It’s a fascinating time for Air Cte dIvoire, the national airline of the Republic of Cte dIvoire. The airline recently took delivery of its first wide body aircraft, an Airbus A330-900neo, and will soon launch flights between Abidjan (ABJ) and Paris (CDG).
Continue reading: Is Air Côte d’Ivoire First Class Really A Thing, Or Nah?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Paging Sean M. to the comment section please.
We do love your contributions here, so please keep it up!
Better hope no obscure airlines are reading this blog and thinking about isolating one seemingly normal seat and marketing it as first class! You get a $20 blob of caviar, its first class!
I get the fascination in completing the list and good luck to you. But to me it seems almost a false narrative when there are no major upgrades to the starlux and Ivory Coast seats and they cost a bomb.
Btw. Put a curtain around that air India first clad seat and it’s not far away from La premiere!
I’d WhatsApp them or message and ask if the mixed itinerary can be done.
@ Mick -- In fairness, what interests me so much here is my lack of knowledge about these products. Yes, I'm very skeptical of Starlux first class, but it does seem like the airline majorly invests in the soft product. At LAX, you get access to PS, and the onboard food and drinks do look very good...
Yeah my argument is tiring hahaha! You do you. I wish I could do it full time!
Btw Josh Cahill wrote a review of the inaugural in business and economy and has photos of him in the first clas seat. I take it back. It actually does look quite first clsss esque. Much bigger footwell etc.
It’s a scam.
No regular passengers in their right minds will ever pay for this. And still, these seats will always be taken. African style, by those who know someone who know someone…
@CapitalMike I had a look at ATH-NYC the other day and AF and BA were both charging €4k for a business class return on fares which didn't offer free changes/cancellations. That trip includes ca. 8 hours in eurobusiness and pax have to choose between no real food on those legs (AF) and a dreadful hub/lounge experience (BA). I think that paying ca. €6k to fly to ABJ/DSS in first class represents much better value than that, although I personally wouldn't be keen to spend that much money.
May very well be the case, but I was looking at the First Class product vs. Business Class and at the moment there doesn’t seem to be much differentiation justifying such a substantial markup.
People willing to spend this kind of money will most likely book La Premiere.
As mentioned, in the end these will be some pseudo “VIP row seats” to make some people feel special.
Maybe Ben will prove me wrong with a revealing review, but I doubt it.
In the video from Josh Cahill, when he passes First Class, you can see the menus already lying on the first class seats, and the menus in first class clearly is the same as in business class (they even have a large "business class" printed on them). Not sure if that is representative of the acutal in flight experience but I would not be surprised if the food and soft product is the same between business and first.
You DO however see that the pillow is larger in first class compared to business class.
LOL. Don't stop, Ben. West Africa is calling you, specifically. Don't let Josh be the only reviewer there. @Sean M., is Abidjan as expensive as Accra/NYC? (Asking for Ben...)
Every time I fly AF703 out of ABJ, which depart around an hour before the HF flight, there is a huge line at the AF check-in, and barely anyone at the HF check-in. According to the internet HF allegedly has a load factor of around 40%. HF seems to have stepped up advertising and pushing some low biz fares every now and then. Wouldn’t be surprised if they amend F pricing at one point as well.
People seem to favour AF’s connections to/out of France, their new 777/350 cabins, which is a great product (with Starlink), so HF need to compete on price.
Knowing Côte d’Ivoire very well, I wouldn’t be surprised if Air Côte d’Ivoire isn’t particularly interested in selling those four First Class seats at all. The cabin may exist primarily as a protocol perk for senior government officials, state VIPs and other dignitaries, which would also explain the mysterious lack of actual paying passengers.
And realistically, for travellers who can afford to spend €6–7k on this route, I suspect most would rather splurge on Air France La Première. That might make Air Côte d’Ivoire’s First Class less of a commercial product and more of a very Côte d’Ivoire-specific VIP cabin.
Louis, you are smack on and Ben, you got your explanation:
The huge F price and the lack of deals are "possibly" completely intentional and designed to make sure that these seats ARE NEVER SOLD. They MUST remain available for when the Minister of Traffic Signs or the General Secretary of the Union of Countries Located on the 8th Parallel are travelling. These are 100% Protocol seats, as high ranking poiticians expect to be "upgraded". Some may even be very unhappy when they are not.
Were these seats occupied by genuine paying passengers when these personalities travel, the airline CEO might find himself in hot waters.
I am sure that such things do not happen anymore but in the days of Air Afrique (1960-2002), it was not rare for a whole First Class Cabin to be vacated to make room for influential passengers, or for a flight to be substantially delayed in order to wait for such passengers. I can attest to it, I was a victim of these practices several times, usually with no recourse such as being reimbursed the fare difference by the airline.
This may sound harsh, but it is an explanation which makes sense, and there are not many others.
Q.E.D (Quod Erat Demonstrandum)
As a fellow completionist, I'm sympathetic to indulging one's obsessional tendencies. But would this really be being a completionist. It does sound more of a scam given it's basically Business+ (and not even a notable one at that). The uncomfortable feeling of handing over that much money for something so scam-like should outweigh your completionish tendencies.
@ Malc -- Hey, I hear you, and it sort of kills me to potentially hand over this much money. Every single first class product I've flown, I've been able to get a deal on, compared to the retail cost.
That being said, I don't make the rules of what does and doesn't constitute first class, and I think there's more upside to me having flown every product that markets itself as first class, rather than not. Since I'm so close, I just can't help myself...
@Ben -- That's a fair point. If it's marketed as First, it's your right to try it and inform us it's not really First. Certainly, this post will have generated a lot of interest in any future post about it!
