Air France will open its largest lounge outside France at JFK's New Terminal One
Air France plans to move all its JFK flights to the New Terminal One next year. The new lounge covers more than 2,700 square meters on two levels, with over 400 seats and a separate area for La Première.
Air France will move every one of its New York-JFK flights to the New Terminal One starting next year. With the move comes a lounge of more than 2,700 square meters (about 29,000 square feet), which the airline says will be the largest in its international network, according to Air France's Sept. 15 announcement.
What's planned#
Air France teams and the MARKS Brandimage agency are designing the lounge, the same pairing behind the airline's redesigned La Première lounge in Paris and its new Frankfurt lounge. It will span two floors and seat more than 400 people. Air France says there will be:
- dining areas built around French food
- a bar with a selection of French wines and Champagnes
- spaces for beauty treatments, rest and work
- a private area for Flying Blue Ultimate members
- a separate La Première area with a menu by a well-known French chef, who hasn't been named yet
For La Première passengers, Air France says the lounge is one part of a single escorted journey from the terminal door to the aircraft, the same approach it uses at Charles de Gaulle.
Who gets in#
The lounge is for La Première passengers, Business passengers (except Business Light fares), Flying Blue Elite Plus members, and eligible KLM and SkyTeam travelers. Flying Blue Elite Plus covers the Gold, Platinum and Ultimate tiers. Air France hasn't given an opening date beyond "next year."
What happens to the current lounge#
Air France currently uses the Air France Lounge in Terminal 1, airside near gate 1 on level 3. It seats about 150 and has two showers and a Clarins treatment area open from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. On Air France's own site, hours run from noon to midnight on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and from 7 a.m. to midnight on the other days. Our users rate it 4.1 overall.
Our directory shows Priority Pass access there, and Air France also sells entry outright, with a 25% discount for Flying Blue Silver members. Business passengers get no guest allowance; Flying Blue Gold and Platinum and SkyTeam Elite Plus members can bring one guest on a same-day SkyTeam flight. The release doesn't say whether paid entry or Priority Pass will carry over to the new lounge, so watch for that.
Business Light is Air France's cheapest business fare. The release footnotes it as the one Business fare that does not include the lounge, so check your fare type before planning around a visit.
The flights#
Air France runs up to 11 daily flights between Paris and New York in summer, split between JFK and Newark. Up to six of those go to JFK, and four of them use Boeing 777-300ERs with the new La Première cabin. Delta, its joint-venture partner, adds three more JFK flights. Air France also flies up to two daily flights to Newark.
The Delta-operated flights leave from Terminal 4, not Terminal 1, so an Air France Business ticket on one of those departures uses Delta's lounges instead. Delta's Delta One Lounge there admits select partner premium-cabin passengers, including Air France, according to Delta's lounge page. Our directory lists it with eight showers and a terrace.
Delta's clubs at Terminal 4#
Flying Blue Elite Plus members on a Delta-operated joint-venture flight can also use Delta's Sky Clubs in Terminal 4 through SkyTeam lounge access. Our directory lists the Concourse A club with two showers and the B31 club with six. Both rate above 4.5 with our users.
About the terminal#
The New Terminal One is part of a Port Authority program the PR Newswire version of the release values at $19 billion. The terminal is being built by a consortium led by Ferrovial, JLC Infrastructure, Ullico and Carlyle, and it says it is aiming for a top-five Skytrax ranking. Air France notes it has flown to New York for 80 years as of 2026.
My take#
The New Terminal One replaces the current Terminal 1, where Air France has been one of the main tenants. Moving all flights into one new terminal should end the Terminal 1 and Terminal 4 split for the airline's own aircraft, although Delta's joint-venture flights will stay in Terminal 4.
Air France won't be alone in the new terminal. Qatar Airways said in 2025 that it would also move to the New Terminal One and open its first U.S. lounge there.
At more than 400 seats, the JFK lounge will also be far bigger than today's 150-seat Terminal 1 lounge. That matters in summer, when up to six daily JFK departures share one lounge.
For a sense of what the French carrier builds when it starts fresh, the Frankfurt lounge opened on Sept. 1 in a terminal that itself opened in April. The JFK project is more than five times that size. We'll update this story when Air France confirms an opening date. See our Air France page for the airline's other lounges.
Related reading#
Cite this article
Patrick Karsh. “Air France will open its largest lounge outside France at JFK's New Terminal One.” Lounge Frog. Published 2026-10-06. Updated 2026-10-14. https://www.loungefrog.com/news/air-france-jfk-new-terminal-one-lounge
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