First French blue A359 to enter service August 2017

SpaceshipDC10 · Sun Jul 16, 2017 2:18 pm

It's currently at BOD where Sabena technics is installing its cabin interior. F-HREU should enter service with a first flight between ORY and RUN. F-HREU is msn 5, former testbed F-WWYB with Airbus. Configuration is Premium Blue 35 and Eco Blue 376 with 36 and 32in pitch respectively.

https://www.journal-aviation.com/actual ... rench-blue

CRJ900 · Sun Jul 16, 2017 3:45 pm

So, 411 seats in total, pretty respectable for an A359. Great CASM, I'm sure.

kengo · Sun Jul 16, 2017 3:48 pm

411 seats on an A359? Must be 10-abreast! Wonder how this compares with 9-abreast 787s or 10-abreast 777s?

JerseyFlyer · Sun Jul 16, 2017 4:04 pm

kengo wrote:
411 seats on an A359? Must be 10-abreast! Wonder how this compares with 9-abreast 787s or 10-abreast 777s?

Air Caraibes and French Blue are I think both 10-abreast economy for their holiday routes to the French overseas departments.

SpaceshipDC10 · Sun Jul 16, 2017 4:22 pm

French blue A333 is configured with 2-3-2 seating at the front and 3-3-3 in Y so I guess the A359 will be 10 in Y just like Air Caraïbes. However I wonder whether they'll go 2-3-2 or 2-4-2 in Premium? There, Air Caraïbes' premium class offers 3-3-3 in their A350s and 2-4-2 in the A333s.

817Dreamliiner · Sun Jul 16, 2017 4:46 pm

kengo wrote:
411 seats on an A359? Must be 10-abreast! Wonder how this compares with 9-abreast 787s or 10-abreast 777s?

Think about like this. The A350 is 5 inches wider than a 787. The 787 9 abreast configuration is supposedly terrible. Now think about fitting another seat in that 5 extra inches and you should have your answer.

gatibosgru · Sun Jul 16, 2017 5:30 pm

817Dreamliiner wrote:
kengo wrote:
411 seats on an A359? Must be 10-abreast! Wonder how this compares with 9-abreast 787s or 10-abreast 777s?

Think about like this. The A350 is 5 inches wider than a 787. The 787 9 abreast configuration is supposedly terrible. Now think about fitting another seat in that 5 extra inches and you should have your answer.

Thankfully only 2 operators so far have the 10-abreast A350

SpaceshipDC10 · Sun Jul 16, 2017 7:57 pm

817Dreamliiner wrote:
Think about like this. The A350 is 5 inches wider than a 787. The 787 9 abreast configuration is supposedly terrible. Now think about fitting another seat in that 5 extra inches and you should have your answer.

Air Caraïbes says their seats in Y have a seating width of 42cm or about 16.5in. :crowded:

https://www.aircaraibes.com/plan-cabine-a350-900

ahj2000 · Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:02 pm

817Dreamliiner wrote:
kengo wrote:
411 seats on an A359? Must be 10-abreast! Wonder how this compares with 9-abreast 787s or 10-abreast 777s?

Think about like this. The A350 is 5 inches wider than a 787. The 787 9 abreast configuration is supposedly terrible. Now think about fitting another seat in that 5 extra inches and you should have your answer.

16.8" on the A350 3-4-3. AirAsiaX's A330s are 16.5" for comparison. It will be tight.

neutronstar73 · Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:33 am

817Dreamliiner wrote:
kengo wrote:
411 seats on an A359? Must be 10-abreast! Wonder how this compares with 9-abreast 787s or 10-abreast 777s?

Think about like this. The A350 is 5 inches wider than a 787. The 787 9 abreast configuration is supposedly terrible. Now think about fitting another seat in that 5 extra inches and you should have your answer.

I'm sure someone will be along (or they already have in another thread) to explain how Airbus dismisses the laws of physics and that the 10-abreast A350 is still light-years more comfortable than the 9 abreast 787.

But, I wonder what the pitch will be at 411 seats? It's the legroom that really gets me.

Virtual737 · Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:50 am

I managed to snap this at BOD yesterday as the interior fitters were being shuttled to the hangar.

reidar76 · Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:22 am

10 abreast on the A350 is slightly tighter than 10 abreast on the 777. There is a reason Boeing is spending $$$ to gain a couple of inches by reducing wall insulation on the 777x. Seat width is important for comfort.

At the same time, notice that French Blue will (mainly) use the A350 on domestic flights, connecting the outermost parts of the EU/ French Republic with Paris. Onboard will be slim Frenchmen and their children going to their holiday homes. I would advise, no adults seated next to each other. :-)

KarelXWB · Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:37 am

kengo wrote:
411 seats on an A359? Must be 10-abreast! Wonder how this compares with 9-abreast 787s or 10-abreast 777s?

