Air France launches new first-class suite to lure premium customers

By Joanna Plucinska and Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters) – Air France unveiled a new first-class suite on Tuesday in a bid to lure wealthy travellers from business jets and lend a French touch to the tussle for premium customers.

Investment in pre- and post-flight services are aimed at placing the airline at the top of the European luxury jet league, CEO of parent Air France-KLM, Ben Smith, told Reuters.

The air travel industry, which is scrambling to win high-fare paying customers as it recovers from the pandemic, is split over the value of investing in first-class service, or in business class, which generates the highest returns.

The launch comes weeks after arch rival British Airways launched its own new first-class cabin.

The two airlines rely on the busy market for high-end customers across the Atlantic for much of their income and also serve affluent markets in the Middle East and Asia.

Smith declined to say how much the investment in new first-class seats, with 24% more space, would cost but the airline has insisted first-class travel is profitable.

The renewed first-class service would give passengers a taste of France before arriving, he said.

“A lot of people like to experience France. When they get on the airplane outside France, they want to start their journey from San Jose, Tokyo or Sao Paulo already in France through the environment on the airplane,” he said.

An average one-way Paris-New York first-class flight cost around 10,000 euros ($10,901) in May, according to the Air France website.

($1 = 0.9173 euros)

(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska and Tim Hepher; Editing by Bernadette Baum)