Our return flight home from Brazil in April 2022 was booked in Air France‘s business class, from Sao Paolo (“GRU”) to Paris (“CDG”) on one of their Airbus A350s, which ‘tops out’ at Business (ie without a First Class).  After a very poor experience with Air France’s “Brazilian partner” GOL on a domestic feeder flight from Campo Grande to GRU, Mr A and I made our own way from GRU’s terminal 2 to terminal 3, from where Air France and most international carriers operate.  Although GOL is a ‘partner’ we did not earn Flying Blue points/miles for that sector.  At GRU Air France business class pax are invited to use the American Express lounge, but it only opens at 11am, and we’d arrived in GRU at 07:40, so before 11:00 we used some rather inferior lounges, courtesy of my Priority Pass card.

Three other airlines from the Skyteam alliance also use this lounge, plus Priority Pass members and Amex card holders.  The lounge was spacious and by far the best lounge we used at GRU, but it didn’t have windows letting in natural light. It’s food and beverage offering was pretty good, and (for me, after a sleepless night) its best feature was a ‘quiet zone’ with ‘Z-beds’, where I had the chance to catch a few Zs, though I did find it a little chilly in terms of temperature.

Flight AF457 was scheduled to depart at 15:10 and arrive into CDG at 07:35 the following morning. We boarded the one month old A350, registered F-HTYP at 14:25 and the doors were closed 15 minutes ahead of schedule at 14:54. Pushback wasn’t until 15:07, but that simply gave us more time to enjoy our pre-flight glass of Champagne.  Seating on this new plane was in a forward facing 1-2-1 set-up.

Unusually for forward facing seats, there was a shoulder strap which connected onto the usual seat belt, but it only had to be used during take-off and landing.  And because the seats all faced forward rows alternate between being flush with the window and flush with the aisle.

After take-off I had a negroni, even though it wasn’t on the official list of cocktails, which was a welcome sign of very good service offered by the cabin crew.

After my aperitif I enjoyed a lunch of excellent quality. Air France has a good reputation for its catering, but it’s usually at its best out of Paris, so I was delighted to have great food out of Brazil.  Our food was accompanied by a good wine list.

I had a tasty starter of smoked salmon, served with a quinoa salad plus a ‘green’ salad on the side with an olive oil and balsamic dressing, and a warm baguette with real French butter (Isigny).  Somehow I forgot to photograph or make note of my main course!

Then, in the French style, I had a cheese course and a glass of port, before a dessert of chocolate and hazelnut cake and a glass of dessert wine.

I then watched a film from a pretty good selection, before settling down to sleep in the comfortable fully flat bed.  (note some older Air France business class seats on its B777s are only angle-flat and in a 2-3-2 configuration).  I slept very well and all too soon we were at ‘top of descent’ and breakfast was being served.

For breakfast I had fruit, yogurt, an omelette with fried potatoes and vegetables, croissants and honey, all washed down with a good strong coffee (they didn’t have an espresso machine) and a Buck’s Fizz.

Because if the late-ish breakfast service I had a mad dash to change out of my PJs (ones I’d brought along myself, because Air France do not provide them in business class).  We landed at CDG at 07:07 on runway 08R and we were on stand at 07:12, some 23 minutes early.  This had been an excellent flight, on a brand new aircraft, with a very good crew and great food!  I was impressed with myself (and the crew who indulged me) by speaking French in all of my interactions with the crew.

After disembarking I was met by a very friendly English-speaking wheelchair assistant, who took me to the business class lounge in Terminal 2E, to wait for our connecting flight to London.

The lounge was bright and spacious with comfortable seating and a decent food and beverage offering. We were there for only an hour or so before the wheelchair man returned to take us to flight AF1580 to Heathrow, which was operated by a 19 year old Airbus A320 registered F-GKXI.  The flight was fully booked when we took our seats at 09:25, but doors didn’t close until 10:16, some 16 minutes behind schedule, because some bags had to be offloaded when their owners failed to board the plane.  We took off at 10:32 from runway 08L.

As is the case with most European legacy carriers, Air France has a 3-3 seating configuration, with the middle seats left vacant in business class. We were in row 1, which has great legroom.  We enjoyed another pleasing but rushed breakfast; this time a smoked salmon and cream cheese brioche bap, yogurt, croissants, bread and jam – very tasty.  But before we’d finished breakfast we began our descent to Heathrow, where we landed at 10:22 on runway 09L.  We were on stand in Terminal 2 just 4 minutes late at 10:34, but if air traffic controllers had allowed us to land on 09R we would have been early.

Our full Air France experience, from the GRU lounge, the longhaul flight, the transit in CDG  and the short hop to London had been a very good one.  10/10