Air France Unveils New First Class Seat – How Does it Compare to Others?

SkyTeam member Air France unveiled its new first class cabin yesterday, giving an update to its decade old, existing La Premiere product. The new suites look incredibly spacious and are equipped with two proper seats, along with two 32 inch, 2K monitors. Instead of sliding doors, seats will be separated from the aisle by (supposedly) sound-proof curtains. We had a look at some of the highlighted features of the hard product and briefly compared them to other First Class cabins we previously reviewed on our site.

Two Seats, Three Screens per Passenger

Air France takes a page out of Singapore Airlines’ playbook by providing passengers with two different seating options. In addition to the regular seat, the new design also introduces a chaise longue, facing the rear of the aircraft. For comparison, in Lufthansa’s and Swiss’ First Class, this space is covered by an ottoman, which serves as both storage space and seating opportunity. Air France’s offering looks significantly more comfortable.

That Air France designed it as a relaxing alternative to the main seat is highlighted by the fact that the airline installed a second 2K screen. You can watch movies or track the flight’s progress, no matter which seat you prefer or which direction you are facing. In addition to the mounted screens on each end of the suite, you can also use a tablet to control them. This technology is neat, but not new. You can also find it in some modern business class seats, for example on Air France’ Airbus A350s.

More Length, Small Bed and Innovative Storage Space

The sheer length of the Air France’ seat is quite impressive – renderings show five windows per passengers. For comparison: Swiss’ First Class covers three windows in the same aircraft (Boeing 777-300ER).

However, the total length of the suite (3.5 meters) does not lead to a longer bed. When fully flat, the bedding measures 2.00 meters in length and 75 cm in width. This can’t measure up to Lufthansa’s bedding in the new Allegris cabin, that is slightly longer (2.10 meters) and significantly wider (90 cm).

The cabin also feels more spacious by getting rid of the overhead bins. Instead, you can store your trolleys inside the fittings of the suite.

The decision to opt for curtains instead of plastic doors has been kept from the airlines’ current first class product. It leads to a less cramped feeling that might occur when sitting behind closed doors.

While Air France’s design choices lead to a product that is ahead of its European and American competition, a look at Asian airlines shows: there is still room for improvement. For example, Singapore Airlines’ suites are still a top-notch product, despite their age.

Deployment and Pricing

In its press release, Air France states that the new design “will progressively be introduced on a selection of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft”. Each plane will receive a single row of four first class seats in a 1-2-1 pattern. The airline plans to serve New York, Los Angeles, Singapore and Tokyo with the new cabin by the end of the 2025 summer schedule.

In addition to that, the old product is currently available on flights to Abidjan, Dubai, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, San Francisco, São Paulo, Singapore, Tokyo-Haneda and Washington DC. All aircraft equipped with first class cabins are stationed at Air France main hub in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.

Air France’ first class is the outstanding premium product in the Western hemisphere. Sadly, discounted tickets for the travel class are basically non-existent. We haven’t had an Air France La Premiere deal on travel-dealz for half a decade, because the airline usually charges five-digit prices for this travel class. Award seats are also infamously hard to come by and are reserved for FlyingBlue Platinum and Ultimate members.

So while it is a decent pastime to marvel at Air France’s new elite seating spaces, most of our readers and authors won’t ever experience them in person.

Cover Picture: Claire-Lise HAVET