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?
It’s the ex-Malaysia airlines lounge.
A lot of ex-BA customers have been very happy with the AF service, so this is very welcome. Does AF have rest areas for F/J business class customers connecting at CDG? The BA lounges at Heathrow, including their supposedly upscale Concorde Lounge, are horrific for connecting from one long haul to another long haul flight, no place to rest and poor showers, etc.
The AF CDG lounges are very solid nowadays. I would say they're a fair bit better than the SEN ones and on a completely different level than the BA and KLM equivalents.
About time AF opening a lounge. The one i was directed to 3 weeks ago was awful.
I'm annoyed that Saudia refuses to follow SkyTeam rules and denies access to their lounge to customers on AFKL flights, because their lounge is quite good. Plaza Premium is quite bad, so this is a very good news and long overdue. I'm flying on KL out of LHR right after the Easter so hopefully I'll have a chance to test it out.
But it wont have food. The CDG lounges are the worst when its come to airline hub lounges in terms of F&B offerings.
That simply isn’t true. Air France’s lounges at Paris-CDG offer a self-serve bar with premium wines that are not only better than the complimentary wine available in Delta Sky Clubs and the Delta One lounge, but also superior to what Delta serves its Delta One (business-class) passengers in-flight on the longest and most expensive routes. Yes, the food buffet is more limited, but Air France also serves a full meal in business class on virtually...
That simply isn’t true. Air France’s lounges at Paris-CDG offer a self-serve bar with premium wines that are not only better than the complimentary wine available in Delta Sky Clubs and the Delta One lounge, but also superior to what Delta serves its Delta One (business-class) passengers in-flight on the longest and most expensive routes. Yes, the food buffet is more limited, but Air France also serves a full meal in business class on virtually 100% of its flights — even short 1-hour hops.
FNT Delta Diamond, who famously only cares about alcohol in airport lounges.
No, the point is that the food offerings are weak, buffet slop. That's not appealing at all.
What? Food at CDG lounges is out of this world, at least in 2F. One of the best lounge meals out there. The only letdown are the bakery items which are below average not just by French standards.
What? You're talking rubbish.
I saw an AF 777 pushback at IAH yesterday. After seeing the a350 for years a thing of beauty.
The big question is: will the spa actually ever be open? Every time I have flown through CDG (5 times this year), it has been closed...
"Comment from a deleted user."
I wonder who this was.
It was bastard aerob13a.
It’s an especially nice poke in the eye considering BA (or OW generally) have virtually no options at CDG.
Actually the Cathay lounge just re-opened at CDG, making it arguably one of the better lounges by food options, and there's also a Qatar premium lounge, which is solid too.
Not to mention there's even an Admiral's Club.
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.
When I have flown La Premiere out of LHR over the last few years, they have offered an escort and they have reserved a table in the lounge. I've always declined the escort, as it is just someone who walks you to the lounge and/or gate. No Porsche ride like at CDG. The ground service at LHR could certainly be improved.
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.
It wouldn't matter because the VS Clubhouse isn't a standard SkyTeam lounge, so the benefits of reusing it are very limited.
@yoloswag420 - Huh? The main point of sharing terminals is seamless experience when connecting between different airlines. Surely removing the need for bus journey between terminals would matter a lot?
It is for everyone except Delta flyers
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.
Me too - status matched to platinum and have actually changed my behaviour slightly by adding 1 stopping thru SOU as an option. I live on Sussex / Hampshire border so if the connection in AMS is 2.5 hrs or less I’m to the good vs LHR. And now from LHR it’s majority AF so the lounge is great news
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.
Bull.
Our lounge at the Houston George Bush international airport
Welcome to our Air France lounge
Every day from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Terminal D in front of Gate D12
https://wwws.airfrance.us/information/prepare/salons/iah
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.
Is that paid option only when flying Saudia (economy), or even if flying other T4 airlines like AF/KL?
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
Tim, thought Club World London City was actually an a318 (they had two of them), both since scrapped. Each were just 32 seats, 2-2, all lie-flat. BA even used BA1, BA2, B3, BA4, like it had done for Concorde. It was the closest thing to what La Compagnie does today for CDG, MXP, etc. Sadly, a casualty of the pandemic (2009-2020). At least preclearance westbound was in SNN. A220-300 could do it with the stop....
Tim, thought Club World London City was actually an a318 (they had two of them), both since scrapped. Each were just 32 seats, 2-2, all lie-flat. BA even used BA1, BA2, B3, BA4, like it had done for Concorde. It was the closest thing to what La Compagnie does today for CDG, MXP, etc. Sadly, a casualty of the pandemic (2009-2020). At least preclearance westbound was in SNN. A220-300 could do it with the stop.
Ben had a great review in 2018: https://onemileatatime.com/british-airways-business-class-a318-review/
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.