The Details

• Flight: AF136
• Aircraft: A350-900
• Class: Business
• Seat: 1K
• Route: Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG)-Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
• Distance: 4,336miles
• Duration: 8hrs 51min
• Departure: 2:53PM
• Arrival: 4:44PM

The Preflight

Upon arrival at Terminal 2E M concourse from Hanoi with Vietnam Airlines, we transferred to Terminal 2E K concourse for our onward flight to Chicago with Air France. Utilizing the tram service between the two concourses, we efficiently navigated the transfer, albeit with the necessity to re-clear security. The total time between the two concourses amounted to 35 minutes. Once through security, we made our way to the Air France lounge located one level below the main terminal floor.

Despite the presence of several check-in agents and three automated boarding pass scanners, there was still a sizable line to enter the lounge, particularly given it was during the morning departure bank of flights. The layout of the lounge consisted of essentially two rectangular rooms connected by the check-in area in between. Upon entering the room on the right side, we immediately noticed the complimentary Clarins spa, where passengers could enjoy a 15-minute massage and facial.

Both my fiancé and I opted for this service, which was available on a first-come-first-served basis and required signing up on a paper sheet. After an excellent hand massage and facial, both my fiance and I were each given a small complimentary Clarins hand cream.

Further into the lounge was an assortment of sofas and chairs.

Each room had a small buffet area with both cold and warm food options that changed from breakfast to lunch.

Breakfast hot options included scrambled eggs, sausage, and bacon.

The bakery items included delicious French croissants, pain au chocolat, rolls, and French bread.

There was also a substantial cheese and cold-cut platter.

Various fruits and yogurt were also available.

Beverage options included various sparkling waters, canned juice, Coke, and Heineken beer.

There were a few espresso machines stationed around the lounge as well as a water dispenser.

Each room also had an elegant self-serve bar set up with a few bottles of wine and liquor.

In the morning, there was a liquor side with build-your-own Bloody Mary’s.

On the other end were bottles of red and white wine.

After 10:30 AM, the Pommery champagne was also made available. 10:30AM also corresponded to when the breakfast was changed to lunch.

Lunch food options included wild rice and roast beef.

There was also halibut, roasted vegetables, and tomato soup.

The same fruit and yogurt from breakfast were left out but dessert pastries were added. Dessert pastries very good and included a chocolate mouse cake, madeleines, coconut cake, small lemon muffins, crepes, brownies, and chocolate muffins

The same cheese and cold-cuts were also left out but a small salad bar added.

While the lounge did not have the best views nor the most comfortable seating, I did find the food well above average for European airline lounges. We both also enjoyed a shower in the multiple shower suites available.

Our initial boarding gate was supposed to be K15 but an hour prior to our scheduled boarding time the gate changed to K52 which was a bus gate. Boarding did begin on time at 12:15PM, 55 minutes prior to our scheduled departure time of 1:10PM. Zone 1 and 2 (Business class and elite members) were allowed on to the first bus. The 10 minute bus ride took us to a remote stand and we were allowed to board six minutes later at 12:41PM.

Our A350-900, registration F-HUVG, was one of the newer additions to the Air France fleet, featuring the latest cabins. It was delivered on January 5, 2024, making it less than a month and a half old. In total, Air France is expected to operate 38 A350-900s, with 20 being older models equipped with 34 Safran Optima business class seats, while the 18 newer A350s will feature 48 of the newer Stelia Opera business-class seats.

The Flight

The new Air France A350 boasts one of the finest business-class products available in the skies today. Each aircraft is equipped with forty-eight Stelia Opera business seats, arranged in a spacious 1-2-1 configuration, spread across two separate cabins. The larger first cabin, positioned between doors 1 and 2, accommodates a total of 32 seats.

For this flight, my fiancé and I were fortunate to secure seats 1D and 1H, positioned at the front in the bulkhead business class section.

The Stelia Opera seat was originally designed for single-aisle narrow-body aircraft but Air France successfully imported this product to their wide-body A350.

