the "magical" curtains (I had a boss that used to say that if you did nothing beyond installing curtains, some passengers would pay a premium just for that imao).

One thing that differentiates AF and KL business class tough is the extra leg room, which I does not necessarily happen on LH and LX flights with the movable curtain.

Have you never flown biz , mate ? Typically, you also get extra legroom , priority boarding , priority screening , lounge access

Of course it’s part personal preference and certainly cultural differences play, but Lucky is not the only one noticing the superior culinary offerings from AF, consistently excellent service and great long-haul hard product. I have flown AF 12 times in transatlantic business over the last 3 years. Memorable experiences, each and every one. Flew Delta jfk-bcn last December…the comparison is not flattering for this American Skyteam partner.

Sometimes seat mates provide interesting conversations and make a flight memorable. I still fondly remember Bill and his uncle Chuck going to a Rhine river cruise sans wifes (which didn’t like to travel).

I am curious how the cat story evolved …

I had that exact meal earlier in January. I flew CDG-MAD on the A220. Very tasty catering and doesn’t involve an oven.

Looks like same meal I had on mainline AIR FRANCE Euro biz last summer Paris to Budapest. And it was just fine, better than I expected. Since it was mainline, adjacent seat was blocked, but legroom sucked.

For LH intra-Europe business class, I recommend special meals.

You're right that fares for purely intra-European itineraries are absurd and nonsensical. You can sometimes score an upgrade at a good price though.

I never understood why most airlines don't try to generate additional revenue by providing a reasonably priced business class. BA is an exception to this, they recognised the potential of premium leisure segment and created an attractive product - it's not uncommon to see 10 rows of business on some of their flights. And I'm happy to be one of those people who are paying extra for it. LOT is also pretty good if you're on 737 and get a good deal, though I do have a problem with their Embraers which often don't have oven so it's cold food only, often even on rather long routes (2-3 hours).

In the meantime, Lufthansa tries to charge me 1000€ for a return with Europe in their low-cost business class with ridiculous food that I pass on 95% of the time. OS-operated flights offer a better quality, but still usually no choice of meals, which means that I may randomly end up hungry if they serve something I don't like. So if I'm unlucky enough to have to fly LH Group, i always book economy, and at most place a bid at 80-100€. It's not worth a penny more.

I also have an Air Malta flight coming and business class was just 30€ more expensive (one-way ticket) than economy with a checked bag, so that was a no-brainer, but I'm quite curious whether that's gonna show on the quality of on board product.

Business class in Europe is not about the on board experience, but about ground services. That's what you're paying for.

That being said, it's very cheap to not block adjacent seat in J. This is why I absolutely avoid business class on AFKL within Europe and never ever book it or even bid for an upgrade (even if the flight is supposed to be operated by A320/B737, you never know when they do an equipment change - and their policy is to not refund you for what is effectively a downgrade).

Lufthansa also has more legroom in the front cabin. Additionally, the first x rows have an adjustable backrest while standard economy seats don’t.

Did they change departure time more than 14 days in advance?

@Ben: I would recommend reviewing special meals for all those intra-Europe flights / US domestic flights that you are currently not reviewing at all.
In my opinion, that would be beneficial…

Unfortunately,AF served same food as you show here for a 2Hrs 10 min evening fligth last week Par-Osl.
And that is not good...

AY manages a hot meal Hel-Osl and it is only 1hr 10 min,;Proper Finlandia glasses and even a cofee/cognac
Swiss also serves a hot meal,but NOT LH.

I think most of those seats are filled with people who paid or redeemed points for a business class ticket part of a longer trip. I doubt people would pay full price unless their company was paying.

Forgive me but I only see 2 seats on this plane which means there are no middle seats to be blocked?

He never answered whether he has cats or not.

The other airlines mentioned block one of the two seats in pairs of two - so you have no seatmate.

I basically refuse to fly Business Class and have someone next to me on regional aircraft, unless the seats are large cradle seats as you find on TK or US carriers. LH, LX, SN, OS, LO, BT, OU or even better, TK, are well ahead of the European competition. That’s why I refuse to fly Business Class on regional aircraft on TP, IB, AF, KL or BA.

Air France announced that, from October 2025, it will block seats on its Embraer 190 aircraft.