French Bee is a relatively new airline offering flights between the United States and Paris. This airline is a low-cost air carrier that provides service to 4 destinations in the United States and connects passengers to Paris-Orly Airport.
The airline uses the new Airbus A350 XWB which provides a comfortable flight experience for longer-haul flights.
In this guide, we will provide some insight into French Bee, the destinations in the United States it serves, the aircraft, and the amenities you can expect when you book a French Bee flight. Finally, we’ll leave you with some reviews of the flight experience and recommendations to help you decide whether to fly with French Bee or not.
What Is French Bee?
French Bee is a low-cost leisure airline based out of Paris, France. The airline brings passengers from Paris to popular vacation destinations found throughout the United States, French Polynesia, and Reunion.
This airline is fairly new. It first started its operations in 2016 when it was known as French Blue. Its first destinations were Punta Cana, Reunion, and Mauritius. The airline began its expansion to include destinations in the United States, but this was blocked by JetBlue Airways due to the name “French Blue” being too similar to “JetBlue”.
That forced the airline to change its name to French Bee in 2018. The first route offered in the United States was a stopover in San Francisco during the Paris – French Polynesia flight.
In 2020, French Bee also started a partnership with Alaska Airlines thanks to its planned destination of Newark, which serves the Greater New York City region. Passengers flying on French Bee can deplane at Newark Liberty International Airport and continue to further statewide destinations onboard Alaska Airlines flights.
The airline was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic because Paris Orly airport was shut down. Flights in the meantime were flown out of Charles De Gaulle Airport. The airline successfully navigated this challenging time and came out expanding its route network once more to include flights to Miami and Los Angeles.
What United States cities does French Bee offer service to?
As of November 2023, French Bee is flying to only 4 cities in the United States. All these flights originate or terminate at Paris Orly Airport and are flown on the Airbus A350.
Newark
French Bee offers a flight to the Greater New York Area via Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. Newark is only a few minutes away from New York City. Newark Airport is an alternative to New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport. French Bee probably found landing slots more widely available at Newark since JFK Airport is so highly trafficked.
The flight between Newark and Paris Orly is offered 5 times a week by French Bee. Currently, the airline is flying routes between these two locations on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Overall, this is the shortest flight offered by French Bee to and from the United States. Depending on the direction you are going, the flight can take roughly 6 to 8 hours. The distance between these destinations is a little over 3600 direct miles.
As stated earlier, the flight to Newark is to serve as a gateway for French passengers to all corners of the United States thanks to French Bee’s partnership with Alaska Airlines. On the contrary, passengers flying to France specifically from the Pacific Northwest where there is a lapse of coverage for French Bee flights can utilize Alaska Airlines to navigate to Newark, New Jersey where they can board an international flight.
Miami
Miami is probably French Bee’s best location suited for a French vacation getaway. Passengers from France can experience everything Miami has to offer including warm weather, sandy beaches, and great Cuban cuisine.
Americans living in the Southeast have another option for a low-cost international flight to France. The only other airline that has a direct flight to Paris from Miami is Air France, which can be considered a premium airline. No U.S. airlines have a direct route from Miami to Paris. Passengers in the Southeast probably have to navigate to some of the major international airports found along the eastern seaboard.
There is a limited operation schedule for the French Bee flights between Paris-Orly and Miami. The airline has flights on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
This flight is the second shortest flight to the United States flown by French Bee. The direct distance between both destinations is over 4300 miles. The length of the flight can take from 8 to 10 hours depending on the direction of the flight.
San Francisco
The first West Coast destination that French Bee flew to was San Francisco, California. San Francisco is found in Northern California near the tech industry’s Silicon Valley and the wineries found in the NAPA Valley.
San Francisco was initially conceptualized to function as a brief stop for French Bee’s service from France to French Polynesia. However, there must be enough demand for a route to San Francisco that warranted French Bee to create a revenue flight between Paris and San Fran.
The flight between Paris – Orly and San Francisco utilizes San Francisco International Airport. This flight is offered fairly regularly throughout the week. Flights between these destinations are offered daily however they alternate daily. For example, if a flight to San Francisco is on a Tuesday, the return flight back to Paris happens on a Wednesday.
It takes about 7 to 10 hours to reach this flight’s final destination depending on the direction of travel and the winds aloft. The distance between San Francisco and Paris is just shy of 5600 miles.
Los Angeles
The final route currently offered to the United States by French Bee is the flight between Los Angeles and Paris-Orly.
Los Angeles is more aligned with a traditional vacation destination as their plenty of tourist attractions in the region. There is also a large enough customer base demanding a flight to Paris so it makes sense that French Bee would want to compete with other airlines on this route.
French Bee offers this flight every day of the week minus Tuesdays, Thursdays, and select Saturdays. These flights are offered once a day when the flight is scheduled.
