A week ago, the French airline announced the opening of its renovated lounge at Montreal-Trudeau, and now it’s the turn of the long-awaited single lounge in terminal 2F to open its doors at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle.

A delayed delivery

When the new lounge was announced almost 5 years ago at a session of the Air France Lead Customer Club, it was scheduled to open in mid-2020.

We discussed a number of different concepts, inspired by our experience of competing lounges: service at the table, like Lufthansa’s First lounges, or a zone dedicated to Business passengers, like Singapore Airlines or Turkish Airlines – ideas abounded!

The arrival of this lounge was then delayed until late 2020, due to COVID and the usual construction delays, before finally opening on a key date: July 14, 2021.

However, two hours before the official inauguration, to which many customers, journalists and employees had been invited, the final decision was made: the finishing touches had not been completed, and the inauguration was cancelled.

The lounge will therefore open discreetly on August 19, 2021, without an official inauguration.

A much-needed lounge

Prior to the opening of this unique new lounge, Air France operated two lounges, one in each boarding peninsula of terminal 2F.

This historic distribution is due to the fact that terminal 2F was originally a mixed Schengen/non-Schengen terminal, with peninsula 2F1 dedicated to Schengen flights and peninsula 2F2 to non-Schengen flights. At the time, the airline also operated in Terminals 2A, B, C and D. But since the opening of Terminal 2E, and the concentration of operations by the French airline (and its partners) in Terminals 2E, 2F and 2G, terminal 2F has gone Full-Schengenand both peninsulas operate in the same way. But the lounges remained.

However, they are not completely untouched, as renovations to the decor and furnishings have been carried out over the years. Nevertheless, the whole thing looks tired.

It’s worth noting that there is no kitchen, preventing Air France from serving hot meals

It should also be noted that Air France did not serve champagne in these two lounges on a self-service basis, but only on trays during the evening aperitif at around 6pm. No apparent reason for this, since all his other lounges on the platform (2E-K, 2E-L, 2E-M and 2G) serve them all day long.

A central location, but further from the gates

Even though they were beginning to look dated, these lounges had one great advantage: right in the heart of the boarding peninsulas, they were in the immediate vicinity of the gates, with a journey time of less than 5 minutes to the furthest ones.

The new lounge, located just beyond the main screening station, is easily accessible from the terminal entrances, but further from the gates, involving a 7-10 minute walk to the boarding gate.

Contemporary design

Farewell to nineties-style design with light-colored wood on the wall, and hello to bay windows, luminosity and the contrast of contemporary design.

Air France commissioned Jouin Manku to design the new lounge, which now spans two floors:

• The first floor is dedicated to short waits and work, and just past the baggage check-in area, offers a magnificent view of the tarmac, bathed in light during the day and reflecting the softness of the night in the evening. Ultimate customers benefit from a dedicated area, of much higher quality than the cords installed in the old lounges, and following the example of the renovated lounge in terminal 2E-L ;

• A second floor is dedicated to rest and relaxation, for longer waits. A Clarins corner is available for quick treatments.

Enhanced catering

Let’s be honest: the food and beverage offer is always pretty good in Air France lounges.

Nevertheless, the airline is making a major effort to bring its offer up to the level of its lounges in Terminal 2E. Although a variety of cloche dishes are not currently on offer, a unique hot dish of the day will complement the existing cold buffets.

Champagne will also be available on a self-service basis.

Bottom line: We’ve got to try it!

To try it is to adopt it: we can’t wait to try out this new lounge on our next visit to Terminal 2F!

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