Air France first class (marketed as “La Premiere”) is regarded as one of the world’s best first class products. Best of all, the airline is in the process of rolling this out a brand new first class suite, which takes the current experience to the next level.
Air France has just scheduled its first flight with the new first class, so in this post I want to recap which routes feature La Premiere, and which routes have the new product.
In this post:
Which planes have Air France first class?
Air France’s first class is only available on a subfleet of Boeing 777-300ERs, which feature four classes of service (first class, business class, premium economy, and economy). Specifically, it’s currently installed on 20 Boeing 777-300ERs, which makes up less than half of the 777-300ER fleet.
Just in the interest of being very thorough, let me emphasize that you won’t find first class on any other Air France jets, including the A330s, A350s, 787s, etc. Air France has indicated that it may install first class on more 777-300ERs in the future, but nothing firm has been announced beyond the 20 existing planes.
Which routes have Air France first class?
Which routes feature Air France first class? Air France operates Boeing 777-300ERs with first class on select frequencies between Paris (CDG) and the following destinations:
- Abidjan (ABJ)
- Dubai (DXB)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Miami (MIA)
- New York (JFK)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Sao Paulo (GRU)
- Singapore (SIN)
- Tokyo (HND)
- Washington (IAD)
For what it’s worth, in the past we’ve seen Air France also offer first class to Beirut (BEY), Houston (IAH), Johannesburg (JNB), and Mexico City (MEX), among other airports, but there’s no indication of any of those destinations getting first class for the foreseeable future.
Which flights have Air France’s new first class?
Air France’s plans are to retrofit the entire fleet of 20 four cabin Boeing 777-300ERs with the new first class cabins by the end of 2026. We’ll see how that timeline works out, but that basically means that one aircraft will be reconfigured per month.
The first plane with the new first class has already been reconfigured, and has the registration code F-GZNQ. Interestingly, this is a plane that didn’t previously have first class, so presumably this was done so that Air France has an extra jet, so it can maintain its La Premiere network by reconfiguring one aircraft at a time.
Anyway, Air France has just scheduled its first route with the new aircraft:
- As of April 8, 2025, Air France will offer its new first class between Paris (CDG) and New York (JFK), on the AF4/AF1 frequencies
- This is purely speculation on my part, but based on how Air France previously updated its fare class inventory, my expectation is that a second New York (JFK) frequency will get the new cabins next, followed by Los Angeles (LAX), then Singapore (SIN), then Tokyo (HND)
Nothing has been scheduled yet beyond the first daily frequency, though that will change over time, and I’ll provide updates when it does. Air France has updated the seat map for eligible flights, to show the new layout, with both a seat and couch of sorts (though I think the galley being marked as a shower is an error… lol).
Note that this isn’t just great news for first class passengers. As Air France installs its new first class, the airline is entirely overhauling its four cabin Boeing 777-300ERs. Most exciting is that these planes are also getting Air France’s new business class with doors, so arguably that’s an equally positive aspect of these updates.
Bottom line
Air France exclusively has its La Premiere first class cabin on 20 Boeing 777-300ERs, operating select long haul flights out of Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG). These planes are in the process of being reconfigured, and Air France has now loaded its first route into the schedule with the new first class.
As of April 8, 2025, the airline will start flying its first reconfigured four cabin 777-300ER to New York (JFK). So obviously this is exciting for those in first class, but it’s also positive for those in business class, as that cabin has received a makeover as well.
Kudos to Air France for how quickly its putting new cabins into service after announcing the product.
What do you make of Air France’s plans for its refreshed four cabin Boeing 777-300ERs?
Flying back from Singapore in Business class mid-june on a 777-300 ... what are the chances it will get the new cabin??
Definitely a major positive that they're moving so much faster than "usual" for this sort of fleet reconfiguration!
My flight booking agency is on my case with regard to the commencement of the Paris to Singapore, new La Premiere roll out.
As The agency is ‘hardwired’ into all airlines information systems, they will be informed by AF before it is made public.
Unfortunately, there is no known date available for the commencement of the SIN route.
Rumour Control can speculate all they want, however, evidently they will not be told...
My flight booking agency is on my case with regard to the commencement of the Paris to Singapore, new La Premiere roll out.
As The agency is ‘hardwired’ into all airlines information systems, they will be informed by AF before it is made public.
Unfortunately, there is no known date available for the commencement of the SIN route.
Rumour Control can speculate all they want, however, evidently they will not be told anytime soon.
I forgot to enquire about the shower, failed again Gunga Din!
Abidjan (ABJ) does not really fit with the others.
You did think Cape town and Johannesburg would be better markets
I'm surprised they don't fly FC to ATL, given that it's the biggest SkyTeam hub in the US. Even with the feeder traffic, it's strange that there isn't enough demand for it.
did I miss the part where there's a shower in the new FC?
@ Not Lucky -- You didn't, I think someone at Air France was just having a bit too much fun, because there's not actually a shower.
