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Home » Air France » First Look: New Air France La Première First Class
Air FranceNews

First Look: New Air France La Première First Class

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 18, 2025March 18, 2025 20 Comments

a woman reading a book on a plane

Earlier today, Air France officially unveiled its new La Première first class cabin and my assessment is that it looks stunning…I would have expected nothing less from the French carrier.

In This Post:

Toggle
  • First Look At Chic New Air France La Première First Class
    • Which Routes Can You Fly On The New Air France First Class?
    • A Tour From Air France CEO Ben Smith
    • The Ground Product Separates Air France From All Other First Class Products
    • CONCLUSION

First Look At Chic New Air France La Première First Class

The new first class sets a new standard in terms of luxury and space, with each seat measuring over three meters long (118 inches) and spanning five aircraft windows—an upgrade from the previous first class, which covered four windows. At 3.5 square meters per seat, that’s a 25% increase in personal space compared to the current cabin.

a seat and table in a plane

a woman sitting in a chair in a plane

a woman sitting in a chair

a woman sitting on a chair in a plane using a tablet

a woman in a chair on an airplane

a woman sleeping in bed

a laptop on a table in a plane

a pair of red shoes in a box

a white luggage in a metal container

a close up of a seat

The modular design marks a new approach for Air France. You’ll find a seat facing one direction and a chaise longue positioned in the opposite direction, allowing you to seamlessly adapt to every stage of the flight. Whether you’re sitting upright for a meal, stretching out on the chaise longue to relax, or reclining into a fully flat bed, the experience is designed for maximum comfort. The chaise longue converts into a bed that stretches two meters long (79 inches) and is a generous 75 centimeters (30 inches) wide—plenty of room to get a good night’s sleep above the clouds.

While curtains will offer some separation from the aisle, the two center seats will feature a full-height electric sliding partition for maximum privacy. For those traveling together, the partition can be lowered, allowing you to enjoy the flight side by side.

The new seat marks an evolution rather than a revolution and will continue to appear on a sub-fleet of Air France’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and be arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration (which makes so much more sense to me than the 1-1-1 configuration of Lufthansa’s new Allegris first class).

a close-up of a chart
You can also expect a wireless tablet and upgraded high-speed Wi-Fi onboard

Which Routes Can You Fly On The New Air France First Class?

It does appear that Air France will rollout the fleet to more 777 jets, though precise numbers have not been announced. The first plane with the new seats, F-GZNQ, will begin service to New York this spring, with the first four “new first class” destinations including:

  • New York (JFK)
  • Los Angeles (LAX)
  • Singapore (SIN)
  • Tokyo (HND)

(in this order)

Is it just me or does the new seat for takeoff and landing look narrower than before and perhaps will not be as comfortable? Other than that, the new suite looks stunning and chic…I far prefer the curtains to the doors.

A Tour From Air France CEO Ben Smith

One Mile At A Time shares a very cool video from Ben Smith which includes an in-depth tour of the seat and commentary on why particular elements of the new suite were chosen. It’s worth 7-minutes of your time:

The Ground Product Separates Air France From All Other First Class Products

The beauty of Air France first class is that no carrier comes close to matching the entire experience. Air France will pick you up from your home and you’ll be met by a personal concierge at the airport who will escort you through the entire check-in and security process. In Paris, you’ll be driven from the lounge to the aircraft in a car and the lounge itself is one of the best first class lounges in the world, with sumptuous dining and spa treatments. Even when you land, you’ll be met by an attendant to take you through passport control and gather your luggage.

a room with a couch and a table

a patio with chairs and tables

a woman sitting in a red chair

a woman in a white suit sitting in a chair and holding a straw

a woman sitting at a booth

a room with a bed and a mirror

a woman in a suit and red gloves standing next to a plane

a woman in a white suit walking up stairs

It’s a truly first class service.

The promotional video released with the new first class product highlights this ground service:

CONCLUSION

Air France’s new first class suite is a beauty. Rather than a drastic change, the new La Premiere simply makes an excellent product even better. Clearly, a lot of thought went into the design of this product and it seems that it will roll out efficiently across the 777 fleet. I do hope to try it sooner rather than later!

What are your thoughts on the new Air France first class?


images: Air France

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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20 Comments

  1. Malik Reply
    March 18, 2025 at 2:21 pm

    The best part is that it won’t be kept together with duct tape!

    Jokes aside, looks like they wanted to have a leg up on LH/LX’s new Allegris/Swiss Senses F product and I’d have to place the air product to be right being SQ F on their A380s or EY’s residences. I think they made the chair narrower so that people would be encouraged to use the lounging chair on the other side. The only questions I have are will they bring back routes in F (would be nice but then again, they probably want to make this product even more exclusive by limiting the number of routes) and how comfortable the lounging chair is as that elongated portion looks a little awkward.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 18, 2025 at 2:25 pm

      It does genuinely look extremely comfortable.

      Maybe it is because of the scarcity, but I have clients who fly in La Premiere and often the LAX and JFK routes are SOLD out on the dates/times they want…I think AF can safely increase supply without having to lower the price.

      One unrelated question – is the email you use to comment valid? I want to send you a note about another matter.

      • Malik Reply
        March 18, 2025 at 2:48 pm

        Those are fair points and make sense based on their initial comments when announcing it two (?) years ago.

