Champagne, caviar and star chefs! Air France pulled out all the stops, in a private mansion in Paris' Place Vendôme, for the presentation on Tuesday, March 18, of its new first class, also known as "La Première." Benjamin Smith, Air France-KLM's director general, personally unveiled the new seat for the airline's future privileged passengers.

The boss is playing for big bucks. When he took over as CEO of the Franco-Dutch carrier in the summer of 2018, he focused the company's turnaround on moving upmarket, particularly with business customers. Unfortunately, when the Covid-19 pandemic began, this business clientele stopped flying. Since the end of the health crisis, business customers have still not returned to their pre-pandemic levels. But Air France has pursued t. The new first class is, according to Smith, "the crowning achievement of a strategy begun five years ago."

Before redesigning the front class of its aircraft, Air France decided to "renew its fleet," said the director general, acquiring the new A220 small jets and A350 long-haul aircraft from Airbus. "This costs a lot of money!" he said. In total, Air France has invested "€1 billion a year" to rejuvenate its aircraft, and has decided to devote "more than €1 billion a year for five years to continuing to move upmarket," he added. This includes investments in the famous airport lounges. It is an essential step for the airline if wants to remain competitive alongside British Airways and Lufthansa, its European rivals.

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