Flag carriers should promote their home country. From the food, to the hospitality, to the style-
and Air France does just that. Hi there, my name is Kevin and I make honest and to the point
narrated trip reports about flights and hotels all over the world. This is episode 127, in Business
Class on a new Air France A220 to Helsinki. You’ve got 10 seconds until the experience begins.
Welcome to Paris, where I just landed from Ibiza. Terminal 2F is at times hot and often overcrowded,
but it is still by far my favorite terminal in Europe- before today because of the design, but
now also because of the new Air France lounge. If you’d like to know the exact fare that I paid for
this gem of an experience or my next five videos in queue, please check out the description below.
I want to get straight into the lounge, so no riddle today- but just a reminder that
sponsored unbiased reviews don’t exist. You simply cannot authentically review a product
if that same company is compensating you in any way, shape or form and that’s why today
you’re only going to get my honest and personal opinions because this flight is 100% self funded.
Something else that is 100%? Everything in this beautiful new lounge that opened
in August of 2021 is truly 100% Air France and French in general.
From the dramatic central stair case, to it’s mod curved glass windows, to the style of the
570 seats, to all of the food- literally, it’s all from France. Like I mentioned in the intro,
I think Flag carriers should put a lot of effort into highlighting their home country- and this
lounge, a sort of Ode to France, does just that. Even the bathrooms are whimsical and stylish and
I very much appreciate the stall doors that open outwards for easy access with your carry on bags.
If you like and support authentic travel reviews, please give the channel a sub and
check out my Patreon in the description below. A big thank you in advance.
The food offerings in the lounge are mostly all chilled, but extensive and show a nice
variety for a summer afternoon in between meal times. There is also a bistro bar within the
lounge that will eventually feature live cooking stations, but it was yet to be up and running.
In addition to the copious amounts of wine, coffee and food- the lounge does also offer
shower stalls and an on site Clarins Spa. I had a very pleasant 4 hours in
here and got a whole lot of work done, but now it’s time to head to the gate.
Our aircraft was late arriving, which delayed our flight- but, given the summer that European
flying had, I consider an arrival up to 30 minutes late to be just fine.
Waiting around for our inbound flight gave me plenty of time to admire the zig zag of jet
bridges which add this terminal’s charm. Most structures at Charles de Gaulle were designed
by Paul Andreu, who was also the designer of many other airport terminals which you’ll find
in Manila, Jakarta, Dubai and more. Alright, time to board. I chose this
flight itinerary specifically because it would allow me to try two aircraft that
I’ve never flown on before. The E190 from Ibiza and now the well adored Airbus A220.
As we follow this impossibly French couple down the jetbridge, let’s look
at today’s flight stats. We would take off almost an hour late and head up to 37000
feet for our two and a half hour flight up to Helsinki, landing just 19 minutes behind schedule.
As we board and admire the really poorly maintained glass jet bridges, let me give you
a 30 second history of the A220. Entering service in 2016 with SWISS as the Bombardier C Series,
it saw sluggish initial sales but was boosted by a 2016 order from Delta for 75 of the aircraft.
Boeing sued allegding the planes were being dumped below cost. The US department of commerce agreed
and tacked on a 292% duty. Canada disputed and the WTO ordered the duty to be dropped.
With slow sales and a costly legal battle, by this point it was already too late for
Bombardier who in 2018 sold a 50.01% stake in the C Series program to Airbus who rebadged
the plane as the A220. To date 227 have been delivered with an additional 546 on order.
Our aircraft today is less than a year old and features an incredibly well designed and
comfortable seat. Legroom is sufficient and comfortable and thanks to the 2 x 3 layout,
in business class you are guaranteed the seat pair if you choose the A seats, as I did.
Wet towelettes were passed out and you know I always appreciate an individual air vent. We
began our pushback after a very quick boarding. Let me mention now that the service on today's
flight was some of the warmest and friendliest that I’ve ever received. The crew were all just
generally so pleasant and went out of their way to make every passenger as comfortable as possible.
The passenger in front of me had a very large and very expensive tote bag at her feet on the
floor. She was in the bulk head and it needed to be stowed. The flight attendant told her this and
proceeded to take crew bags out of the overhead so that her bag would have some breathing room.
When we were ready to land- a different flight attendant, without saying a word- gingerly
lifted the bag, put it on the seat next to her and carefully secured it with a seat
belt. I think both cases show the character and attention to detail that all of the crew shared.
After taxiing past the length of Terminal 2F we headed to the runway where we would take off to
the east and then turn northward for our sunset express. The spool up and take off are up next.
My likely unpopular opinion of the A220 is that, while it is a beautiful aircraft and
I love the large windows- I still do generally prefer an A321 as far as narrow body jets go.
Let’s explore the seat a bit. There was a pop down cup holder and a convenient coat hook.
There were three pockets of varying sizes to
store your things as well as a very comfortable and moveable headrest.
Everyone raves about how big the overhead bins are- I guess compared to a regional jet,
yes they’re larger- but not nearly as large as a new A320 or 737. Each seat had a device holder
and available streaming entertainment. I just always stick with my preloaded content though.
I did very very much enjoy what was the first ever USB-C outlet I’ve seen in the air
which kept my phones nicely juiced up throughout the flight.
Alright, next up it was time for dinner. My thoughts are near identical to my last flight,
though tonight we were offered chicken or a vegetarian dish.
The chicken dish is served chilled with penne pasta, a cheese plate and a raspberry cheesecake.
Everything was delicious, nothing was highly processed and I would have licked the plate if
there was no one around me. And yes, I admit that cold entrees are a bit strange, but I will take a
juicy piece of chicken served cold, on purpose, anyday over a lukewarm and dry piece of chicken.
We caught the late sunset after dinner and then I
checked out the bathroom which is a very nice and spacious design.
There weren’t too many amenities on offer and the sink could be a little deeper,
but I just liked that for such a small plane, this bathroom had plenty of wiggle room.
After dinner the very attentive purser kept glasses full throughout the flight
and before landing came around with some packaged treats which i stowed
away and very much enjoyed while sleeping in a windowless basement room that night.
We approached the airport from the northwest and landed to very little
fanfare since you literally couldn’t see a thing.
Once to the gate we deplaned and I got my first actual full view of our aircraft.
Alright, onto the Flip Flop Score. From the lounge, to the terminal, the aircraft, the
service, the food- that whole package if I could duplicate it, I’d refly it on loop. It was simply
near perfection. If you enjoyed this report today, I hope you’ll give it a like and subscribe so you
don’t miss a beat. I’ll see you next time on my FINNAIR A350 flight from Helsinki to Amsterdam.