Hello from Frankfurt, as I’m well underway on my latest review trip. After an amazing flight in Air France’s Airbus A350 business class, I connected onto a short 50-minute flight to Frankfurt, operated by an Air France HOP Embraer E190. For those of you not familiar with HOP, this is Air France’s regional subsidiary, operating a fleet of Embraer aircraft.
While I’ll have a full trip report soon, in this post I wanted to share my initial impressions. Usually I don’t write these kinds of preview posts about short haul flights, but this flight had both highs and lows.
In this post:
Air France HOP’s disappointing “business class” cabin
Business class on intra-Europe flights is pretty underwhelming by global standards, as it typically consists of economy seats with a blocked adjacent seat, plus better service. Well, while Air France blocks adjacent seats in business class throughout its mainline fleet, that’s not the case on HOP.
Instead, the business class cabin consists of the first several rows, but no seats are blocked. Yes, that’s right, it means you’ll potentially be sitting next to someone, as I was on this flight, as every seat on the aircraft was taken.
On the plus side, the legroom in the first several rows is quite good, so at least that’s not too limiting. But still, not having any extra shoulder space is pretty disappointing.
How does this compare to the policies of other European airlines? While all major European airlines block adjacent seats on mainline aircraft, the policies differ on regional aircraft. To look at the “big three” airline groups:
- Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian, block adjacent seats in business class on regional jets, so you have a pair of seats to yourself
- Air France and KLM don’t block adjacent seats in business class on regional jets, so you could have a seat mate
- British Airways doesn’t block adjacent seats in business class on regional jets, so you could have a seat mate; however, British Airways doesn’t fly these aircraft to its Heathrow hub
So while Air France isn’t alone in having this policy, this is actually the first intra-Europe business class flight I’ve had in years where I was seated next to someone. I guess that’s an area where Lufthansa Group excels (hey, they’ve gotta be good at something!)
While this policy is disappointing and makes for a not-very-premium experience, I guess I also can’t blame Air France, because the company seems to get away with it? Air France charges more for business class between Paris and Frankfurt than Lufthansa, all while not blocking seats.
On the plus side, I had a shockingly pleasant conversation with my seat mate during the flight. I say “shockingly,” because the conversation started with him asking me if I had cats while I was using headphones.
Air France HOP’s delicious business class catering
While Air France HOP falls short of Lufthansa Group when it comes to personal space, the catering is a completely different story. I usually fly Lufthansa within Europe, and the catering is… not great. It’s almost like Lufthansa tries too hard to serve something that’s overly creative but not actually well executed. I really don’t need my mystery meat with a side of herring and elderflower, but thanks, Lufthansa.
Air France’s catering, on the other hand, is legitimately excellent. On this short 50-minute afternoon flight, the snack consisted of smoked salmon with truffle conchigliette, served with cauliflower cream and truffonade. There was also a selection of cheese, plus a pear tartlet. This was the best meal I ever recall having on a short haul flight within Europe.
Bottom line
I hadn’t flown Air France’s HOP subsidiary in over a decade, so I was happy to give it another shot for the short 50-minute flight from Paris to Frankfurt. Not surprisingly for a French airline, the food was very good. However, there are no blocked seats in business class on HOP, so there’s less personal space than on other aircraft. It’s interesting to see how the policies of different airlines vary.
What’s your take on Air France HOP’s business class?
Forgive me but I only see 2 seats on this plane which means there are no middle seats to be blocked?
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.
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.
For LH intra-Europe business class, I recommend special meals.
@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…
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.
I had that exact meal earlier in January. I flew CDG-MAD on the A220. Very tasty catering and doesn’t involve an oven.
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...
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.
Lufthansa also has more legroom in the front cabin. Additionally, the first x rows have an adjustable backrest while standard economy seats don’t.
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.
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 !
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.
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.
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
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...
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?
Did they change departure time more than 14 days in advance?
Horrible airline!
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...
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.
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 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...
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.
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...
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.
"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.
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 …
He never answered whether he has cats or not.
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.
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...
Have you never flown biz , mate ? Typically, you also get extra legroom , priority boarding , priority screening , lounge access
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...
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).
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.
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).
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".
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.
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.