Cabin should be similar like Air Caraïbes' A350. Have a look at the seats, it gives a good idea on what to expect.

JerseyFlyer · Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:56 am

reidar76 wrote:
At the same time, notice that French Blue will (mainly) use the A350 on domestic flights, connecting the outermost parts of the EU/ French Republic with Paris. Onboard will be slim Frenchmen and their children going to their holiday homes. I would advise, no adults seated next to each other.

"Domestic" in a French political sense, but "intercontinental" geographically.

OA940 · Mon Jul 17, 2017 12:43 pm

The A350 10-abrest Y is much tighter than the 777 10-abreast. Same goes for the A330's 9-abreast compared to the 787's.

Polot · Mon Jul 17, 2017 1:22 pm

JerseyFlyer wrote:
reidar76 wrote:
At the same time, notice that French Blue will (mainly) use the A350 on domestic flights, connecting the outermost parts of the EU/ French Republic with Paris. Onboard will be slim Frenchmen and their children going to their holiday homes. I would advise, no adults seated next to each other.

"Domestic" in a French political sense, but "intercontinental" geographically.

Doesn't FrenchBlue intend to be operate to leisure destinations from Paris, no matter if they are part of the EU/France or not? Their parent company has Air Caraïbes to focus on France-French West Indies traffic. I get the impression they are focusing first on the Caribbean because that is their strong point, but if successful FrenchBlue will start branching out to other areas i.e., leisure points in the US or Canada (YUL).

reidar76 · Mon Jul 17, 2017 4:45 pm

Polot wrote:
JerseyFlyer wrote:
reidar76 wrote:
At the same time, notice that French Blue will (mainly) use the A350 on domestic flights, connecting the outermost parts of the EU/ French Republic with Paris. Onboard will be slim Frenchmen and their children going to their holiday homes. I would advise, no adults seated next to each other.

"Domestic" in a French political sense, but "intercontinental" geographically.

Doesn't FrenchBlue intend to be operate to leisure destinations from Paris, no matter if they are part of the EU/France or not? Their parent company has Air Caraïbes to focus on France-French West Indies traffic. I get the impression they are focusing first on the Caribbean because that is their strong point, but if successful FrenchBlue will start branching out to other areas i.e., leisure points in the US or Canada (YUL).

Probably, but according to the press release the first A350 will be operated on Paris - St. Denis de la Reunion, starting 8th of August. Reunion is located in the Indian Ocean, outside the east coast of Africa and relatively close to Madagascar. Reunion is an integral part of France/EU, the same way Hawaii is a part of the US. Flight time from Paris is about 11 to 12 hours.

KarelXWB · Fri Jul 21, 2017 7:45 am

Aircraft got its seats installed at BOD and was ferried to MAN yesterday for paint.

Airbus A350 -941 5 F-HREU French Blue ferried 20jul17 BOD-MAN, for paint ex F-WWYB

https://twitter.com/endaburke81/status/ ... 802291712/

flipdewaf · Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:25 am

neutronstar73 wrote:
But, I wonder what the pitch will be at 411 seats? It's the legroom that really gets me.

SpaceshipDC10 wrote:
Configuration is Premium Blue 35 and Eco Blue 376 with 36 and 32in pitch respectively.

817Dreamliiner wrote:
Think about like this. The A350 is 5 inches wider than a 787. The 787 9 abreast configuration is supposedly terrible. Now think about fitting another seat in that 5 extra inches and you should have your answer.

But passengers don't even notice 0.5 inches difference do they..... or do they....

Fred

oldannyboy · Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:47 am

On the 10-abreast A350 "et all general discourse"....
Not to add fuel to an ever burning fire here on A.net, but seat width/number of seats across is only a part of the overall comfort equation... To me a large part of the comfort factor depends also on legroom (VASTLY more important than seat width), seat back shape, degree of recline, and overall quietness of the cabin...
Not saying a ten abreast A350 is not 'tight', 'cause it will inevitably be so, but 32'' of legroom, with decent recline, a nice new seat and a quiet cabin will go a long way in making the experience vastly more tolerable than what most would expect...

oldannyboy · Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:53 am

KarelXWB wrote:
Aircraft got its seats installed at BOD and was ferried to MAN yesterday for paint.

