Air France business cabin: is the experience worth the price?

Started in 2023, the overhaul of Air France Business class continues and now concerns around forty aircraft. With the reopening of the Terminal 2E lounge, redesigned in 2025, and the arrival of a partnership with the hotel brand Sofitel, Business is entering a new phase. We tested it during a round trip from Paris to New York.

Air France’s new Business class has high ambitions. More spacious, more intimate and more technological, it intends to embody a certain idea of ​​French elegance. We discover it in November 2025, during a report in New York. The experience begins at Roissy-CDG, in hall K of terminal 2E, where the Air France lounge is located, inaugurated last April after two years of work.

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An expanded lounge

The living room has a 900 m² mezzanine which is added to the existing nearly 2000 m². Available in shades of blue and white punctuated with touches of vermilion, the space takes up the visual codes of the company. Sober and chic. More than 600 passengers can now find space there, between work areas and rest areas. Upstairs, small lounges allow you to isolate yourself. Comfortably seated in an armchair inspired by the famous Egg by Arne Jacobsen, we relax while waiting for our flight. In terms of catering, appetizers from Alain Ducasse are offered, while a Clarins spa completes the offering. The return flight, departing from New York-JFK, will allow you to try a facial treatment.

A cocoon at 35,000 feet

On board the Airbus A350, a hostess and a steward take us to our seat for the next eight hours of flight. Dressed in wool, brushed aluminum and leather, the new Business is equipped with a sliding door which further isolates it from the rest of the cabin. The armchair, 70 cm wide and 2 m long in the lying position, tilts perfectly horizontally and forms a comfortable bed, completed by a Sofitel My Bed mattress topper that the passenger installs themselves for hygienic reasons. Damage. But just as we are about to sink into the arms of Morpheus, a hostess comes to install our pillow covered with a cotton case and adjust our blanket.

Stars full of taste buds

Gastronomy remains a pillar of the Air France experience, which has partnered with three-star chef Régis Marcon for its long-haul menus. The exceptional chef has created a high-end menu adapted to long haul travel. We opt (the choice is now made before the flight to avoid waste) for a fillet of pollock, sherry juice, mashed potatoes with olive oil, hazelnuts and candied lemon. The play of textures is subtle and the cooking impeccable. The result is convincing, despite the constraints of on-board service and convection ovens. Desserts by Yan Couvreur, particularly around chocolate, and the selection of wines created by sommelier Xavier Thuizat complete the ensemble.

Un vol connecté et high-tech

While paid connection remains the norm for many companies, Air France is beginning the deployment of free very high-speed Wi-Fi. On this Paris–New York flight, the connection proved to be particularly stable and of unparalleled quality. This service, accessible from your Flying Blue account, will be extended to the entire fleet by the end of 2026. It allows you to work in optimal conditions, with the clouds as your only company, far from distractions from the office or home.

Too bad because the entertainment offering is not to be outdone, with more than 300 films, between blockbusters and independent French cinema, visible on a 4K screen with noise-cancelling headphones. The latter is a bubble of relaxation into which we slip with delight.

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At the end of the trip, this new Business confirms the company’s desire to strengthen the coherence of its offer, from the lounge to the cabin. Eight hours of flight are not enough to explore all the possibilities, but the whole thing makes up a solid and well-calibrated experience. What remains is the price – from 2,499 € for a round trip to Paris – New York – which clearly places this move upmarket in Air France’s strategy.

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