Air France A350-900 business class

BACKGROUND Air France received its first A350-900 in September 2019 and is set to take delivery of five more by the end of 2020. The first routes to be served were Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Bamako (Mali), Toronto and, from December 9, Cairo and Seoul. I was on the inaugural flight to Toronto on October 27. The aircraft is fitted with the carrier’s new business class seat.

CHECK-IN I connected from Heathrow to flight AF356, which leaves Paris Charles de Gaulle at 1415 and arrives in Toronto at 1645, about an eight-hour 30-minute journey. It was a 15-minute walk and train ride to the L gates and the flight was on time.

I boarded early