In mid-2022, Air France formally announced plans to introduce a new first class product. Details were fairly limited at the time, though it’s no doubt one of the most exciting first class products on the horizon.
As is the case with so many new airline products, Air France has experienced delays with rolling out this product, in part due to supply chain issues. However, the airline has just announced that the product will be unveiled in late 2024. I wanted to cover all the details of what we know so far, based on all the hints that Air France has provided over the past couple of years.
In this post:
What we know about Air France’s new first class
Air France is working on introducing an all-new first class product (known as “La Premiere”). The new first class experience is expected to be unveiled by the end of 2024. I suspect that simply means the details will be made public by then, and not that the product will be introduced by then.
As of several months back, Air France claimed the new first class would enter service in the 2024-2025 winter season, which would be by late March 2025. I wouldn’t count on that timeline sticking, but who knows!
So, what do we know about this new first class cabin?
- The new first class will be “the longest cabin” on the market, with each passenger having five windows
- The new first class seat will be fully private; we’ll see if that comes in the form of curtains (as Air France currently has) or a floor-to-ceiling wall
- The new first class seat will have a modular design with three entirely private living spaces, including a seat, a chaise lounge, and a flat bed
- The new first class seat will have two video screens, as well as a wireless tablet for controlling seat functions
- The new first class cabin will consist of just three seats, so presumably it will be one row of seats in a 1-1-1 configuration
- Air France will introduce first class on a greater number of aircraft, though we don’t know which; it could be that more 777-300ERs are reconfigured into a four-class layout, or it could be that some Airbus A350s get the cabin as well (possibly some of the A350-1000s that Air France has on order?)
- According to Air France CEO Anne Rigail, “we aim to position it as the best in the world”
Below are a couple of slides from an investor day presentation earlier this year, mentioning the new product.
Furthermore, back in mid-2022, the airline had the below slide during an investor day presentation. As you can see, there’s an artistic rendering of a La Premiere seat. My guess is that this was just a possible concept, and not necessarily the product that Air France will go with. Note that the timeline for the product has shifted since then, because at the time the plan was for it to be introduced in the 2023-2024 winter season.
Air France first class is currently available on select Boeing 777-300ERs. The current first class product, which was introduced back in 2014, features curtains that offer full privacy. It’s a phenomenal cabin, and personally I rank Air France as having the third best first class experience in the air, and the best first class experience on the ground (and that experience recently got even better).
My initial take on Air France’s new first class
Air France simply does an amazing job with its first class experience, and I’m thrilled to see that the airline has recently even further improved the ground experience, and will now elevate the inflight experience. We’ve been waiting quite some time for the details, so hopefully Air France finally unveils the new first class before the end of the year, as planned, and hopefully the actual introduction of the product isn’t too far behind.
Based on what we know, I find the decision to just install three first class seats to be interesting on a couple of levels. In terms of passenger experience, having just three seats per row is awesome, and seems to be the new standard for top products.
This is really a trend that was kicked off with Emirates’ new Boeing 777 first class, and it’s now something we’re seeing with Japan Airlines’ new A350 first class. Yes, Cathay Pacific’s 777s also have three seats per row, but that’s because they’re angled, so it’s partially a space saving technique.
While Lufthansa’s new A350 first class also has three seats per row, that’s because the airline has (a really poorly thought out) double suite in the center of the cabin, so it really has the capacity for up to four guests.
Three seats sure is a mighty small first class cabin. I understand first class takes up a lot of real estate, but that’s a very small footprint.
Obviously Air France is trying to maximize revenue, and presumably the goal is that the cabin is consistently full with those paying cash for tickets. I do wonder if the airline will almost have an issue with not having enough first class seats in some markets. For example, between Paris and Los Angeles, I can see first class sometimes selling out months in advance. Though who knows, perhaps the airline will try to make that part of the appeal.
In fairness, Air France really is skimming the market with its first class product. The airline has continued to increase first class pricing over the years, and it has the most consistently steep pricing in first class. While other airlines do a lot of discounting in first class, Air France doesn’t.
What I’m most excited about is that Air France not only plans to reconfigure existing Boeing 777s with first class, but also plans to introduce first class on more aircraft. I’m curious to learn the details of that, and just how many additional planes will get first class.
Bottom line
Air France’s new La Premiere first class should be unveiled before the end of 2024, and will hopefully enter service in 2025. The airline has revealed that first class will feature just three seats, so it’ll be a very exclusive cabin. Perhaps the most exciting development is that Air France plans to expand its first class footprint to more aircraft, so it won’t just be select 777s that have first class.
What do you make of Air France’s first class plans?
All I ask is that Air France keeps the curtains. The plastic walls and doors just make me claustrophobic.
It's interesting that Japan Airlines is in the top three of Ben's. I have flown JL, AF, and a number of other carriers in F and AF is just IMHO the best (for me at least). JL is lovely BUT they keep the cabin WAY too warm and no overhead gaspers. AF soft and hard product is epic.
The jury is still out on whether or not it will be a 3 or 4 seat cabin. It is not explicitly stated that there will only be 3 suites, but that the suite itself will have 3 "modes." This has been extensively debated on flyertalk and the general consensus over there is that there will still be 4 seats.
Lots of discussion on it here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-france-frequence-plus/2018552-af-la-premi-re-outlook-84.html
One of the AF agents seems to think it will stay four abreast: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36521262-post3327.html
Only the unveiling will confirm.
The problem with having 3 seats (as I have mentioned with lufthansa) is that with so few seats, it can become very difficult to make last minute changes (meetings finishing early or going to overrun etc.). If those 3 seats are filled then you have to accept a downgrade which removes the point of booking first class in the first instance. When you pay >£10,000 for a ticket you expect to have some element of flexibility.
Let's add that, as of September 2024, AF has 43 Boeing 777-300ERs (in service + active) in its fleet.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
IMHO Air France is choosing the right path here. For long haul, this will be more comfortable than nearly all private jets. There is also a whole set of very wealthy people that are not billionaires so booking Air France F at these prices (even including the additional fee for the private room) is absolutely feasible but they wouldn't book a private jet from Paris to San Francisco for just one or two people. So...
IMHO Air France is choosing the right path here. For long haul, this will be more comfortable than nearly all private jets. There is also a whole set of very wealthy people that are not billionaires so booking Air France F at these prices (even including the additional fee for the private room) is absolutely feasible but they wouldn't book a private jet from Paris to San Francisco for just one or two people. So developing a product that is fully private from start to finish does address a decent sized market.
In addition: With a smaller number of suites but a larger footprint and no discounts you likely monetize more overall than having more seats on a smaller number of routes with frequent upgrades and discounted fares.
I do prefer curtains to doors and CXs Day Suites at The Pier lounge would make a great template. I hope that trickles down to Business.
"Best in the world" including The Residence? Separately, if they expand first class to more aircraft, will that translate to greater first class award inventory? We shall see.
Kind of think the Residence is in its own class of its own like F+++ hence it being omitted when comparing international F classes
It seems sophisticated, classy and ultra comfortable. More power to dear Air France!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
The civil aviation know-how à la française!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Definitely a bright shiny object. Still wouldn't put my worst enemy on one of their planes given corporate culture safety issues and horrific CRM. LOL they can't even format their investor marketing ads properly -- dubious grammar, misplaced colons, etc. Every aspect of this airline other than the sparkly cabins is sloppy.
The way it’s going, Dubai will soon be left in the dust by Tokyo, Paris and, in a couple of years, Doha — unless Singapore can snap out of its slumber and introduce a world-beating F product!