Airbus A350 -941 5 F-HREU French Blue ferried 20jul17 BOD-MAN, for paint ex F-WWYB

https://twitter.com/endaburke81/status/ ... 802291712/

In the picture you can clearly see the new A350 variant....the three-engine one....with the third (nuclear) engine mounted on top of the centre fuselage...
The new variant will feature 11seats across and will fly routes up to 25,000 kms long nonstop from unpaved runways at Mach 1.3... ;-)

tphuang · Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:57 am

oldannyboy wrote:
On the 10-abreast A350 "et all general discourse"....
Not to add fuel to an ever burning fire here on A.net, but seat width/number of seats across is only a part of the overall comfort equation... To me a large part of the comfort factor depends also on legroom (VASTLY more important than seat width), seat back shape, degree of recline, and overall quietness of the cabin...
Not saying a ten abreast A350 is not 'tight', 'cause it will inevitably be so, but 32'' of legroom, with decent recline, a nice new seat and a quiet cabin will go a long way in making the experience vastly more tolerable than what most would expect...

Completely disagree, try to sleep in the middle seat that is sub 17 inch and it doesn't matter what the pitch is. Last month, I tried middle seat of 767 on jal flight that was 7 and half hours. I just couldn't sleep. Spent th entire night fighting for elbow space with guys next to me. Sub 17 inch is inhumane. thank goodness most a350 operators have not stooped to that level yet.

oldannyboy · Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:06 am

tphuang wrote:
oldannyboy wrote:
On the 10-abreast A350 "et all general discourse"....
Not to add fuel to an ever burning fire here on A.net, but seat width/number of seats across is only a part of the overall comfort equation... To me a large part of the comfort factor depends also on legroom (VASTLY more important than seat width), seat back shape, degree of recline, and overall quietness of the cabin...
Not saying a ten abreast A350 is not 'tight', 'cause it will inevitably be so, but 32'' of legroom, with decent recline, a nice new seat and a quiet cabin will go a long way in making the experience vastly more tolerable than what most would expect...

Completely disagree, try to sleep in the middle seat that is sub 17 inch and it doesn't matter what the pitch is. Last month, I tried middle seat of 767 on jal flight that was 7 and half hours. I just couldn't sleep. Spent th entire night fighting for elbow space with guys next to me. Sub 17 inch is inhumane. thank goodness most a350 operators have not stooped to that level yet.

Well then, if you have a problem with a (7-abreast) 767, then Y class is just not for you my friend I'm afraid.... It just doesn't get any better than that.. 7-across 767 + JL legroom and graceful service....

theobcman · Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:55 am

Any training flights around France first ??

ADB1 · Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:56 am

Hi All,

I saw a 359 going into MAN yesterday evening. It was a French Blue. Would this have been a training flight?

Thanks,

ADB1

KarelXWB · Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:58 am

ADB1 wrote:
I saw a 359 going into MAN yesterday evening. It was a French Blue. Would this have been a training flight?

Aircraft will be painted in MAN.

KarelXWB · Fri Jul 28, 2017 8:54 am

Entry intro service is delayed until August 22.

French Blue in recent schedule update has further revised to its planned Airbus A350-900XWB service. Previously scheduled inaugural on 08AUG17, Paris Orly – St. Denis de la Reunion route, is now being delayed to 22AUG17. This is the 2nd delay filed by the airline.

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/air ... gust-2017/

KarelXWB · Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:29 am

Aircraft has now emerged from paint:

https://twitter.com/mikehughes1965/stat ... 580581376/

Danfearn77 · Tue Aug 01, 2017 8:06 am

Wow, got to say she looks good!

scbriml · Tue Aug 01, 2017 8:22 am

Anyone know when it will be leaving MAN?

charles022 · Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:00 am

scbriml wrote:
Anyone know when it will be leaving MAN?

This afternoon.

oldannyboy · Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:29 am

The big bird looks amazing. Big and beautiful! ...Would love to hitch a ride in it, even in a cramped middle seat at the far back of the Y cabin.... happy to squeeze my thin butt between another nine people for such an aircraft and the destinations it will serve... :-)

KarelXWB · Tue Aug 01, 2017 12:03 pm

Flight plan filled for today:

Airbus A350 -941 5 F-HREU French Blue ferried 01aug17 MAN-TLS-BOD after paint ex F-WWYB

Back to BOD to finish the cabin.

SpaceshipDC10 · Tue Aug 01, 2017 2:29 pm

It's now showing on F24: https://www.flightradar24.com/FHREU/e4fe27c

scbriml · Tue Aug 01, 2017 2:56 pm

SpaceshipDC10 wrote:
It's now showing on F24: https://www.flightradar24.com/FHREU/e4fe27c

Flight is FBU900.

scbriml · Tue Aug 01, 2017 4:52 pm

Looks to be on the move now...

KarelXWB · Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:22 pm

scbriml wrote:
Looks to be on the move now...

