I don’t think there’s anything here that’s going to shock regular OMAAT readers, but sometimes it’s nice to have concepts broken down in a simple way that anyone can understand, even if they don’t follow the industry closely…
In this post:
Why airlines like Air France are investing in first class
The Wall Street Journal has been producing some great video content lately, explaining various aspects of the airline industry. For example, I recently covered the hidden airport design tricks that airports use to guide travelers.
A new roughly seven minute video has just been published, about how some airlines are investing billions in first class. We know that we’ve seen a huge increase in premium cabin demand for long haul flights, though that has largely been about increased business class demand. Airlines largely differ on the concept of long haul first class — some airlines think that there’s no future for first class, while other airlines continue to see a lucrative market for this.
So the below video from The Wall Street Journal does a great job breaking down why airlines like Air France are investing in the product, with Air France having recently rolled out its new La Premiere first class. The video also has some comments from Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith (and Air France SVP of Customer Experience, Fabien Pelous, giving a tour of the seat).
Like I said, there’s nothing shocking here, but several things stand out:
- I think many people don’t realize how long the process of introducing a new seat takes; Smith shares that the process of designing the new La Premiere cabin took around six years, including over three years for testing and certifying (and let’s not even talk about what’s going on in Germany, in terms of timeline) 😉
- The challenge with investing in new premium products is that you’re taking a gamble based on where you think demand will be several years down the road, since the introduction of these products is far from instant
- In the case of Air France, many people booking La Premiere would otherwise fly private, and some travelers apparently even buy the whole cabin just for themselves, since it’s more economical and (arguably comfortable) than flying private
- The goal for many airlines is to operate smaller and more fuel efficient aircraft over time, so that there’s less reliance on connecting economy passengers, where the margins just aren’t very good; by increasing the size of premium cabins, there’s also less reliance on connecting economy passengers
Anyway, if you have a little bit of time, I’d highly recommend watching the below video.
Air France has a unique market position for first class
Of course it’s worth emphasizing that not all airlines take the same approach as Air France. Quite to the contrary, we’ve seen a lot of airlines eliminate first class, in favor of investing in business class and premium economy:
- As business class keeps getting better, many airline executives argue that there’s less need for first class
- Many airline executives claim that premium economy is the most profitable cabin per square foot
So I totally understand why many airlines have eliminated first class. However, airlines like Air France, Emirates, and SWISS, continue to invest in first class.
I do think it’s worth calling out that Air France has a unique market position. With its first class, Air France is primarily targeting passengers who are traveling to or from Paris, so the airline isn’t going after connecting passengers, like you might find on Emirates (not that Dubai doesn’t have first class demand).
Paris is probably the single market in the world that has the most wealthy leisure travelers, as it’s a place that people from around the world flock to. That’s also why Air France has really tried to position itself in a different league than any other airline when it comes to first class, in terms of both pricing and exclusivity of ground services.
The airline has very small first class cabins (with just four seats), and also only offers first class in key markets. So far, the strategy seems to be working. I think the other thing worth emphasizing is just how efficiently Air France was able to introduce its new first class. Is it over the top? Yes.
But Air France’s 777-300ERs are getting a tip-to-tail makeover, whereby the airline is increasing the seat count, all while introducing a new first class, more business class seats, and more premium economy seats. Air France should win some sort of a LOPA efficiency award for how it reconfigured these jets, because it’s a masterclass in maximizing revenue.
Bottom line
Airlines differ about whether there’s a future for first class or not. Airlines like Air France are investing a lot of money and are betting big on it, and I think it’s cool to understand why. I love these kinds of videos from The Wall Street Journal, and hope we see more.
What do you make of this bet on first class?
We changed our travel policy recently to be more environmentally aware. At exec level we could fly private worldwide. Since Jan 1 this year, private is only for domestic US.
I have a fear of small planes and Air France so mostly fly commercial
Long haul First Class just isn't worth it in the US. There's just no huge difference between business and first. Moreover, the very high end of the market is skipping the hassles of commercial travel for private jet travel. You're never going to have someone in Group 9 push you out of the way boarding a private jet.
Some airlines (e.g. Delta) has Delta One lie flat seats on trans-continenta US flights. What US carrier has "business" for domestic flights?
That Air France new first class is ugly AF (pun intended), to think that it's been 7 years and no airline could topple Emirates' 777 game changer. Lufthansa and JAL are the only ones that comes close, except for the fact that it isn't floor to ceiling privacy like Emirates.
I've flown both the EK gamechanger and the new AF suite, and it's very hard to compare those tbh. They are completely different experiences and very much reflect their country of origin idea of luxury. EK is loud, absolutely over the top, lots of fun (but useless) gadgets, and flashy items like caviar and famous brand champagne. AF is about quiet luxury, lots of personal space, refinement and will probably stand the test of time...
