In front of an audience of numerous guests on June 6, Air France presented its new business class seat, which will equip its Airbus A350s from July, on the Stelia Aerospace stand at Aircraft Interiors. 

The "3F rule"

"Our new business seat meets the "3F" concept: "full flat", with a seat that transforms into a totally flat two-meter bed, "full access", with seats all having access to the aisle, "full privacy", with a partition between the two middle seats that can remain raised or lowered for passengers traveling as couples, and a small sliding door that closes off access to the aisle and creates a kind of mini-suite", explains Fabien Pelous, Executive Vice President in charge of Passenger Experience at Air France. "Note that the seat is also equipped, for those in the first row, with additional storage space and an individual closet," adds Fabien Pelous. 

21 Airbus A350s still to be delivered 

Business class passengers on Airbus A350s will have access to a high-definition 4K screen with digital controls measuring 20 inches (almost 51 cm) in size. Passengers will also be able to connect their own devices to the system via a BlueTooth link. Note that the IFE (In-flight Entertainment System) is provided by Safran, with the latest version of its RAVE system. 

As a reminder, Air France has ordered a total of 41 Airbus A350-900s and has already taken delivery of 20 of them. The first of the 21 A350s yet to be delivered, which will be equipped with the new business seat, christened "Aix-en-Provence", is scheduled to join the fleet in July 2023. For the record, Air France's Airbus A350-900s are configured with 48 business class seats, 32 Premium Economy class seats and 212 economy class seats, for a total of 292 seats.