We’re heading to Norway via Paris on Air France. We’re bringing baby Violet along with us, this isn’t her first international flight(Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 Business Class Review), but this will be the longest travel day she’s experienced. Our Transatlantic flight from Newark to Paris will be on Air France’s A350 in Business Class. This plane is outfitted with the newest Air France business class cabin that has closing doors and wireless charging. If you want to see the other Air France A350 Business Class cabin, I have a full review here.
I’ve been looking forward to this flight for a while, but I’m also a little nervous. Taking a 9 month old on a long haul flight is a little daunting. But I can gladly report, Violet did great and it was a very pleasant flight.
Bottom Line: Air France’s Business Class is excellent. The A350 with the newest cabin is top notch. On this flight I’m in a standard business class seat, but Val’s in the bulkhead with the baby. The bulkhead seat is huge, comfortable, and private. The standard seats are comfortable and private, but nowhere near as large. The cabin crew is friendly and meal is very good.
Air France A350 Boarding
After spending about 2 hours in the SAS lounge here at EWR, we wanted to take Violet for a little walk before the flight.
We made our way to the gate just as pre-boarding started. Perfect timing. When checking in, we got a baggage tag for baby Violet’s car seat. I stuffed it into its protective bag in the jet bridge. Her stroller is small enough to fit in the overhead bin so we carried that on. Our understanding is that Air France doesn’t return strollers plane side in CDG so we wanted to keep it with us.
Air France A350-900 Business Class Cabin
We’re sitting in Air France’s Business Class rearward cabin. There are 48 Business Class seats on the A350, rows 10-14 are here behind the boarding door. The seats in this bulkhead have the bassinet attachments so we chose them.
Onboard we found our seats on the left hand side of the plane. Val has a bulkhead seat for Violet so we can use a bassinet. I’m in the seat behind. Of course the crew was super friendly and talking with baby Violet. Val asked about the bassinet and the flight attendant checked the seat to make sure it was the right one. It is, so she said they’ll bring it over once we’re in the air.
The seats are a pretty standard Business Class product. Reverse herringbone that faces the windows. Air France dresses them up with a sliding door and very nice trimmings. In the seat there is a pillow, blanket, mattress pad, and coat hanger.
My seat, a non-bulkhead, has the entertainment system that swings out from the seat ahead. The left side has a small table area along with some storage and the wireless charging pad.
Air France A350-900 Business Class Seats
Over my left shoulder there is a storage area with a bottle of water and headphones. I always bring my own and never use the onboard ones. The tablet looking device is a remote for the in seat entertainment. Above that is the reading light.
These seats have a wireless charging pad for devices. I’m not really sure I care or like this. My phone slipped off it overnight and ended up not charging. So I plugged in anyway. There are still USB ports.
Near the ottoman, there is another storage cubby, I’d be worried about forgetting something in here.
The seat controls are simple and easy to use, but are in a position where I bumped into them with my elbow.
Looking ahead, the in seat entertainment screen can be folded back to give a little more space if you’re not using it.
Champagne was distributed along with menus. I settled into our seats and relaxed. One bad thing about these seats is the whole plane is boarding past us. Kinda annoying. The seats in the front cabin would be my preference, but no bassinet seats up there.
Air France A350-900 Business Class Menu
The purser came around and introduced herself and welcomed us to business class. Air France is very good about that in my experience. She also handed out dinner menus. For the first time in a while I didn’t pre-order my dinner.
Air France Business Class Dinner Menu
Air France Business Class Dinner Menu
Air France Business Class Dinner Menu
Air France Business Class Dinner Menu
Air France Business Class Dinner Menu
Air France Push Back and Departure
The pilot gave his welcome and made a few jokes in French and English. It will be a 6:50 flight to Paris. He then asked us to forget we were at the airport and to enjoy our flight, love that.
We pushed back from the gate right on time. I’m not a big fan of these early departures. Especially from the east coast to western Europe, landing at 5-6Am after a sub 7 hour flight sucks.
