Air France has done what no airline managed in eight years: knocked Singapore Airlines off the top spot for first class. At the Skytrax World Airline Awards, held September 18 in London and based on a survey of roughly 24.8 million travellers from over 100 countries, the French flag carrier took the World's Best First Class Airline title thanks to its relaunched La Première suite, which debuted in 2025.
Singapore still had a strong night, winning World's Best Airline overall, with Qatar Airways second, Cathay Pacific third, ANA fourth and Turkish Airlines fifth. But in first class, Air France swept two sub-categories outright: lounge dining and comfort amenities. It ranked third for both its lounges and its seats, and second for onboard catering, behind Lufthansa. The airline also picked up Best Airline in Western Europe for a sixth straight year and climbed to seventh in the overall world rankings.
The lounge dining win centres on the La Première lounge at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, where the menu comes from Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse. Guests can book spa treatments, reserve private suites within the lounge and use enclosed work areas. Entry is free for La Première and flex business fare holders, plus Flying Blue Gold and Platinum members and SkyTeam Elite Plus. Everyone else can pay in from three hours before departure, space permitting, at $105 or 18,000 miles.
The soft product is just as indulgent: private chauffeur transfers to the airport at some stations, dedicated check-in and security lanes, a leather-boxed amenity kit featuring Sisley skincare, and onboard menus paired with wines and champagnes chosen by the airline's own sommelier.
The real headliner is the new suite itself, developed over three years. Each aircraft carries just four La Première suites in a single row at the front of the cabin, each with about 3.5 square metres of space — a 25% jump on the old product. There's an adjustable seat plus a separate chaise lounge that converts into a two-metre-long bed, a floor-to-ceiling curtain for total privacy, and a five-window layout on the end suites that Air France claims is unique. Middle suites share an electric sliding partition, handy for couples travelling together.
The catch: availability. La Première flies only on a handful of Boeing 777-300ERs — around 19 aircraft are slated for the new suites out of a fleet of 43. As of this summer, refitted planes served 13 routes from Paris CDG, seven of them to US cities. Air France is retrofitting more of the fleet, so the odds of booking it should improve.
For travellers, this matters if you've been saving miles or splurging on a milestone trip. First class at this level is rarely discounted, but knowing exactly which routes and aircraft carry the award-winning product is the difference between a once-in-a-lifetime flight and a business-class seat with a first-class price. Watch the 777-300ER rotations from Paris, and expect Singapore Airlines — still second and the world's best airline overall — to fight back.
