Air France » Premium Voyageur (Premium economy)

Air France's premium economy product is now being rolled out across its long-haul fleet,  with the exception of the 747 aircraft, which are due to be phased out by 2012. It will also be installed on new aircraft, including the A380, by 2010.

Air France will make space for the new seating by removing 40 economy seats, replacing them with the new cabin, which has a 2-4-2 configuration on Boeing 777s and 2-3-2 on Airbus A330s and A340s (22-28 seats in total depending on the aircraft). The new offering will be divided from both the economy and business cabins by wall partitions rather than curtains, and the seats will be enclosed in a fixed shell so that passengers can recline without encroaching on the row behind them.

Air France should be able to retrofit the fleet relatively quickly as there is no need to change the configuration of the business class offering, or indeed to move economy seats (other than those being taken out).

Features of the new offering will include a sliding recline mechanism, a larger TV screen than economy, individual seat power and reading lights, as well as on-the-ground benefits such as priority check-in, and “possibly lounge access”.

Air France does already offer a premium economy class which goes by the name of Alize, but this is only available on certain leisure routes to the French overseas territories in the Caribbean and French Guyana.

For more information, see these news stories

Air France unveils premium economy offering (20;/3/2009)