Air France swept several prestigious honors at the Skytrax World Airline Awards ceremony on September 18, 2026, in London. The La Première cabin, introduced in spring 2025, was named the world’s best First Class—a title Air France achieves for the first time. The airline was also named the best carrier in Western Europe for the sixth consecutive year.
Additional awards recognized the First-Class lounge’s dining offering and the Sisley amenity kit, celebrated as the best First-Class travel accessory. In the global rankings, Air France rose from eighth place the year before to seventh.
The “Oscars of the Aviation Industry”
The Skytrax World Airline Awards are regarded as the “Oscars of the aviation industry” and are presented by the international review agency Skytrax since 1999. The basis is the world’s largest passenger-satisfaction survey of airlines: between September 2025 and August 2026, travelers from more than 100 countries participated, and a total of 24.8 million ratings were incorporated into the evaluation.
“From the very outset of the La Première cabin project, we set a clear goal: to offer the world’s best First Class experience,” explained Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM. It is an “exceptional and entirely new product that is rooted in our tradition and reflects our unique vision of French travel culture.” The development of the suites, which for the first time feature five windows, took three years. “Every detail was carefully considered to provide our customers with an experience worthy of a private jet,” Smith continued. From the moment of arrival at the airport to the final destination, La Première “undoubtedly embodies the highest form of travel.” For the entire teams involved, it is “a source of great pride” that the offering is now recognized by Skytrax. Smith thanked all involved teams as well as the customers who will experience the cabin on additional routes and on more aircraft.
Documentary about La Première
To mark the award, Air France also released a roughly 35-minute documentary about La Première, presented by Benjamin Smith himself. The film offers a behind-the-scenes look at the travel experience: from arrival at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to the private path to the aircraft and boarding the new suite aboard a Boeing 777-300ER. It features not only the specially trained La Première cabin crew but also external partners: Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse, who developed the culinary offerings for the La Première lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle, and Isabelle d’Ornano, founder of the French phytocosmetics brand Sisley.
Direct link | The film
“Air France La Première – 70 Years of Excellence to Become the World’s Best First Class”
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In addition, the documentary looks back at Air France’s archives and traces the development of First Class over 70 years—from the 1940s seating to the service on the Parisien Spécial Super-Constellation in the 1950s and the lounge area of the Boeing 707 to the now-iconic red seats of the Boeing 747. The journey is complemented by uniforms in haute couture style and historic menus and tableware from different decades.
