March 6th, 2016
Air France 254 Singapore (SIN) – Jakarta (CGK) Departure: 1656 Arrival: 1743 Duration: 1:19 Aircraft: Boeing 777-328ER
Registration: F-GSQH Seat: 23A (Premium Economy)
It was a perfect afternoon at Singapore Changi International Airport. My second round-trip from Singapore to Jakarta in two days. Having on board in Air France's La Première and newly redesigned Business class in the previous flight a day before, it was time to discover more about Economy Classes.
With 298 seats and four classes, Air France's revamped 777 -300ER economy class is divided into two: Premium Economy and Economy Class. The difference? Well, the seats are the main difference between the two classes. Economy class on 777 series has 3-4-3 layout while in the premium economy, it is in 2-4-2 layout.
Located on the wing section of the aircraft (right at wing emergency exit), premium economy have 28 standard egg shell, ergonomic designed seats. It provides 40% more space than economy seats. Each seat has 38 inches of pitch and 19 inches of width with slightly more recline than economy class. As I mentioned above, my seat at row 23 was the emergency exit, therefore I had much more legroom than the next two rows behind me.
Magazine pockets at row 23 are by the side of the airframe for exit seats and at the bulkhead for center seats. The rest of the seats, pockets are right below the TV monitor.
More comfort than economy class. It is like upgraded version of economy but downgraded from business class. Unfortunately, there is no window at row 23 which it may feel stuffy but at least there's more leg room by the emergency exit!
The buttons on the left armrest are for seat recline and multi-position footrest. The seat slides down while the footrest arises. Although the armrests are immovable, the seat itself with more recline was pretty comfortable for me. It is thankful that there are 110V AC power available on all premium economy seats. I could charge my battery draining phone anytime during flight.
Personal reading lights and AirFrance stamped noise cancelling headphones. The reading lights are really similar to the ones on Korean Air prestige class. The headphones really did great to quiteten the noise coming from the engine. Thumbs up!
View from my seat 23A.
One thing to remember is that exit row seats tend to be colder and proximity to the lavatory can cause chaos in front of you.
In-Flight Entertainments:
TV monitors in premium economy class are all located inside the armrest while the remote controller are permanently attached to the seats. This was quite uncomfortable since the rest of the class has removable remote controller. But thanks to the touch screen of the monitors, I was able to enjoy the IFEs.
Touch screen display monitor. 10.4 inch screen was pretty fair for me.
Remote controller embedded on the lower right side of the seat. It is more likely to be used to call cabin crews or turning on your personal light.
Air France provides numerous movies, musics and games on their IFEs. I was surprised there were quite a lot of latest movies and songs. Keep it up! Unfortunately, my flight was onyl one hour so I was not able to watch the whole movie.
In-Flight Meals/Snacks:
30 minutes after take-off, it was time for the inflight meal. I was hoping that snacks in premium economy will be something more than the economy class. But I was wrong. Since it was a short-haul flight, the crews only provided us with a simple sandwich and drinks which was not even enough to satisfy my hungry stomach. Prior to the flight I had skipped my lunch, expecting the meal in flight will be enough to fill me. But too bad.
Evian mineral water was complimentary for all classes.
Sandwich with cheese, tomatoes and pickles. Little bit salty for me. Only apple juice was the best for this short flight.
Others:
There are two lavatories located at the middle section of the cabin instead of usual sideways. It was my first time seeing a lavatory right infront of the bulkhead area.
Premium Economy lavatories usual as all other economy class lavatories. No difference here.
Summary:
Overall, aside from the passengers in business or first class can recline all the way, I think there is no other reason to complain about Air France's premium economy. Of course, I think there should be little improvement on the short-haul meal but every others such as IFEs and the friendliness of flight attendants were just perfect for me to get on board next time.