Forgive me, please, but I’m back on the “I need to fly Air Côte d’Ivoire first class” train. Let me explain why, and then I’m curious if anyone has any ideas…
In this post:
Air Côte d’Ivoire offers first class from Abidjan to Paris
For a bit of background, Air Côte d’Ivoire is the national airline of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. The carrier’s wide body fleet consists of two Airbus A330-900neo aircraft, which fly between Abidjan (ABJ) and Paris (CDG).
These planes are in a super premium four cabin configuration, with just 242 seats. This includes four first class seats, 44 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 173 economy seats.
As I noted when the airline took delivery of the plane, in terms of quality, first class looks more like a “business class plus.” That’s because there’s not even a curtain between first class and business class (then again, the same is true on Starlux, and that doesn’t stop the airline).
Heck, if you check out the carrier’s 3D tour of the A330-900neo cabin and look at the front row of seats, you’ll see them described as “BC+ Suite,” which sure sounds to me like “business class plus suite,” perhaps a real reflection of the quality of the product.
Anyway, Air Côte d’Ivoire is the first airline in years to introduce an international first class product, and that certainly intrigues me. What interests me even more is that even though this product has been in service for nearly a year, there’s almost nothing about it online.
The airline has a webpage about its “La First” first class product, and it contains very little information about what actually sets it apart from business class (other than a very high carry-on allowance), despite the huge price premium.
It’s possible I’m missing something, but I don’t think I’ve seen a single report online from anyone who has flown the product. And I’m not just talking about “reviewers,” but also just a random person who flew the product posting a few pictures of their experience on social media. Well, I’m excluding the below video published by the airline, with a politician flying in first class…
What’s the actual experience like? Is there a special first class ground experience? Is the inflight service actually hugely elevated? Is there better champagne and caviar, or is this (as a certain drama king would say) “a scam?”
What’s the best way to fly Air Côte d’Ivoire first class?
In late 2025, I had a couple of extra days in Paris, and I posed the question of whether I should spend a fortune flying Air Côte d’Ivoire, with one direction in first class and one direction in business class. I ultimately decided against the side trip, since it just didn’t seem like it was worth the money.
I’ve had a change of heart in the meantime, and that’s because I’m a bit of a completionist. I’ve reviewed nearly every first class product in the world, with the exception of the cabins on Starlux Airlines and Air Côte d’Ivoire.
While both have been on my radar, there has been no practical way to actually fly them, short of paying a very expensive cash fare. Fortunately in the case of Starlux, that recently changed, as the carrier’s loyalty program has started selling points, so that’s a way to fly first class for roughly half of the retail cost (assuming there are no further sales).
So I plan to fly Starlux imminently, and that leaves just one first class product in the world that I haven’t reviewed. Even if it costs me a pretty penny, at this point I feel like I should just rip the band-aid off and do it. It would make me (to my knowledge) the first person to fly every first class product in the world… or at least to document it, and that would be pretty cool.
But still, I want to get as good of a deal as possible, so I’m trying to figure out the best way to do that.
However, I’m finding that Air Côte d’Ivoire has unusually straightforward pricing, in the sense that there aren’t many opportunities to position to another city to get a better deal. Pricing is pretty similar whether originating in Paris or Abidjan, and roundtrip fares are more affordable than one-ways.
Often there’s an opportunity to book one direction in first class or business class and one direction in economy (so that you can just throw away the return), but that’s not even an option here, at least not in a way that’s useful. If you select a first class or business class fare on the outbound, the cheapest economy fare can no longer be paired with that, and you end up having to pay an economy fare that’s close to the business class fare.
The premium for first class over business class on Air Côte d’Ivoire is also huge, despite it being questionable how much better it actually is.
For example, if you’re originating in Paris and are flying to Abidjan roundtrip, you’ll find the fares below
However, if you select first class on the outbound, you can’t simply mix & match fares, as the business class fare suddenly becomes more expensive. So you’re looking at over €7,000 for a roundtrip first class ticket, or over €6,000 for one way in first class and one way in business class. Ouch.
If you reverse the trip and originate in Abidjan, you’ll find virtually identical fares. Meanwhile if you fly one-way from Paris to Abidjan, you’ll find fares of over €6,000 in first class.
Meanwhile if you originate in Dakar and fly to Paris, you’re still looking at a fare of over €5,600.
With the complexity of airline pricing, I have to imagine that there’s some trick that I’m missing here. But maybe not, given how small the carrier’s network is?
Has anyone found any good fares that include a segment in Air Côte d’Ivoire first class? Are travel agents somehow able to ticket first class in one direction and economy in the other direction, while combining lower fare classes? Alternatively, does anyone know if the airline offers paid upgrades from business class to first class at check-in? Or is there some other creative option I’m missing?
One thing is for sure — first class demand certainly isn’t robust. Looking at flights from Abidjan to Paris on Air Côte d’Ivoire, below are the dates where all four first class seats are still for sale. As you can see, over the course of two months, there are a total of five days where a single seat has been sold (or at least blocked… who knows whether it’s being paid for, or just blocked for government officials, or whatever).
Bottom line
Air Côte d’Ivoire has now been flying to Paris for nearly a year, using its new Airbus A330-900neos. The planes feature four first class seats, making this the first airline in many years to introduce an international first class product.
I’m very close to having flown every first class product in the world, and in the coming weeks, this will be the only first class I haven’t flown. Therefore in the interest of being a completionist, I’m determined to fly this product, even if it costs me, since I think it would be pretty cool to be one of the only people out there to have flown every first class in the world.
For that matter, I’m utterly intrigued by the existence of this product, given the lack of firsthand experiences. Airline products don’t get much more mysterious than this.
What do you make of Air Côte d’Ivoire first class? Any tricks I’m missing, or reviews that have been published that I missed?
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.
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.
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
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. I think if the total price...
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. I think if the total price came at around/under €4k is somewhat acceptable, no?
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'...
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 [email protected]. 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...
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 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?
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!!
What is it about this market that sustains so much F capacity? It also gets AF La Premiere.
I've never understood it either
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.
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!
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...
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"....
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)
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...
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.
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...)
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.
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...
@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.
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.
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...
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!
Paging Sean M. to the comment section please.
We do love your contributions here, so please keep it up!