Ooh la la: Air France shares details of its upcoming La Premiere first-class revamp
Prepare to say bonjour to Air France's upcoming first-class offering, as the airline teases details on an overhaul of its already characteristically chic La Premiere suites.
The airline is scheduled to roll out the La Premiere suites between winter 2023 and spring 2024 on existing flights as well as new ones. Air France claims the larger revamped suites will be "the longest on the market."
Related: As good as it gets: A review of Air France La Premiere (777-300ER) from Paris to Beijing
According to the French carrier, the complete redesign of the current suites will include a seat, a sofa and a fully flat bed in a space bigger than the current almost 8-foot length.
Indeed, eschewing the single-berth format that makes up most first-class cabins, Air France's seat-and-bed combination would put the airline on par with some of the giants of luxury long-haul travel, including Etihad, Singapore and Qantas.
Images of the finished product aren't available quite yet, but from the details that have been shared, it seems like the update could be a great win for the airline; Air France also recently debuted a rather elegant long-haul business-class seat complete with sliding door.
In addition to top-rate onboard amenities, travelers booked into La Premiere can also make use of a chauffeur service, a concierge to look after baggage check-in, access to the Air France La Premiere lounge and a limousine shuttle to the plane on departure.
Related: Nordic flair and gourmet fare: Finnair A350-900 business class
Despite losing half its seat capacity when the French carrier put its Airbus A380 to pasture in 2020, the carrier has bounced back terrifically with a renewed determination to become one of the go-to airlines for luxury travel.
The current La Premiere cabin, which is available on 19 of its Boeing 777s, consists of four seats capable of converting into a fully flat bed that measures over 6 1/2 feet long. The revamped model will be featured on all existing planes as well as some of the carrier's inbound Airbus A350 fleet.
"La Première represents the highest level of French excellence and is an intrinsic part of Air France's DNA," Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM, said of the redesign. "Even at the height of the Covid crisis, we could see the attractiveness of such an offer for our customers, particularly on the North Atlantic route, where load factors in the La Première cabin are currently higher than they were back in 2019."
Imagine taking off from Paris surrounded by this sort of elegance come 2023. If that's too long to wait, you can enjoy Air France's new business-class seats when they come to the skies in September.
Ooh la la — it's shaping up to be a big year.
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