The A
F/KL team: Sales Account Executives Paul Connolly & Michael Magliocco; Vincent Crabol, Marketing Coordinator - Western Canada& YVR Station Manager Andrew Hartman
Corporate Traveller's Lucy Kopic
& Tour East Holidays' Daniel Wai check out AF Premium Economy seats
Stefan Radovic, Metro Travel & Alvin Parker, North
South Travel appreciate that the AF aircraft caters to taller folks like them
An invitation to lunch is nice but even more so when it's to sample 2 airlines' J Class meals!
The occasion was to provide agents with updates on partners AF and KL. Following a short presentation, it was time for an early lunch. At Gate Gourmet (the company that caters inflight meals for both carriers) guests tucked into several entrees currently served in AF and KL Business Class. For appetizers, there was a choice of AF's grilled scallops and smoked duck or KL's smoked salmon with maple vinaigrette. The main course featured AF beef with truffle butter, mashed potato with horseradish or KL chicken with maple chipotle sauce and rice pilaf, or mushroom ravioli with sundried tomato pesto cream. Dessert came in the form of bite-sized lemon macaroon and chocolate raspberry cake.
Meal over, we hopped onto the Canada Line train to the airport (just 1 station away) to get a first-hand look at AF's B777-200 aircraft before pax took off for CDG.
Lucy Kopic, Team Leader, Corporate Traveller seized the opportunity to see how comfortable it was in a Business Class seat. “I promise to put everything back the way it was before," she said before stretching out on the 6½ ft. relatively flat bed.
Both Business and Premium Economy seats come with a fixed shell. Meaning, they do not recline backwards; seats move within their own shell. Although Economy Class has seats that recline, agents in the group who were over 6 ft. tall like Alvin Parker, Corporate Travel Advisor, North South Travel, were quite pleased with the legroom space.
Another plus point about flying AF is that all pax get to enjoy free champagne regardless of seat class. AF/KL's joint venture transatlantic partnership along with AZ and DL, allows pax to mix and match airlines and flying options. Said Daniel Wai, General Manager for B.C. at Tour East Holidays, “That's a good selling point as I can send customers to Amsterdam for a tour through Europe and they can end up shopping in Paris before returning directly back to Vancouver."
From 13JUL, AF will introduce revamped cabins in all classes for its long-haul flights including full aisle access in Business Class, and even more legroom in Economy.
On 19MAY, KL launched its thrice weekly YEG-AMS flights, offering the only service from Edmonton to Europe. Using
an A330-200 aircraft, it has 30 Business Class seats, 35 in its Economy Comfort zone and 178 in Economy. This service was upped to 4 times weekly eff. 22JUN.