What sets the bulkhead seats on the Air France A350 apart is the notably spacious footwell at the front of each seat. Its size is truly impressive, comparable to the square footage found in some first-class seats on other airlines. Bulkhead seats on this aircraft include seats 1A, D, H, L and 10A, D, H, L.

In between the two center seats was a privacy screen that could be raised and lowered.

The pictures simply do not do justice to this seat when trying to convey its size and foot space.

At the front of the seat was a large 20-inch 4K Ultra-High definition touch screen. There was also an option to connect my own devices to the in-flight entertainment system but, as with my previous A350 flight, both Bose earphones and my iPhone would not connect.

Air France also decided to upgrade their A350s with both a tail-mounted and wheel-mounted camera.

Next to the large footwell in the bulkhead row was a personal closet with a coat hook as well as a mirror.

Underneath the cushion was a small storage drawer.

There was an additional storage bin along the middle of the seat.

The countertop next to the seat featured a wireless induction power charger for phones as well as both USB-A and USB-C ports.

Each seat also had a personal reading light, storage cabinet, and tablet which controlled the IFE and seat.

Within the storage bin, there was a small area to place personal items like glasses underneath a mirror. There was also a pair of headphones hardwired into the seat and a small Evian water bottle.

The personal tablet had options for seat recline, and seat lighting, as well as the ability to control the IFE and call the flight attendant. Unfortunately, both of our tablets were actually non-functional and kept erroring when we tried to use them to control the IFE system. We brought it up with the flight attendants and apparently this was a known issues as we had this exact same issue on our previous Air France A350 flight.

Directly beneath the counter top were a few buttons to control the seat, lighting, and call light. I did think there buttons were a bit too sensitive to touch as I would occasionally brush the buttons and accidentally recline my seat.

There was also a large sturdy tray tablet that folded out from underneath the countertop.

Beneath the tray table was a small literature pocket and universal power outlet. 

Along the door to the seat was an adjustable armrest.

Amenities included a small comfortable pillow and dense blanket. A coat hanger was also provided for jackets which there then hung up by the flight attendants.

As mentioned earlier, each passenger was also given a Evian water bottle and a pair of headphones.

Fifteen minutes after boarding, the flight attendants served a pre-departure beverage. Options included water, champagne, or orange juice.

After the pre-departure beverage, they came through to distribute amenity kits. Contents included an eye mask, a pair of socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a pen, ear plugs, as well as Clarins branded cream and lip balm.

The food and beverage menu was passed out next. Meal orders were taken on the ground and while I had originally pre-ordered the Beef Confit online, the flight attendants had no record of that selection. I did end up switching to the Cod anyways.

It turned out there was a specific reason why our particular aircraft was at a remote gate: mechanics had been working on the aircraft due to an issue with the lavatory flushing power. As a result, none of the lavatories had power, and crews had been addressing the problem for some time. Initially, we were informed of a 15-minute delay, but this quickly extended to 45 minutes with no specific time frame provided. Our original scheduled arrival time at O’Hare was 3:15 PM, leaving us with a tight connecting time of two hours and 40 minutes for a separately ticketed flight with United back home to Indianapolis, scheduled to depart at 5:55 PM. With each passing minute, our non-protected self-connection time grew shorter. Finally, at 2:31 PM (an hour and 21 minutes after our original departure time), the doors were closed, and we pushed back four minutes later with all lavatories operational.

We finally took off from runway 9R at 2:53PM with an estimated landing time of 4:45PM.

The service on this flight was unusually slow, although it began relatively promptly after take-off with the distribution of warm towels.

However, it took over an hour for drinks to be served, along with a small box of cheese crackers. Surprisingly, the appetizer was also served simultaneously with the drinks and crackers. Typically, passengers are served drinks and crackers first, followed by the appetizer for all passengers. However, on this occasion, the crew opted to serve passengers individually, starting from the back of the cabin and moving forward. Consequently, I was served last, approximately 80 minutes into the flight.