A shower on-board is a bit of a gimmick frankly. Not in the top 100 criteria for me.
And I'd worry that it attracts pax with odor issues,
I don't know how you got the cabin map of the new La Premiere, but this map shows a shower. Will AF add a shower on board its 777s equipped with La Premiere?
@ damien -- Definitely a glitch, heh...
That's probably the second lavatory. At the unveiling last month Ben Smith said the new cabin will have 2 lavatories dedicated to La Premiere customers. I would note that there are currently two in La Premiere but one has been sectioned off for pilots and crew on every flight I've been on in the last 4 or 5 years (which I was told years ago was for covid considerations to keep the pilots exposure down...
That's probably the second lavatory. At the unveiling last month Ben Smith said the new cabin will have 2 lavatories dedicated to La Premiere customers. I would note that there are currently two in La Premiere but one has been sectioned off for pilots and crew on every flight I've been on in the last 4 or 5 years (which I was told years ago was for covid considerations to keep the pilots exposure down but post covid it has remained blocked off from passengers). Also the showers in the new arrivals lounge at CDG are quite nice, spacious and have no time limit - I find I have plenty of time for a shower while waiting for my checked luggage to be brought to the lounge. I've never really understood the appeal of a 5 minute in-flight shower other than Instagram bragging rights.
Is keeping the existing LP product on the Singapore route an option? :) while I like new shiny stuff, the new seat, in pictures / videos, seems cramped when the bed is flat… like if you try to get up, you will hit the seat.
Also - the curtain will be annoying while seated, there’s no separation between the seat and the curtain and it will hit your elbow all day long… similar to sitting first row in economy on their 319/320s
Not the most convenient for me, but I'm consider booking MAN-CDG-JFK on AF004 in 2 weeks.
Is it worth it to pay the extra $1200 for the flight which earns 4x as many XPs?
I'm currently Air France Gold
@ Hal -- I assume you're looking at a sustainable aviation fuel purchase? Frankly, the incremental perks of Platinum over Gold are limited, especially with Air France seemingly not making its new first class available with miles. Hope you get to experience the product!
Worth noting that Nonstop Dan asked Ben Smith on video what new routes will get La Premiere. Smith said there would be 2-3 new US routes, and hinted some of them would be previously served routes. My guess would be Houston and Atlanta, and maybe also Boston.
I could be wrong but I recall someone mentioning on FlyerTalk that Smith also said BEY is likely to return, which would surprise me if true.
ATL is unlikely. It' does not have the premium O&D to sustain a First class product.
I wouldn’t be so sure about that. ATL does have a PS now, which wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t premium O&D.
I think SIN was mentioned as the most profitable LP route so I'd expect that's what the priority will be (epecially since the competition on the Asian routes is much higher than on US routes), although I also understand that they want to market this on US routes for the media attention.
The big question is what will happen to LP deployment when the US crashes in a few hours / days / weeks. The...
I think SIN was mentioned as the most profitable LP route so I'd expect that's what the priority will be (epecially since the competition on the Asian routes is much higher than on US routes), although I also understand that they want to market this on US routes for the media attention.
The big question is what will happen to LP deployment when the US crashes in a few hours / days / weeks. The logic behind premium demand on TATL routes is that you have a combo of a) lot of business ties which means high profile people travel between Europe and the US, b) Americans who don't get holidays during their career, so they save up money and then dump them all at once for their once in a lifetime trip and are willing to spend any money on it. Both are going to hell because the A will be cancelled by trade barriers and B will be cancelled by people's savings suddenly losing value. That will likely mean less LP frequencies (probably the same routes but less often) to the US and more Asian LP destinations. The problem is that competing against Emirates et al is much harder than competing against Delta and similar crap.
The US will not crash despite the senile, functionally illiterate buffoons, doing all possible to make this happen out of sheer ignorance. Consequently, NYC I strongly suspect, will be the first to receive the new AF product as it is arguably the center of the universe.
From your mouth to God's ears
You LOVE Air France . Maybe more than taag Angola now!
I haven’t flown la premiere and I’d like to but it just isn’t as interesting to me for the cash or points price when I can fly London to Abu Dhabi using American miles for much cheaper in apartments. 236k miles for the short flight from Miami to Paris just does not seem close to worth it.
I’d rather engineer my way into...
You LOVE Air France . Maybe more than taag Angola now!
I haven’t flown la premiere and I’d like to but it just isn’t as interesting to me for the cash or points price when I can fly London to Abu Dhabi using American miles for much cheaper in apartments. 236k miles for the short flight from Miami to Paris just does not seem close to worth it.
I’d rather engineer my way into the “new” emirates first between Dubai and Melbourne.
I have said for years that I don’t know why LH or QF (as examples) don’t retrofit curtains to their first class. Seems such an easy win?!
It'd be interesting for sure to see the old LH F cabin with curtains. However, LH has publicly said they can't afford black coffee so curtains might be simply too much to ask for.
Hahah!