Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) will be getting a new SkyTeam lounge, which is long overdue.
In this post:
Air France opening lounge in Tom Bradley International Terminal
Los Angeles World Airports has approved the construction of a new Air France Lounge in Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT). Here’s what we know so far:
- This lounge will be located in the west gates, known as the Midfield Satellite Concourse
- The lounge will be 11,500 square feet, though there’s the possibility to add an extra 2,300 square feet within six months of lease commencement, for a total of 13,800 square feet
- It’s expected that construction will take 12 months, so at the very earliest, the lounge will open in mid-2024 (with how airport construction works, I expect it will probably take longer than that)
- The space is being leased for a period of 15 years, and LAX will receive at least $2.8 million in annual rent for the space
- Air France was actually supposed to finalize plans for this lounge all the way back in March 2020, but unsurprisingly, that all fell apart due to the pandemic
Last year I wrote in detail about the LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse, and I noted how there was space there for lounges. That’s exactly where this lounge will be, on level six. Below are some pictures I took at the time.
What should we expect from the Air France Lounge LAX?
LAX TBIT desperately needs more lounge capacity, so I’m happy to see that plans are firming up for more new lounge space.
As far as the details of the lounge go, as of now, all we can do is speculate. Air France is pretty consistent with its lounges in North America, so here are my expectations:
- This lounge will primarily be intended for Air France and KLM passengers, as both airlines fly to the airport; per reciprocal SkyTeam lounge access rules, other SkyTeam flyers will be able to visit this lounge as well
- I expect that this lounge will be open to Priority Pass members, at least during some hours of the day, as that’s the case at all Air France lounges in the United States; TBIT doesn’t currently have any Priority Pass lounges, so that’s nice
- I’d manage my expectations when it comes to the quality of this lounge; while Air France has great lounges in Paris, the airline definitely tries to heavily monetize its lounges in the United States, so I wouldn’t expect anything too special
- I doubt there will be a pre-flight dining facility (since it’s not really needed from the west coast, given that flights to Europe are much longer)
- Presumably the lounge will have some sort of special space for Air France La Premiere (first class) passengers; this could just be a partitioned off area, or it could be more exclusive than that
Currently the only SkyTeam lounge in TBIT is the Korean Air Lounge, which is horrible. The lounge is so bad that Air France doesn’t even send its passengers there — instead business class passengers are directed to the oneworld Lounge, while first class passengers are directed to the Qantas First Lounge.
I imagine the new lounge will be better than the Korean Air Lounge, though it might not be better than the oneworld Lounge or Qantas First Lounge.
Bottom line
A lease agreement has been signed for Air France to open a lounge at LAX TBIT. The lounge will be located in the Midfield Satellite Concourse, and construction is expected to take about a year. In addition to being a SkyTeam lounge, I suspect this lounge will also be open to Priority Pass members, at least based on the rest of the Air France lounge portfolio in the United States.
What do you make of the upcoming Air France Lounge LAX?
I like the idea of an Air France/KLM lounge at the West Gates. But I should ask this: Is Emirates planning to have a new lounge at LAX? There's an A380 gate at the West Gates that hasn't been used ever since China Southern retired their A380s from service. I personally think that Emirates should have a new lounge at LAX, so passengers can board directly from the lounge, which most airports in the United States and DXB do for Emirates as well.
Indeed the Korean air /Air France/sky teams lounge at lax is awful. It’s disgustingly poor.
air france at LAX is terrible. the check in people are rude and unaccomodating. the gate leaving for paris is about as far away as possible from the terrible korean air lounge and the slightly better british airways lounge. in general air france is completely not concerned with the comfort of its passengers as it essentially has a monopoly on the LAX to paris market
Not only does TBIT not have any Priority Pass lounges, there are NO PP lounges at LAX - at all. For months.
Although it is mentioned somwhere that the lounge is accessible to KLM passengers, in the first preamble it seems to be exclusively for Air France passengers.
Therefore Air France/KLM lounge would be a better name
True however it doesn’t work that way. It’s entirely financed by AF with their branding and interiors. At Toronto it’s the KLM ( crown) lounge.
They've been saying this crap since 2020 that they'll be opening in at least 2022 LMAO the French inconsistency
In the first instance the pandemic halted the project. If you took the trouble to read the article, which you haven’t, there’s a link with the details of the contract therefore it’s 100% confirmed
Gee, what could've happened in 2020 that might've delayed an aviation-related project.