The artichoke and goat cheese appetizer accompanied the starter, which consisted of a crab salad and carrot purée quinoa salad. Despite the delay in food service, the flavors of each dish more than compensated for the wait. Additionally, I thoroughly enjoyed a delightful French roll paired with delicious Isigny St. Mere butter. A basic green salad was also offered.

For my main dish, I opted for the cod with creamy lovage and Arabica coffee sauce served over potatoes mousseline and tender leeks. This marked the third time I’ve chosen a fish dish on Air France, and once again, it exceeded my expectations. The fish was impeccably cooked, and the Arabica coffee sauce, while unconventional, turned out to be a delightful surprise. In fact, the sauce was so flavorful that I couldn’t resist dipping a second French roll into it.

After the main course, a separate cheese course was served, featuring three cheeses: a notably pungent Fourme d’Ambert, a crottin de Chavignol (goat cheese), and a Cantal. Each cheese offered distinct flavors, and I thoroughly enjoyed sampling them. For dessert, I enjoyed an excellent Yuzu cake, although other options such as ice cream or fresh fruit were available. This meal experience solidified Air France as my favorite trans-Atlantic airline when it comes to food and beverage service.

The meal service concluded approximately two hours and forty minutes after take-off, leaving us with around six hours and ten minutes until landing. While amenities like mattress toppers or turn-down service aren’t offered on Air France flights, I managed to get nearly four hours of rest thanks to the exceptionally padded and comfortable seat.

The spacious footwell, which rivaled some first-class seats in my opinion, allowed me to sleep sideways and stretch out my legs effortlessly.

With the suite doors closed on both sides, it created a remarkably private and intimate space. However, it’s worth noting that even with the doors closed, I could still fully see over them unintentionally as I passed by other seats. Both of our doors also had about an inch gap and did not close completely.

The A350s in business class have a total of three lavatories for 48 business class passengers. There was one lavatory behind the cockpit as well as two lavatories in between the two business class cabins at the second set of doors. On this flight, the crew blocked off the front lavatory the entire flight as reserved for crew therefore only two lavatories were available. There was nothing particularly special about the lavatories besides having Clarins branded perfume.

Mid-flight, we encountered a moderate amount of turbulence, which was significant enough to wake me up from sleep. However, after a short while, I was able to settle back down and fall asleep again. I remained asleep until we were less than two hours away from landing.

Ninety minutes prior to landing, the pre-arrival meal was served. While Air France typically offers a hot breakfast on east-bound flights from the USA to Paris, pre-landing meals on west-bound flights from Paris to the USA are often cold. The single option provided was an open-faced egg salad puff pastry sandwich with pickled onions, accompanied by a small fruit dish and a chocolate chip cookie. Although I found the egg salad and onions delicious, I found the puff pastry too dense and heavy for my preference, and ended up only eating half of it.

The flight service concluded with another hot towel after the pre-landing meal trays were cleared an hour prior to arrival.

Despite not being seated at a window, the tail and wheel cameras provided us with excellent views of the Chicago skyline and the coastline of Lake Michigan as we approached runway 28C.

We touched down at 4:44PM, exactly an hour and a half behind schedule. The taxi to Terminal 5 was tedious as well as we had just 45 minutes until boarding was scheduled to begin for our United flight departing Terminal 2 at 5:55PM.

We finally arrived at gate M18 just two minutes before 5:00 PM, giving us precisely 32 minutes to clear customs and border patrol, take the AirTram to Terminal 2, and then go through security again.

I thoroughly enjoyed both the hard and soft products offered by Air France onboard their A350-900s. However, it’s worth noting that there are still technical issues that need to be addressed with these new aircraft, as both of our flights were delayed over an hour due to mechanical problems. Nevertheless, the Stelia Opera seats are well-designed and provide exceptional personal space, particularly in the bulkhead areas. I was particularly impressed by the dining experience, and I believe Air France offers the finest business class dining across the Atlantic.