Los Angeles International Airport, Air France flight 65 to Paris Charles de Gaulle. For this long-haul flight, lasting about 11 hours, 80 passengers take their seats in the Business Class cabin on the upper deck. After having settled in, a welcome drink is offered to them - bubbly or not. The goal of Air France is clear: to pamper these customers who, whilst representing only 10% of its passengers, account for 30% of the company's turnover. Average price of a one-way ticket: 4,500 euros - making it seven times more than an economy class ticket; so what justifies the price difference ?
Laurence Priad – Chief purser - Air France :
"A lot of things! The seat primarily, comprising two different concepts, the seat itself, and the cabin space; here there are fewer seats, thus, clearly more space, and the service is more personalized."
Two hours after take-off the eight flight attendants, dedicated exclusively to this class, are busy preparing dinner. On the menu: steaks and mashed potatoes with basil, Noix de Saint-Jacques ( scallops ) with basmati rice, or chicken with sherry and special semolina concocted by the three-star chef Joël Robuchon.
Florian Bardin - Steward Air France :
"We reheat the individual dishes, using the information provided by our service provider who advises us of the best original recipe cooking times. The bread is prepared, together with the wine, and everything put into place for the service to run as smoothly as possible. In addition, on the A-380, having two separate galleys, requires a lot of communication between them so that both can despatch the meals at the same time, thus ensuring the best presentation possible."
After the trio of desserts, the light intensity of the cabin is reduced so that passengers can take a nap in their two-metre long seat-cum-beds, or enjoy the in-flight entertainment system.
Six hours later, at 10,700 metres ( 35,000 ft. ), it is already time for breakfast. Since January 1st., wishing to be even more responsive to its customers, Air France has also been testing a passenger information system; 300 chief pursers are equipped with IPADS indicating any malfunctions, such as delayed or lost baggage, encountered by each passenger on previous flights.
Isabelle Laclau – Chief Purser : Business Class cabin - Air France
"It provides us with the possibility of offering a post commercial in-flight gesture, i.e. we chief pursers can offer air miles, or gifts of other on-board duty-free products etc. ... "
Passengers :
-"The hostesses are really nice. Everything's going well. "
-"It's comfortable, it's modern, it is clean, the food is delicious , the service is wonderful, I love it."
-"The space is nice, and the cabin is quiet."
Ten and three quarter hours after leaving Los Angeles, and the runway at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport is in sight. Thanks to the three telescopic jet bridges, now in place, 80 Business Class customers and 436 other passengers can disembark. Regarding the super-jumbo, its turnaround time will take just a few hours before it can leave for its new destination.
