AIR FRANCE MEANS BUSINESS

AIR FRANCE HAS UNVEILED the new business class cabins that will be found on all of its A330s by 2020. The Equinox 2D seats by Stelia Aerospace increase seat width by one inch, and introduce a fully-flat recline, sliding panels for privacy and bigger IFE screens, although remain in a 2-2-2 configuration.

The retrofit should please Air France’s new chief executive, Ben Smith, who was appointed last August and is on a mission to take the airline upmarket. He recently lamented that his was “the only major company that does not yet offer a consistent product like fully-flat beds in business class”.

Smith has also signalled the end of millennial-oriented subsidiary Joon, calling it “difficult to understand”, and announced the rebranding of regional subsidiary Hop as Air France Hop. More changes likely lie ahead.