Air France will be opening a lounge at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in the coming months, which should be positive news for SkyTeam travelers departing from one of the airport’s terminals.
In this post:
New Air France Lounge London Heathrow Terminal 4
In the spring of 2026, Air France will open a new lounge at Heathrow Airport Terminal 4. The lounge will be around 750 square meters (8,070 square feet), with seating for 150 guests. The lounge will boast a dining area with a buffet, plus a bar with a selection of French wine and champagne. The lounge will also have dedicated spa, relaxation areas, and workstations. For an outstation lounge, that’s very impressive.
So far, only one rendering of the new lounge has been shared.
Air France states that the lounge will follow typical SkyTeam lounge access rules, so it’ll be open to SkyTeam first and business class passengers, as well as SkyTeam Elite Plus members.
This is a great addition to Air France’s lounge network
Strategically, London Heathrow is of course an important market for virtually any airline that flies there. That’s particularly true when you consider that British Airways is based at Heathrow, which is a major competitor of Air France. So it’s normal to want to offer a great lounge experience at the hub of a competitor.
Among lounges operated by European carriers, there’s no denying that Air France does among the best jobs. It’s cool to hear that the lounge will have a spa, and I also imagine there will be some dedicated services for La Premiere (first class) customers, as is standard in Air France operated lounges.
Currently, Air France sends its premium passengers to the Plaza Premium Lounge Heathrow Terminal 4, so this should be a very nice upgrade to the experience. Interestingly, there used to be the the two-level SkyTeam Lounge, but that was replaced by a Plaza Premium Lounge on one level, and the new Saudia Lounge on another level.
I am curious, does anyone know which space Air France is using for this lounge? I have to imagine it’s the repurposing of another lounge space, though I can’t think of which space is available. Will the Plaza Premium Lounge simply be rebranded as the Air France Lounge, since it’s a similar size, or…?
Bottom line
In the spring of 2026, Air France is opening a lounge at London Heathrow Airport. The lounge is expected to be around 750 square meters, with seating for around 150 guests. It’s nice to see Air France opening its own facility at the airport, and it should be good news for SkyTeam flyers in general. I look forward to learning more details as the opening date approaches.
What do you make of plans for the Air France Lounge London Heathrow?
Does AF offer any special ground services at LHR for F passengers? I imagine they’d get an escort to this lounge and maybe a roped off area.
It's odd that Air France wouldn't just locate to the terminal used by Virgin and Delta.
I wonder if SkyTeam may well relocate to T4 as part of Heathrow’s discussions with airlines at the beginning of the year about terminal re shuffles, Ben covered the topic earlier.
I do wonder if this was a recent decision/change of mind - due to the changes to BA Club where quite a significant number of former BA loyal flyers moved over to AF (with the status match).
But yes, it would be a good addition. With the number of KLM and AF flights combined, this does give a good reason to have this lounge ever since the closure of the ST lounge.
I'm one of those dissatisfied BA flyers that has moved to AF. Didn't do the status match. Platinum from just flying. As much as we all want non-stop flights to wherever, I'm willing to connect in Paris if it means a friendly environment and better service.
Now if only Air France would do something about its awful lounges in Toronto and Houston.
The AF lounge in Montreal is decent at least. Hopefully they’ll renovate the others soon.
Those are KLM Crown Lounges and they are excellent. Why do you call them Air France?
Air France has its own lounge in Houston. As for Toronto, I believe it's marketed as a joint KLM/Air France lounge.
By the way, the Gulf Air lounge in Terminal 4 sells day passes. They don't advertise this but they do. I paid 40 British pounds earlier this year. Spent 3 hours there. Better than average food and a good wine selection.
There has been construction at the old Plaza Premium arrivals lounge for many months, its passenger entrance was land side but when I looked through the boards I could see through to airside so maybe that’s the location.
Back in the day, there was a dedicated Sky Team lounge at Heathrow.
Given the awful contract lounge they currently use, an Air France lounge is long overdue – especially with near-hourly flights between Heathrow and Paris. Hopefully, it won’t become overcrowded with KLM passengers.
Remarkably, Air France serves a meal that’s better than what Delta offers on many domestic flights, plus real champagne in business class on the one-hour flight between LHR and CDG....
Back in the day, there was a dedicated Sky Team lounge at Heathrow.
Given the awful contract lounge they currently use, an Air France lounge is long overdue – especially with near-hourly flights between Heathrow and Paris. Hopefully, it won’t become overcrowded with KLM passengers.
Remarkably, Air France serves a meal that’s better than what Delta offers on many domestic flights, plus real champagne in business class on the one-hour flight between LHR and CDG. If you’re lucky (or charming), you can get two or three glasses of champagne or Chablis during the flight.
Those ‘dedicated SkyTeam lounges’ aren’t always ‘better’… like, the International terminal at SYD has one, downstairs, super-crowded… not a fan. Centurion there has better food anyway. Qantas is obviously best, but, if you’re flying Delta to LAX, it’s slim pickings…
Looks like a great place to chill before that 30 minute flight to CDG...
goes to show you how valuable LHR is to feed longhaul flights at CDG
LOL. Tim, I’d rather take LCY-AMS then KL TATL, if only for a delft blue house…
Btw, since United is now working with B6, I was able to burn some Mileage Plus points for Mint TATL at a good rate. Perhaps, nonstop is best, even without the Bols-filled trinket.
LCY is a gem. but, of course, no US carrier serves it.
Whoever figures out how to make LCY to the US work would get a very nice bump in loyalty. The BA A319 nonstop from the US and w/ a stop in Ireland is a nice "once upon a time"
Problem is that LCY's runways are still short enough that even the A220 could not take off from there nonstop to the US with a meaningful number of passengers
and I have used LCY to continental Europe hubs and beyond and it is super easy.
Currently could only be done on Saturdays but an LGA-LCY via SNN on a 221 could be a goldmine
I wonder how much this decision was influenced by the BA Club status earning changes announced a year ago.
This will majorly sway some London based frequent travelers to jump ship.