Yep:

French Blue A350-941 msn 005 by dn280tls, on Flickr

SpaceshipDC10 · Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:20 am

Some nice videos of the bird

Departure from MAN

https://youtu.be/ocmhZF9i0yA

Arriving at TLS

https://youtu.be/EfihYR_J52c

Departing TLS

https://youtu.be/Zk4aVHBG1sw

BoeingVista · Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:29 am

neutronstar73 wrote:
817Dreamliiner wrote:
kengo wrote:
411 seats on an A359? Must be 10-abreast! Wonder how this compares with 9-abreast 787s or 10-abreast 777s?

Think about like this. The A350 is 5 inches wider than a 787. The 787 9 abreast configuration is supposedly terrible. Now think about fitting another seat in that 5 extra inches and you should have your answer.

I'm sure someone will be along (or they already have in another thread) to explain how Airbus dismisses the laws of physics and that the 10-abreast A350 is still light-years more comfortable than the 9 abreast 787.

So you thought you would get in first with the A v B flame bait

neutronstar73 wrote:
But, I wonder what the pitch will be at 411 seats? It's the legroom that really gets me.

Maybe read the OP? 32 inches

oldannyboy · Mon Aug 07, 2017 11:47 am

BoeingVista wrote:
neutronstar73 wrote:
817Dreamliiner wrote:
Think about like this. The A350 is 5 inches wider than a 787. The 787 9 abreast configuration is supposedly terrible. Now think about fitting another seat in that 5 extra inches and you should have your answer.

I'm sure someone will be along (or they already have in another thread) to explain how Airbus dismisses the laws of physics and that the 10-abreast A350 is still light-years more comfortable than the 9 abreast 787.

So you thought you would get in first with the A v B flame bait

neutronstar73 wrote:
But, I wonder what the pitch will be at 411 seats? It's the legroom that really gets me.

Maybe read the OP? 32 inches

You never win the detractors... You could give them 45" pitch in economy but hey they just want that dreaded extra seat done away with...Pity their wallets can never match the size of their big hips...

KarelXWB · Mon Aug 21, 2017 1:58 pm

Few photos of the cabin:

https://twitter.com/flight_report/statu ... 2175081472
https://twitter.com/outremers360/status ... 1650380802
https://twitter.com/zeTravelersClub/sta ... 7910328321

lightsaber · Mon Aug 21, 2017 2:55 pm

oldannyboy wrote:
But, I wonder what the pitch will be at 411 seats? It's the legroom that really gets me.

Pity their wallets can never match the size of their big hips...[/quote]
That is what matters. Passengers want a lower cost flight. To make money takes decreasing seat room.

Everyone should remember what it was like to be young and broke. I recall being stuffed into Northwest 747s for flights to Europe. I had big shoulders back then, as did my friends. When had to sleep alternating leaning forward or back. But we managed. So will young people on these flights.

Lightsaber

euroflyer · Tue Aug 22, 2017 8:03 am

I've flown their A330 to PUJ last spring and cabin was OK, not more. The A350 cabin here looks awful with this same equipment, it basically looks like a wider A330. The larger windows don't even benefit to light up the cabin. They really should lose the disposable antimacassars, it appears so cheap.

workhorse · Tue Aug 22, 2017 9:21 am

I am French and there is no way in hell I would be caught anywhere near a French Blue or an Air Caraibes aircraft.

If there were no other choices I'd rather stay home or choose another destination. But there is choice: for example, if you go to Reunion Island, there's Air Mauritius: comfortable aircraft, nice people. And most of the time they aren't that much more expensive.

People who fly with French Blue, Air Caraibes, XL Airways and the likes are usually people who do not have a lot of air travel experience. They take an airplane at best once a year or even less, book the cheapest option and then complain to all their friends and relatives how awful their flight was... And yet next time they book the cheapest option again, even if it's just by a few Euros! What can you do?

A380MSN004 · Tue Aug 22, 2017 9:53 am

Will this be the the most dense A359? Or any other operator will manage to put more seat in the A359?

euroflyer · Tue Aug 22, 2017 12:12 pm

A380MSN004 wrote:
Will this be the the most dense A359? Or any other operator will manage to put more seat in the A359?

Well, if XAX really take their planned aircrafts, they might go for 10 abreast as well, in 2 class config, so that will easily go over 400 seats.

KarelXWB · Tue Aug 22, 2017 1:47 pm

Couple additional photos of the cabin:

http://www.journal-aviation.com/actuali ... -de-l-a350

KarelXWB · Tue Aug 22, 2017 4:51 pm

First revenue flight to RUN is underway:

https://fr24.com/FBU700/e93f345

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