Review of Air France flight from Paris to Dar es Salaam in Business

I went to several places in East Africa and the Indian Ocean and I had the following flights:

Paris to Dar es-Salaam (Tanzania), Air France, business class
Dar es Salaam to Lilongwe (Malawi), Malawi Airlines, economy class
Lilongwe to Dar es-Salaam, Malawi Airlines, economy class (no flight report)
Dar es-Salaam to Moroni (Comoros), Air Tanzania, economy class
Moroni to Dzaoudzi (Mayotte), Ewa Air, economy class
Dzaoudzi to Saint-Denis (Réunion), Air Austral, premium economy class
Saint-Denis to Paris, Air France, premium economy class

Tanzania was not among my destinations this time. But Air France's flight to Dar via Zanzibar is relatively new and prices in business class are considerably lower than to other destinations in Africa. This flight was booked as an open-jaw, the other leg being the flight from Saint-Denis to Paris in premium economy.

Departure was from Terminal 2E at CDG Airport.

I had checked in on-line so I didn’t need to go to the check-in area. But there’s a separate Sky Priority check-in area if you need it.

The entrance to the fast track passport control is a bit hidden next to this Relay shop.

You need to take an automatic train (free of charge) to the gates L at terminal 2E.

Security control is at gates L and fast track is available.

I had booked a so-called light fare in business class that does not give access to the lounge.

There are many luxury shops at the gates but the few places where you can buy a snack all had long queues.

Boarding was at gate L42. 

Boarding lines were organised in groups but then everyone was let on in a seemingly random order.

Our plane today was a B787-900, registration number F-HRBB, built in 2017.

Business class is in a 1+2+1 configuration in 8 rows. 

The first row does not have middle seats so there are a total of 22 seats in business class.

The single seats on the sides are the best for solo travellers.

A pillow, a blanket and a coat hanger were waiting on the seat.

A bottle of water and the remote control.

Headphones. 

Seat controls.

Amenity kit: a choice of grey or blue.

A welcome drink was offered: champagne or orange juice. 

An expected flight time of 8 hours and 30 minutes to Zanzibar was shown on the screen.

The captain welcomed the passengers first in French, then in very good English, then, rather surprisingly, in Swahili.

The passenger in front of me in seat 1A got a handwritten welcome letter and the purser went to talk to him before departure. Maybe a very frequent traveller?

A hot towel was offered a short time later.

Push-back was at 10.23 for a scheduled departure time of 10.15.

Some great views during taxi.

We took off at 10.43, twenty minutes after push-back from runway 26R. 

Another Air France plane landing on runway 26L.

It was mostly cloudy after take-off. 

There are a total of 286 movies available so I had no problems choosing the ones I wanted to watch. The screen is large, is of good quality and has excellent reactivity. The first movie I watched was Eiffel.

View over the Italian Alps about 50 minutes after take-off.

Let’s have a look at the menu.

The lunch menu in English.

At any time and light snacks.

The same in French.

Introduction to the drinks menu.

Champagne and wine.

Apéritifs and digestifs.

Cold and hot drinks.

I pre-booked beef for lunch. A crew member checked with me if I still wanted beef. I was also asked if I wanted to be woken up for the second meal before landing.

The appetizer: Cashew nut and garlic cream, yellow beet and sesame. I had a glass of Chablis white wine with it. Wine was always offered to be tasted before served.

Lunch was served at 12.00.

The starter: Smoked salmon fillet, horseradish and chive cream, sweet potato and butternut squash mousseline with pumpkin seeds. It was good.

The main course: Beef chuck with Arabica coffee, gnocchi and smoked chestnut mousseline. There was a choice of two types of mustard. The main course was excellent, the meat was tender, the sauce tasty and the portion was big enough. The photos don’t give it justice. I had some Bordeaux red wine with the beef.

I skipped the cheese.

Yuzu dessert. It was very good.

We were near Athens when lunch was completed at about 14.00 Paris time.

I slept very well for about two hours and 15 minutes. I woke up when we were near the Red Sea coastlines of Egypt, south of Marsa Alam. The seat transformed into a flat bed is not very wide but it's long and comfortable enough to sleep.

The crew passed regularly through the cabin so it was easy to order an additional drink. I just had a coke this time.

I watched a second movie after I waking up: Marinette. 

We were in Ethiopian skies when I finished my second movie.

A watched a third movie, a classic with Belmondo: Breathless.

The remote control shows the flight map while you watch a movie on the main screen – I like this feature.

A second meal was offered before landing in Zanzibar. Puff pastry brioche with egg mayonnaise, celery, fava beans and pickled onions; orange and pink grapefruit. I didn't like the puff pastry.

Approaching Zanzibar.

The captain informed us in French, English and Swahili that we would be landing in about 30 minutes. He also told us that a new cabin crew would come for the flight from Zanzibar to Dar and then to Paris. The crew that finished service had a 48 hour layover in Zanzibar.

The cabin crew thanked each passenger in business class for flying Air France.

A hot towel was offered before landing.

We landed in Zanzibar at 21.13 and were at the gate at 21.17 for a scheduled arrival time of 21.10.

Passengers continuing to Dar had to stay on board. Only two other passengers and I continued to Dar in the business class cabin. 

I chatted with the captain who had made the announcements in Swahili. I asked him how come he could speak Swahili; he said he couldn't speak Swahili but he had learned to make the announcements in 38 languages. Very impressive!

Ground crew cleaned the aircraft during our stop in Zanzibar. Used blankets and pillows were removed and clean ones brought onboard. Water bottles were put at each seat and seat numbers were set on the coat hangers. They were efficient and well organised.

The cabin after it was cleaned:

The new cabin crew arrived some time later.

As I didn’t really like the second meal and I knew I wouldn’t have time for dinner in Dar I asked for some snacks. I got all these:

Boarding started again at 22.04. The cabin got full with holidaymakers who had clearly spent a lot of time sunbathing in Zanzibar.

Push-back was at 22.30 for a scheduled departure time of 22.40. We took off at 22.42.

We were flying at a low altitude of maximum of 6000 feet during this very short flight from Zanzibar to Dar. There was of course no service at this time.

We landed at Dar es-Salaam at 22.57 and were at the gate at 23.05 for a scheduled arrival time of 23.15

Only a few passengers got off – the others were travelling from Zanzibar to Paris. I wonder why Air France adds a stop in Dar and doesn’t only fly to Zanzibar. But this suited my plans well.

I got a visa on arrival for 50 USD. I took about 20 minutes to hand in my  application, pay at the counter and pass immigration.

I stayed at the Hotel Blue Sapphire. It’s not a very good hotel but it’s located only 4 kilometres from the airport and free airport transfer is offered.