As we taxied to the runway, the safety video was shown.
It’s a really warm March day here in Newark. It’s also the day after the time change and the sun is still out as we taxi to the runway.
A pretty short taxi to the runway and we took-off right around sunset. It’s a beautiful night for flying here, not a cloud in the sky.
As we departed, we got a nice view of New York in the background.
I try to sit on the left hand side when traveling east over the Atlantic. I think the views are nicer and there’s no sunshine coming in to blind me.
Air France A350 Business Class Bulkhead Bassinet Seat
The bulkhead seat is significantly larger than the standard business class seats. They are reserved for passengers with infants until check-in.
After takeoff the flight attendant came with the bassinet for baby Violet. Looks like it’s perfect for her.
Unlike most seats with bassinets, on Air France, the bassinet is really in the seat. It attaches to the wall of the seat and rests on the very large ottoman.
Outside the sun was setting as we settled into our flight.
Air France A350 Business Class In Seat Entertainment
The in seat entertainment on the Air France A350 is a great system. The screen is large and very responsive. Air France also has excellent onboard Starlink Wifi that’s provided for free. On an overnight flight I don’t tend to scroll online, but it’s nice to stay connected and text with friends.
The selection of movies and shows is very good. On a short overnight flight like this, I put on a movie during dinner and then tried to get some sleep.
Air France A350 Business Class Dinner Service
A few minutes later, as the sun was setting, the flight attendant came around and took my dinner order. Next came champagne and snacks.
The dinner was served very quickly. I apprentice that on a short flight where I want to get some sleep. The appetizer was smoked duck and very good.
For dinner, I swapped over to beer. I liked the IPA.
For the main, I chose the brazed beef. This was perfectly adequate. Brazed dishes are usually pretty good on planes, remember, everything is pre-cooked and reheated. I very much enjoyed the desert and skipped the cheese course.
Air France A350 Business Class Lavatory
After dinner I went to the lavatory to get ready for bed. The Air France A350 lavatories are large enough to not feel small. They were kept in good condition throughout the flight.
Air France A350 Business Class In Flight
Dinner was over about 90 minutes into the flight and I wanted to get some sleep. I made up my seat with the mattress cover and duvet. The Air France bedding is very good.
Outside there’s just a dim glow of the sun behind the horizon.
I closed the door and laid down to get some sleep. We land in just under 5 hours.
When fully reclined, the foot well is a little small, but it’s perfectly comfortable.
Air France A350 Arrival and Landing
With just over an hour left in the flight to Paris, the cabin lights were brought up slowly. We are passing over Ireland as the cabin crew started to offer breakfast.
I didn’t take breakfast here on the plane. I usually don’t on East Bound Trans-Atlantic flights. There’s just not enough time, I’d rather eat when we land.
Outside, we can start to see the lights under a little bit of fog. The pilot gave his farewell and asked the flight attendants to prepare for landing.
Just a few minutes later we landed into a slightly wet Paris. It’s very early here yet. Another reason I’m not a huge fan of leaving the East Coast of the US at 5pm.
Air France A350 Business Class Final Thoughts
As always, I very much enjoyed this Air France flight. The A350 in Business Class is a very nice product. This newer configuration includes doors, for extra privacy The seats are comfortable, large, and with tons of storage. I also liked the modern and fast in seat entertainment. Starlink wifi is also provided on Air France, it’s fast and reliable, but I didn’t use it too much overnight. The wireless charging pad in the seat did work, but I found myself plugging in anyway, just more reliable and faster. The dinner service was very good and I enjoyed my braised beef.
Flying with baby Violet is not always easy, but this Air France flight was as good as it gets. She was able to get plenty of sleep in her bassinet. Val’s seat was very large and made it comfortable for the two of them.
At the end of the day, I’d gladly ride on Air France’s A350 in Business Class again. The only thing I didn’t like about this flight was the departure time. I hate leaving so early.