I've flown both the EK gamechanger and the new AF suite, and it's very hard to compare those tbh. They are completely different experiences and very much reflect their country of origin idea of luxury. EK is loud, absolutely over the top, lots of fun (but useless) gadgets, and flashy items like caviar and famous brand champagne. AF is about quiet luxury, lots of personal space, refinement and will probably stand the test of time better than EK. I loved both for very different reasons. Also the AF suite is quite stunning in person, much more than on pictures.
Quite Clem!
Someone summed up our last EK flight as being …. “loud, all fur coat and no knickers” …. and that was in relation to some of the passengers who obviously had money but were not typically F passengers, more at home in Y.
I look forward to the day when AF start their CDG-SIN route. Like you I find the New La Premiere suite quite stunning, even in the photographs.
A...
Quite Clem!
Someone summed up our last EK flight as being …. “loud, all fur coat and no knickers” …. and that was in relation to some of the passengers who obviously had money but were not typically F passengers, more at home in Y.
I look forward to the day when AF start their CDG-SIN route. Like you I find the New La Premiere suite quite stunning, even in the photographs.
A question for you if you please?
For my wife and I …. which seats would you recommend?
1 A + D
1 H + L
1 D + H
I would give it a punt to NY, but have no compelling reason to visit …. Again!
Did you see the accompanying article about it (link below)? It's mentioned several times that there are occasionally people who book out the cabin for 1 person -- the point being to have it feel like a private plane without that level of "optics" as the article said. Now, who am I to criticize luxury travel, being a reader here. But that's absolutely ridiculous.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/how-airlines-are-trying-to-win-over-private-jet-passengers-9c3e28b9
This is hard to believe, not because of the cost but that there almost never are 4 seats available close to departure time. I doubt people who do this are willing to book 6 months in advance.
Secondly, there probably are private options that are comparable in price to booking 4 F seats.
And then there is AA's desire to be a premium airline . . . without first class.
One is awaiting the publication of the 2025 SkyTrax survey to see which way AA goes …. one suspects down again if the comments posted herein are anything to go by.
What's interesting to me is that AF's main competitors don't seem to be responding to the impressive AF class improvements at all. BA, LH and Swiss seem to be happy not to bother trying to compete. What am I missing as to why that's so?
@ Nikojas -- Well, Lufthansa and SWISS are introducing their new first class concepts, and British Airways also has a new first class on the way.
Bigger picture, there's no way they can compete directly with Air France for Paris traffic. Air France is going after price insensitive customers who want to fly nonstop to Paris, and who might otherwise consider flying private. No matter how good first class is on Lufthansa or SWISS, they're...
@ Nikojas -- Well, Lufthansa and SWISS are introducing their new first class concepts, and British Airways also has a new first class on the way.
Bigger picture, there's no way they can compete directly with Air France for Paris traffic. Air France is going after price insensitive customers who want to fly nonstop to Paris, and who might otherwise consider flying private. No matter how good first class is on Lufthansa or SWISS, they're not going to be able to eat into that market share much, unless they're competing on price.
Echoing with Ben said, Air France charges up to twice as much for first class tickets that go beyond Paris than their European competitors do.
To see this in action, compare a round-trip first class ticket prices from Washington, DC to Johannesburg on the European carriers offering first class. Air France charges twice as much as Lufthansa or SWISS, and the Paris-Johannesburg legs are in business class on AF. Lufthansa, SWISS, and British Airways...
Echoing with Ben said, Air France charges up to twice as much for first class tickets that go beyond Paris than their European competitors do.
To see this in action, compare a round-trip first class ticket prices from Washington, DC to Johannesburg on the European carriers offering first class. Air France charges twice as much as Lufthansa or SWISS, and the Paris-Johannesburg legs are in business class on AF. Lufthansa, SWISS, and British Airways are happy having lower prices for first class products that are perfectly serviceable.
One fully endorses the comments of both Ben and TW. I can fly BA, LHR-JFK return, twice for less than one return AF La Premiere flight. Furthermore, only one scheduled flight per day between CDG-JFK, will be the New La Premiere cabin. Not forgetting the extra time and expense involved for me to travel between LHR and CDG.
All that said, I am awaiting news of the New La Premiere cabin on the CDG-SIN...
One fully endorses the comments of both Ben and TW. I can fly BA, LHR-JFK return, twice for less than one return AF La Premiere flight. Furthermore, only one scheduled flight per day between CDG-JFK, will be the New La Premiere cabin. Not forgetting the extra time and expense involved for me to travel between LHR and CDG.
All that said, I am awaiting news of the New La Premiere cabin on the CDG-SIN route as I would like to try and compare the experience with our usual carriers.
Very insightful analysis from Ben.
For BA, the big profit opportunity is J on LHR-JFK, and to an extent other LHR-USA routes.
The demise of Concorde means that some PAX who previously flew R eastbound supersonic and then BA F westbound subsonic no longer travel in BA F.