        Will say for LAX/JFK and occasionally DXB, word has gone around with celebrities and many of them occasionally fly in LP. Met a couple of NBA players like Iman Shumpert, Kevin Love, and others either in the lounge or on the plane as it could accommodate their size.

        Yes, that is my personal email and it’s always open for you.

  2. derek Reply
    March 18, 2025 at 2:26 pm

    Very nice article. Worth a review in the future, maybe on LAX-CDG. The JFK flight seems rather short for a good night’s rest.

    Now for the silliness….
    Why use a white woman model? What’s wrong with using Black people, like a man?
    What if you’re too wide and fat to fit? With economy class, lifting up the armrest yields a double wide seat. This seat is just minimally wider and no adjacent seat.
    This shows too much wealth. Anyone flying in these seats, unless they used a credit card scheme or similar, should be taxed so much that they cry. Punish those people. If you can afford the fare, you must have done something criminal or at least aggressive but legal.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 18, 2025 at 2:29 pm

      I think that’s part of the marketing campaign…remember when Abercrombie & Fitch used to only use white models? I don’t think it was A&F saying white is better or white is ideal, but this odd idea of exclusivity seems to sell seats (or clothes)…even if wholly a figment of the imagination.

      They should use Malik in their La Premiere ads!

    • Pete Reply
      March 18, 2025 at 3:08 pm

      Maybe a white woman is typical of the passenger demographic purchasing the seats? Must progressive American sensibilities to inform every decision that any company makes in its advertising? In Ethiopian Airlines and Air India advertisements there are no white or East Asian faces, so is that discriminatory too?

  3. Joseph Reply
    March 18, 2025 at 2:57 pm

    I remember my first time in LP right after covid restrictions were being scaled back during the summer of 2022. I’m very young compared to most readers on here, but despite having sold my startup, I was/still am stingy with money spending money on myself so I always flew W before my car accident and discount J after that. But during that instance, I needed to get to LHR for a last minute meeting and J wasn’t available, so I just ended up coughing up for LP. Needless to say, even in the older product with a piece of duct tape holding the overhead storage bin, it was the best flight in my life. I still avoid flying in F but give myself a treat once in a while in LP and feel that the product is worth it, assuming that the seat isn’t broken as others suggest, and the newer product will only be better.

  4. adam stuart Reply
    March 18, 2025 at 4:43 pm

    Without a doubt – the classiest looking seat in the sky. With the changes at Lufthansa and Swiss, European carriers are catching up with Asia and the Gulf States. Wondering if we ever will see a US carrier introduce a comparable 1st class product on international routes

    • bossa Reply
      March 18, 2025 at 5:01 pm

      Thank you for your comment, please direct your inquiry to AA & their plans for the 777-300. !

    • Interested Traveller Reply
      March 18, 2025 at 8:51 pm

      I think true Intl. First Class is dead among the big three.

      AA had a chance to differentiate itself by keeping Intl. First Class, but they are getting rid of it and weren’t doing anything before that to make it special.

  5. FNT Delta Diamond Reply
    March 18, 2025 at 5:34 pm

    The light-colored seats seem like they will be disaster to clean and remove stains. Red wine spills!

  6. Alexandre Reply
    March 18, 2025 at 5:37 pm

    The French do it better!

    • D3Kingg Reply
      March 18, 2025 at 8:23 pm

      Within the realms of First Class and coffee (which America comes in dead last).

      • Matthew Klint Reply
        March 18, 2025 at 8:36 pm

        The French certainly do first class better (in fact, one might say they do it best), but not coffee. The French have a lot to learn about coffee.

        In fact, Air France still serves powdered cappuccino in first class!

  7. hanchicago Reply
    March 18, 2025 at 5:53 pm

    Thanks for this comprehensive post.

    The new hard product looks quite elegant.

    And I’m sure the soft product remains great (though I cannot say I’m really into French gastronomy myself–oui, oui, I know, my loss).

  8. Christian Reply
    March 18, 2025 at 9:14 pm

    Looks quite nice although you’re right that the seat looks narrow for long haul first class. I wonder how many Flying Blue miles it’ll set me back to fly the new product to Europe.

  9. JK Reply
    March 18, 2025 at 11:34 pm

    It appears the occupant of the business class seat directly behind the first cabin will have their legs/feet in the body of the console next to the first class seat, notice how 1A and 1K are staggered (one closer to the aisle than the other, thus 1A will be even more popular I imagine. Clever from a floorspace efficiency standpoint but I am sure the seat directly next to the window would be preferred?

  10. Duncan Reply
    March 19, 2025 at 1:32 pm

    Love the look of this. AF recently introduced a direct flight from Ottawa (my home base) to CDG, and I’ve had the pleasure of sitting up front a couple of times now, albeit on an older 777-200 variant. Saving up for LP, perhaps to Tokyo via CDG is now a life goal. Appreciate this initial overview and look forward to a future in-depth review!

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 19, 2025 at 1:36 pm

      I hope we can both fly the new LP!

  11. Gammyjill Reply
    March 19, 2025 at 2:47 pm

    What I don’t understand about these first class seats is what do two people do if traveling together? If you have parent and child (I know, I know…) Are any of the seats duo? Maybe the ones in the middle?

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