Did you put the SLIGHTEST bit of thought into this???
yes I did, and the west stopped caring about COVID the moment vaccines rolled out, and even when you consider that they moved to this terminal in 2021, it still took them 2 years for a mere update,
The US only removed the proof of Vax / recovery from the coof literally the other month so how you can imply the west stopped caring the moment they came out is objectively false. Though as with others observations you seem to have flown off without reading the article properly in the 1st instance and continue to spout random falsehoods at will so hey whatever.
There was a ban on travel to the US with a heavily reduced schedule. They weren’t in a financial position back then to invest in a new lounge.
You’re not very bright.
Too bad. It seems the Qantas first class lounge that we can use when we fly Air France premiere is better than the proposed Air France lounge
How can it be better, when the new lounge hasn’t been built and there are no renderings ?
They are building their own as Air France and KLM operate up to 6 departures daily. The Korean lounge is very poor and subject to too many complaints.
I hope it's better than the AF lounge at ORD. Horrible, just horrible.
There isn’t an AF lounge at ORD. it closed around a year ago. AFKL customers use the very nice Delta SkyClub
I mean, I'm excited there will be a reason to walk to the west gates. But... this is a long ways off. Wish it were sooner.
No point in speculating. I think this article is too early.
It’s not speculation. There’s a link in the article to the agreement which the with airport authority.
One more year to wait ?
This is becoming a joke…new parking for AF flight are 25mn walk away from the ticket counter and a lounge was supposed to open 3 yrs ago ?? What happened ?
Good luck to AF/KLM
You ACTUALLY need to ask "what happened" to an aviation-related project that was initially going to launch in 2020?
Really? ...seriously???
Covid. You must be American, showing your ignorance and complaining about walking at an airport. It doesn’t take 25 mins unless I guess, you’re the average American.
Won't there be a quick Terminal 3 / TBIT connector finished at LAX soon? Many may prefer to visit the Delta SkyClubs in Terminal 3, then go over to TBIT before boarding...
Yes, DL is building a connector. In theory, you'll be able to visit the two SkyClubs (T2 + T2/T3 walkway) and/or the DeltaOne lounge (Walkway) and/or the KE and AF lounges, all without having to exit security.
The busses will be no more, but there will be a walkway starting next year that finally connects the northside complex with TBIT.
If the lounge is anything like the new one at SFO it will likely have a serviced dining area, despite there not being a strong need for pre-flight dining given the longer flight times cited by Ben.
besides AF/KL flights, makes you wonder if this will be the default Skyteam lounge in TBIT and if that also means more Skyteam flights - including DL's - will leave from the west gates.
Is the new Delta One lounge at LAX going to be near the current Delta SkyLounge in Terminal 3 or in TBIT? Guessing it will be nicer than the new AF lounge, based Ben's observation about AF monetizing their US lounges.
The new Delta One lounge will be adjacent to the new Sky Club in the T2-3 complex. DL operates a number of international flights from TBIT and I am sure that number will increase.
This is great to hear! FWIW, SFO's new Air France Lounge opened last week and it's a marked improvement over their last one!
Don't Delta flights to Mexico use TBIT sometimes? At least my last flight to MEX from LAX did. I can't say about other Delta international flights.
Yes. Flew a 787 to MEX and it was quite the trek from check-in at terminal 3.
Shoot I'm getting confused with Aeromexico. Scratch that!
The CBP/FIS area in T2 remains closed for now, so all DL/AM/SkyTeam international arrivals park at TBIT.
DL has priority (but not exclusivity) to four gates in that terminal. The rest of C.U.T.E.
In the immediate followup to the Covid era, ALL of LAX's international arrivals were relocated to TBIT, even though Terminals 2, 5, 6, and 7 can fully process international flights, and T4 can process immigration but not customs.
I know T7 has...
The CBP/FIS area in T2 remains closed for now, so all DL/AM/SkyTeam international arrivals park at TBIT.
DL has priority (but not exclusivity) to four gates in that terminal. The rest of C.U.T.E.
In the immediate followup to the Covid era, ALL of LAX's international arrivals were relocated to TBIT, even though Terminals 2, 5, 6, and 7 can fully process international flights, and T4 can process immigration but not customs.
I know T7 has gotten its processing capability back, and UA uses it for its non-Australian/Oceanian arrivals. Not sure if the other terminals have yet, or when they will.
Exciting! I would expect a separate room for La Premiere passengers, similar to JFK and IAD.