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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
This was a bit of a downgrade from the A220 I was originally scheduled on, and featured no WiFi or power ports, with a middling meal choice |
2.5
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In June 2025, I flew Air France business class from Paris to Amsterdam. When I booked, my flight was operated by an A220, which I’d heard offers one of the best intra-European business class experiences. However, a week before my flight Air France swapped our plane to an A319 operated by AMELIA. I’ll explain what exactly AMELIA is in a section below, though they operate flights on behalf of Air France, Transavia France, as well as a few other airlines.
So, how was my 1h 25m flight on this unknown airline? It was almost completely unmemorable, to be honest. The seats were certainly less good than you’d get on Air France’s A220s, and there wasn’t any WiFi or in-seat power onboard these older jets. While I have no complaints, I also don’t think there’s anything unique about Air France’s inflight service onboard these short hops within Europe. Perhaps I need to try them on a longer flight.
What is AMELIA?
Regourd Aviation is a French aviation group that operates all of their commercial flights under the name AMELIA. The story behind AMELIA is a little bit complicated – Regourd Aviation was founded in 1976, and acquired Slovenian airline Aero4M in 2012. In 2019, Regourd Aviation rebranded all of their airline operations to AMELIA, and at this time also started AMELIA France, which ran routes domestically within France. As part of this rebrand, Aero4M was renamed as AMELIA International.
To make matters more confusing, the Air France flight I was flying on today was a wet lease from AMELIA International (the Slovenian) company, not AMELIA France. So while not technically a fifth-freedom flight (as Air France still operated the flight), I was still flying a Slovenian airframe between France and the Netherlands…AMELIA International also wet-leases aircraft for Air Corsica, Aircalin, Bangkok Airways, Air Algérie. The only mainline AMELIA flight operating is a domestic flight between Pau and Paris-Orly.
Not the most straightforward wet lease out there
Air France seasonally uses AMELIA aircraft, though apart from the livery and seat finishes, this is a very similar experience to what you’ll get on Air France’s mainline A319s and A320s.
Booking Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class
I booked my Air France business class flight using 25,000 Flying Blue points and HK$575 (£54.59) in fees. Considering I transferred these miles from American Express and you can fly from London to New York in Upper Class for 29,000 miles with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, I wasn’t a fan of this deal at all. However, this was much better than the cash fares I was seeing last minute, and I was already flying economy with Air France in the near future, which would’ve cost 19,000 miles.
The final itinerary I booked with Air France looked as follows:
21/06 Air France AF1436 Paris – Amsterdam dep. 13:30 arr. 14:55 [Business Class]
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Check-In and Boarding
As I flew into Paris-Orly, this was my first time at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in over a decade. I’ve heard horror stories of this airport in past, so was slightly worried that it’d be a huge pain to get through security, especially given that I was stuck in traffic after the Paris Air Show and only arrived just over an hour before my flight.
I ended up taking the RER B from Le Bourget station, and got to the airport at around 12:05 PM (normally not a time I’d be too concerned about). I know that many either love or hate Charles de Gaulle Airport, and while I wouldn’t design a house this way, honestly I’m a fan of the architecture and like that it’s unique. There’s a slight Disneyland feel to the airport, and Terminal 2 specifically feels like the Space Mountain area, with its exposed concrete and curved ceilings/departures boards.
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Terminal 2F
I was quite sweaty after a morning at the Paris Air Show, so was sure to stop by the Air France lounge for a shower – I’ve reviewed the lounge here. I made it to the gate at around 12:45 PM, ahead of boarding scheduled for 12:55 PM. Afterwards, I headed towards the very greenhouse-looking gate area, where we were slated to depart from gate F27.
Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2F Gate Area
The gate area had lanes set up for boarding groups 1 and 2, and separately, groups 3, then groups 4 and 5. Business class passengers were invited to board with zone 1 after those needing pre-boarding, zone 2 was reserved for those with SkyPriority status, zone 3 was for those with Economy Comfort tickets, zone 4 for those with Economy Standard tickets, and zone 5 for those with Economy Light tickets.
Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2F Gate Area
Boarding was called at around 12:55 PM, and unfortunately there was never really that great of a view of our AMELIA plane. We were held on the jetbridge for a short while after our boarding passes were scanned, before being invited to board just before 1 PM.
AMELIA A319 at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Air France Flight AF1436 operated by AMELIA
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Origin: Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Gate: F27 Dep: 13:30 (13:35)
Destination: Amsterdam (AMS) Gate: C7 Arr: 14:55 (15:15)
Duration: 1 h 25 min (1 h 40 min)
Aircraft: Airbus A319 Reg: F-HDSJ
Seat: 4A (Business Class)
AMELIA’s A319s have 144 seats spread across in a 3-3 configuration, and on my flight the first four rows were assigned to business class. While Air France’s newer planes have sleek stitching on adjustable headrests, these tired-looking seats simply had red seatbelts and the AMELIA logo on the headrest covers, with no sign of adjustable headrest whatsoever.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class
As you’d expect on an intra-European flight, business class is just an economy seat with the middle seat blocked. Unlike the A220s however, there aren’t any seats with “direct aisle access”, since both the left and right seat blocks feature a window and an aisle.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Seat 4A
Seat pitch was 30″, though the seats felt on the tight side in terms of legroom, since these aren’t slimline seats.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Legroom
There’s a tiny bit of recline at each seat – below is to the extent of which it goes.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Recline
Perhaps embarrassingly the seat didn’t even feature a seat pocket, with a safety card and other items simply placed in a nook in the seat in front (you’ll also see a tissue which was at my seat when I arrived). Thankfully you can put your bag under the seat in front of you, so in this case I did still have easy enough access to a laptop or other personal items.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Seatback
To my left was the recline control, as well as an inoperable audio-on-demand interface.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Audio-On-Demand Interface
The tray table folded out from the seat in front, and was one of those old-style ones that had a gaping hole for a cupholder.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Cupholder
Then by the overhead panel was an air nozzle for every seat.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Air Nozzle
While I wasn’t too fussed on my 1h 25m flight, it was a bit annoying to be swapped from an A220, which I consider to be one of the best intra-European onboard products. The A220 parked next to us served as a reminder of what our flight could’ve been. Needless to say there’s no WiFi on these older jets either.