This flight is about the same mileage as the flight between Paris and San Francisco, totaling about 5600 miles. It will take roughly 9 to 11 hours to complete.
What Will You Be Flying on With French Bee?
French Bee exclusively flies the Airbus A350 XWB. The 350 is Airbus’s latest widebody aircraft that was developed in response to Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. The new Airbus competes with the 787 in the world’s ultra-efficient long-range extra widebody aircraft market.
The French Bee A350 XWB can fit upwards of 411 to 483 people and travel distances close to 8700 miles without stopping for more gas. This aircraft is more than capable of traveling across oceans and conducting flights between continents.
French Bee flies the Airbus A350 XWB with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines that allow for maximum fuel efficiency and a 25% reduction in carbon emissions. Just like the Boeing 787, the wings on the Airbus A350 flex upwards like a bird in flight which optimizes aerodynamics.
As of November 2023, French Bee has 6 Airbus A350 XWBs in its aircraft inventory. With the future growth of the airline, you can expect them to purchase more aircraft to serve more destinations around the world.
What Amenities Can You Expect to Recieve on French Bee?
French Bee offers two types of service on its flights. Passengers can opt for a standard economy class fare or premium class fare.
French Bee Economy Class
The economy class makes up the bulk of the seats offered on French Bee flights. Depending on the variant of the Airbus A350 you are flying, you can expect upwards of 376 to 440 seats on the aircraft to be dedicated to economy. Seats are configured in a 3 seats x 4 seats x 3 seat row. The seats are also 16 inches wide and separated 32 inches from the seat in front of you.
With economy, you will have a flight entertainment system with a catalog of 20 movies, TV shows, video games, and much more. There is also onboard Wi-Fi available for purchase.
For meal service, passengers in the economy have the option to purchase snacks. But more importantly, French Bee does offer complimentary hot meals on their flights. That makes perfect sense because these flights span nearly 10 hours. It would be a bit inconvenient if they didn’t provide a complimentary meal on a flight this length.
French Bee Premium Class
The premium class is French Bee’s highest level of service on their flights. Depending on the aircraft type, French Bee dedicates 35 seats in a 7-seat abreast row configured as 2 seats x 3 seats x 2 seats.
The only extra difference between premium and economy is that premium fare holders get a few inches of more legroom and a slightly wider seat. Also, snacks, drinks, and alcoholic beverages are included in the fare.
The Airbus A350 Amentity For All
One other amenity benefitting all passengers that comes with flying on the French Bee Airbus A350 is how the aircraft cabin is designed for comfort and noise reduction. The aircraft has an air filtration system that refreshes the air quality in the cabin every three minutes providing passengers with improved air quality. The cabin is also insulated to reduce noise coming from the engines giving a more ambient experience. Finally, all lighting in the aircraft cabin is provided by LED lights giving a more natural lighting and making a better rest experience for passengers.
Reviews of French Bee Flights Between Paris and the United States.
Reviews of French Bee flights have been very mixed to this point. There were many complaints about the boarding process and the extra fees associated with baggage. There have also been notable complaints about the airline’s reliability. There have been several cases of aircraft breaking down, flights running out of water midflight, and people purchasing Wi-Fi that cuts out 20 minutes later.
See below for three French Bee reviews sourced from passengers flying between the United States and Paris.
“Great service even though we were late to the Gate. In flight service was attentive, courteous and helpful. Reasonably priced and food was tasty. The aisles are slightly narrower but good leg room. Plenty of overhead storage on both flights. Plane had new entertainment equipment and felt new, great value for money.”
Airline Equality
“International economy flights are always kind of unpleasant because they’re so long, but there was just nothing exceptional about this experience. Seats seemed like the usual size to me–I’m on the small side, but my husband is over 6′ and said seats were okay. He feels a bit cramped in any economy seat, but he found French Bee seats no worse than average.”
Airline Equality
“We took French Bee from Newark to Orly.
The things I liked: I felt safe, captain was very communicative with updates, really polite and friendly flight attendants who are all fluent in multiple languages, very clean interior of plane, food was decent, screens at every seat with games/movies/music, check in/boarding/getting off/baggage claim all organized and went smoothly.
The only things I disliked were that the cabin was uncomfortably warm for most of the flight, there was no overhead air vent that I could control, and the seats were so close together that my arms and legs were pressed up against the passengers on either side of me.”
Reddit
Just like any other airline, you have to do your research before you book. For passengers deciding to fly on French Bee, you have to understand that French Bee is a low-cost international airline. There will be extra costs for luggage. Also, there will be a reduction in services like food and drink. If you desire a high level of service, you might be better off flying with a major legacy airline or France’s national flag carrier, Air France.
Sources
https://www.flightconnections.com/route-map-french-bee-bf
https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/french-bee-economy-a350-tahiti-san-francisco/