What is it about this market that sustains so much F capacity? It also gets AF La Premiere.
There have been a few oil and gas discoveries in and around Cote d'Ivoire and it's also a hub for UN/NGO and associated work- not as big as Dakar but not insignificant either. Don't know about the flag carrier, but I suspect that the AF route is very profitable.
How often do you get to be the first (and likely, only) blogger to review a product? Bite the bullet and pay the $7K.
@ Greg -- Hey, that's why I plan to do it, but if I can get a better deal, of course I'd like to!!
I could be wrong, but doesn't the Amex business Centurion still get the 50% rebate on first class flights when paid with points, with no airline restriction (if Air Cote d'Ivoire is even bookable on Amex)? I'm sure you must know someone who has one and could book that for you maybe?
OMAAT family, we need to make this happen.
So, using ITA Matrix i see flights in business class ACC-ABJ-CDG at around €2100 relatively soon so when booked abit earlier it could be cheaper.
That Princilla from Delta surely has ideas on how to get from the US to Accra, Ghana on the cheap!
Now, how do we get you from Paris to ABJ in First Class? I'm on it.
Also just reading the Wikipedia page of the airline i see that Air France owns 20% of the carrier??? I was searching for any codeshare partners but they don't even codeshare with AF?
@ InceptionCat -- Hey, thanks for your thoughts, yay! May I ask where you found the €4K price, as that's better than anything I've found? Also, fascinating about Air France... I didn't realize that!
ITA Matrix. I was looking at one ways. Try originating from Oslo or Budapest. Yes, I saw routings via Vienna for about €2500 but on ITA Matrix you have to somehow change the flight to CDG to business then first to ABJ. That would be a total of €4500 but i'm pretty sure we could get that to under €4k. Give me a minute.
ITA Matrix doesn't always show you the best prices but 'annoy' it enough and you get the proper fare classes and then there's either a direct link to the airline or call the airline and give them the exact codes and you'll get the price you saw.
Done that numerous times on routings with LH & SQ (MUC is home).
@ InceptionCat -- You're a legend! Please let me know what you find, I'm very grateful. If it's easier to email, please send to ben@onemileatatime.com. Thanks!
There's a form of partnership with Ethiopian as Air Côte d'Ivoire markets the ABJ-JFK flights operated by Ethiopian, but no way they'll sell you a ticket to ADD or even a connecting flight from JFK to CDG.
AF is always ~50% more expensive on this segment in F and you can often find them 50% cheaper in J. Clearly the Ivorian "F" product is designed to have a horrendous value so it never sells and to remain available to flatter whichever high ranking official that absolutely needs to travel on Ivorian metal (or specifically non-French metal) and needs to one-up everyone else.
I believe you have also never flown Air Peace first class!
@ Angus -- Hah, don't do this to me!!! :p Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Air Peace's two 777s that are in service don't have first class, and that the airline doesn't sell first class? Or am I mistaken?
You're correct. They do not sell First Class on any routes. Also they have 3 777s currently operational - one -300 (BWI) and two -200s (BVE/CEG).
They do sell first class on LOS-LGW.
Lucky - there's no way out. West Africa is calling.
@ ritesa -- Wait a second... you're right! Sean M., what's going on here?! They are selling first class between LOS and LGW, but it shows as an angled flat seat. Gahhh, I wish I didn't know this. But seriously, what's the deal here?!
Looking at the seatmap and Aerolopa, it seems to be an old SQ 777 with original interiors where they sell the first three rows of the business class cabin before the second doors as first.
@ ritesa @ Sean M. -- Okay, so just looked into this a bit more. It seems the 777-300 with the registration code 5N-BWI usually flies to LGW. It's listed on Planespotters as having 50 business class seats, but when I go to Air Peace's website to book a ticket, it shows a first class cabin with 18 seats, and a business class cabin with 32 seats, all in a 2-2-2 configuration.
It seems like this configuration:
https://www.aerolopa.com/p4-773
Eh?!?!
The funny thing is - they actually have a plane with first class seats, an ex-Emirates 777, but they don't seem to use it on this route:
https://www.aerolopa.com/p4-772-1
Lucky, you’re actually flying Starlux from LAX? Please don’t tell me you shelled out an arm and a leg for it by paying $4,800 for the points for F…
If I were you, I’d rather pay for it on a 4-hour intra-Asia route like TPE–SIN, where I don’t need the enhanced service. But you seem to be most intent on experiencing the full JX F longhaul service, so… you do you!
@ Proximanova -- I have not yet booked, but am committed to doing so in the coming weeks. I'm just waiting to ticket in hopes of there being some sort of a points sale, given that this opportunity just launched. My goal is always to review products and cover the full experience, and that's why I'd like to fly the airline long haul rather than short haul.
It's not marketed as First, but Air New Zealand essentially has a first class on two of their Boeing 777-367ERs. Not to be confused with their regular business-plus product, the cabin is two rows of 1-1-1 rather than the usual 1-2-1 in their Business Premier Preferred.
I don't know if the soft product is differentiated, but the seat certainly looks more like a legit First seat than on Air Côte d'Ivoire! One to review once you've completed the rest?
Isn't this the old Cathay Pacific 777s? They sell the First class seats as business but with a premium to sit in the First seats. Noel Philips did a review of this a while back.
Qantas used to do the same with A380 flights from Hong Kong, as they decided not to market it as First Class. I was able to choose one of those First seats a couple of days before departure at no extra cost (but there's early access to high-tier QFF members). It was great - first class seat, just with the Business Class soft product. Similar situation to Air NZ on the old Cathay planes.
Are they more expensive or can they been assigned at booking? Do you know which route they are used on? Do they just stay empty? Etc.