Air France A220 next to our AMELIA A319 at CDG
This is not an impressive hard product by any means, and I’m not surprised that these aircraft cover routes for low-cost airlines as well. However, I can’t cut the airline too much slack. While this seat is a far cry from what the airline’s A220s offer, similar quality of seat is offered on the mainline fleet of airlines such as the Lufthansa group, and KLM’s old 737s aren’t kitted out any better.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Pre-Departure Service
While the plane and crew were provided by AMELIA, the full soft product was operated by Air France, including catering and all other aspects of the experience.
That being said, pre-departure service wasn’t much on this short 1h flight – we were simply given a packaged refreshing wet towel (these felt like real towels as opposed to wet wipes, despite being packaged).
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Refreshing Wet Towel
Taking off from Paris CDG Airport
Boarding was complete at around 1:10 PM, 20 minutes before our scheduled departure. Unfortunately due to slot control we couldn’t take off early, though we were on track for an on-time departure.
There was a mother and two kids that were separated from each other – I was sat next to one of the children, the mother was sat in the row in front, and one of the other children was sat across the aisle. On this hour-long flight I didn’t really have much use of the seat next to me, so I decided to ask whether the mother wanted to sit in the middle seat. The family preferred this arrangement, and the flight attendants were completely fine with this, despite asking whether I wanted to move to the aisle seat in front (I appreciated this, but kind of wanted to keep my window, which I’d pre-selected). The cabin was otherwise full, apart from the opened-up aisle seat that I was offered.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Cabin Pre-Departure
The captain came onto the PA to announce a “good route” with a 58 minute flying time. We ended up facing a short departure delay due to ATC control, and pushed back at 1:55 PM, and taxied to runway 09R, where we took off at 2:10 PM.
HiSky A320 at Charles de Gaulle Airport
We had great views climbing out of Charles de Gaulle, since it was a beautiful day (though we didn’t manage to get any good views of Paris, since we flew north out of the airport, whereas the city is to the south).
Takeoff from Paris CDG Airport
Air France/AMELIA A319 Meal Service
The meal service was served approximately 20 minutes after takeoff, and there was no choice of meal. On this short flight, this was a cold quinoa and summer vegetable salad with a honey lemon vinaigrette. The meal came with a little menu card, which allegedly is backed by celebrity chef Michel Roth. I think it was a nice touch to be able to tell what I was eating, despite the lack of choice.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Menu Card
The meal itself was alright, though nothing special at all. I did like the Paris brest cake, as well as the cheese on offer (which apparently is Protected Designation of Origin cheese). I decided not to pass up the opportunity to have a glass of champagne out of its home country, which was served in a glass – Air France pours Deutz Classic Brut champagne in shorthaul business class, which was alright. There weren’t many other drinks on offer, apart from the classic soft drinks, spirits, and a couple of house wines.
I liked the bread roll that the meal came with, and the butter was Beurre D’Isigny butter, which was quite nice.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class Meal
Despite the nice dessert, cheese and bread roll, I can’t help but feel like this isn’t a very premium meal – there’s no choice, and the meal itself is middling. I’m not expecting a hot meal on a flight this short, though I’d at least want to have a non-vegetarian option, or something a bit more premium than this.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Service
I have no complaints about any of the cabin crew serving us on this flight – they worked quickly and efficiently, while being friendly, eager to please, and on top of drinks top-ups.
Air France/AMELIA A319 Entertainment and WiFi
Air France’s AMELIA A319s do not feature any working entertainment (sans broken AOD machines) and WiFi onboard. Air France’s newer A220s do feature WiFi with free messaging, however.
Landing into Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
After the meal, I worked for a bit on my laptop, and soon it was time to land back into Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, where I’d just been the day prior. It was a scenic seaside approach with a beautiful blue sky on the way into Schiphol Airport.
Landing into Schiphol Airport
We landed onto the Polderbaan, the runway furthest away from the terminal by a margin. This meant that our 47-minute flight time was succeeded by a 21-minute taxi, as we taxied towards the terminal and parked at gate C7.
Taxiing at Schiphol Airport
We did end up parking at a jetbridge, and I actually left Schiphol Airport this time round, just to have a lightning-quick exploration of Amsterdam before I hopped back onto my flight back to London.
Conclusion: Air France/AMELIA A319 Business Class
I really wanted to like my first flight booked on Air France, as the airline has a great brand. Admittedly the swap from an A220 to an A319 operated by another airline was probably not the best way to kick off this first impression. However, I found the flight to be average at best all round, with extremely bare-bones seats and no in-seat power, no internet or WiFi, and a very middling meal service.
I’ve since flown Air France’s A220 economy class and found it to be industry-leading, so obviously I’m aware that Air France’s latest and greatest is good – I just didn’t feel that on my business class flight this time round.
Have you flown Air France’s business class, especially one run by an AMELIA aircraft? How was your experience?
