[BarelyBAGold]

Having recently read @rferguson’s trip report including that she received no food or beverage service on her flight from MAN to CDG in AF’s business class, I can but attest that such is now the norm for AF flights to and from the UK.

On Sunday I flew from EDI to CDG in AF business and the flight attendant announced that due to Covid, no food or beverages would be served in any class. I later spoke with her and she advised that this is indeed now the case on all AF flights to the UK……….

I have flown AF in business a number of times over the past few months and on flights to Edinburgh flown by the AF subsidiary Hop, the usual business class meal was served and drinks were offered in proper glassware. This was also my experience in flying AMS to CDG on AF mainline but obviously not now on AF mainline UK routes.

The only advantage I got from my business class ticket was having a free middle seat next to me and a curtain behind. Very poor show that to my mind lacks any logic at all and discriminates against travellers to and from the UK.

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sparkyflier

[sparkyflier]

This frankly seems pathetic service from AF. They still fly to the States and Brazil (with I believe much higher Covid rates) and suspect they provide service on those routes (albeit much longer). I was staggered when I read RFerguson’s (very interesting) post about his multi-flight holiday.

I would love to try AF’s long haul premium products but frankly this policy of dropping service on just their UK routes would dissuade me from flying them at all – even on a short hop.

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A300B4

[AMcWhirter]

This is odd.

I mean EDI-CDG is not exactly a short flight like LHR-CDG.

And when I made a dummy business class booking with AF for tomorrow’s flight AF1487 I read in the flight information box:

“For lunch or dinner, enjoy an elegant and refined culinary experience.”

Perhaps AF ought to revise its claims for catering.

[rferguson]

Interesting Alex.

I just tried the same with a dummy booking on airfrance.com from MAN – CDG on AF1269 in Business. When I click on Flight Info this paragraph is presented:

“Adaptations to our in-flight service
In line with recent health measures, we have adjusted our in-flight service. On flights in mainland France and short flights in Europe, beverage service is adapted and snack service is temporarily suspended.”

All for a mere £376 one way!

Saying that it’s still better than what I received on my flight – not even a glass of water. Even the dreaded Iberia in Economy managed to outdo AF in J!

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AMcWhirter

[AMcWhirter]

At 2200 this evening I rechecked AF 1487 Business class EDI-CDG.

Clicked on “View Flight Details” and the same information re elegant and refined catering is shown.

An update is needed !

[ASK1945]

Alex

I am not a lawyer so don’t understand. If you book a service and the organisation fails to provide all the service contracted, surely that’s both a consumer issue and also might involve Trading Standards, for a service originating in the UK?

I know you just made a dummy booking but others on the Forum didn’t.

[rferguson]

It SHOULD be the case that an airline has to provide what it promotes. But as many of us have experienced before airlines often promise certain things and don’t deliver. That a flight will depart at a certain time on a certain date. That a flight will go non-stop. That a flight will be operated by a certain aircraft type fitted with certain types of seats. And most of us have been at the receiving end of some or all of these ‘promises’ being unfulfilled, complained to the airline and been directed to their ‘contract of carriage’. In effect, when we the customer ticks that little box that says we accept the conditions of carriage when booking a ticket, the ONLY thing the airline is promising is to get us from A to B. And not even necessarily via their aircraft.

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Jacob, AMcWhirter, sparkyflier, esselle

[sparkyflier]

Looking at the post by BarelyBAGold it would seem that Hop by Air France (which he/she used for EDI-CDG) had a different food policy to AF mainline..Maybe it is worth doing some dummy bookings to check their flights, but I recall AF under recent new leadership is reducing on its sub-brands (like joop) as they confuse the passenger for example.

On a separate point to the thread however the Joop “project” was a particularly poor idea.

[AMcWhirter]

Hello Ask1945

I have this morning checked the catering info (for that EDI-CDG flight) and it remains the same.

Previously these other regional routes were operated (before Hop) by the likes of Flybe and Cityjet who both failed.

[ASK1945]

Alex and others

I am not sure about how the Terms and Conditions affect one’s consumer rights in this case – as I said, I am not a lawyer. But, I am pretty sure that Trading Standards regs override any terms and conditions when a business advertises something they know they are not delivering.

[BarelyBAGold]

Alex and others,

Thanks for your interest in this one. Yes, before my flight on Sunday I checked to see what was purported to be on offer and indeed the information on food and beverages was that such “unmodified” catering (my words) would be proffered. The flight attendant was extremely embarrassed to be fair but there was nothing she could do. When I explained that very recently I had taken the Hop flight, she set out that “Hop is a different airline”. After a very dry flight, to cap it all when I arrived in Paris I was denied entry to a first then a second bar because the QR code on my Scottish Covid vaccination certificate could not be scanned………….As an aside, on Monday evening while sitting on the terrace of a restaurant in Paris the police checked that all customers were able to show proof of double vaccination and when they themselves couldn’t scan my QR code, they agreed that my paper certificate was sufficient.

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esselle, AMcWhirter

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=1109752]As an aside, on Monday evening while sitting on the terrace of a restaurant in Paris the police checked that all customers were able to show proof of double vaccination and when they themselves couldn’t scan my QR code, they agreed that my paper certificate was sufficient.[/quote]

I can just see that happening in the UK – well done French police…

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FormerBA

[FRANCESCABARNES]

I have just returned from US to UK with AF (MXP to LGW not AF) and was amazed to actually receive a menu in Business. Can’t comment obviously re MXP-LGW as Easyjet.

[FormerBA]

[postquote quote=1109761]

The EU may have been slow off the mark with vaccination but the have unquestionably handled this better than us. The focus on covid passports means vaccination rates in France and across the EU is generally higher than in the UK, where we have regressed.

[AlanOrton1]

From statista.com

Number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Europe as of December 14:

Characteristic Number of doses per 100 population
Iceland 203.64
Malta 193.27
Portugal 181.63
Denmark 179.56
United Kingdom 179.13
Ireland 174.45
Spain 173.5
Belgium 171.76
Italy 170.79
Austria 168.87
France 168.01

Not sure that many fair minded people are likely to argue that the EU have done far the better job versus the UK.

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DerekVH

[Author]

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