Air France Seeks Approval To Build a New Lounge at LAX

Air France, the flag carrier of France, is potentially adding a new lounge at Los Angeles International Airport, as first noted by Thrifty Traveler. The new lounge would become a major lounge for the SkyTeam alliance operation at LAX and would serve a variety of passengers departing on Air France and other partners throughout the day.

New Lounge

This lounge would be located in the stunning Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) at LAX, which is where most international airlines depart from. Once approved, the lounge is slated for about a year of construction, so you wouldn’t be able to access it anytime soon.

This new Air France Lounge would be about 11,500 square feet, with room to grow should the airline find it necessary. While Air France would be the one operating the lounge, it operates a joint partnership with Netherlands’ flag carrier KLM, so it would not be surprising to see some joint branding.

Air France currently serves Papeete (PPT) and Paris (CDG) from Los Angeles, and there’s, of course, a variety of other SkyTeam services with other routes as well.

How To Gain Access

In general, you can likely expect access to this lounge if you meet one of the following qualifications:

• Are an elite customer with one SkyTeam flying on another
• Are an Air France-KLM Flying Blue elite flying in any class of service on Air France or KLM
• Traveling in business class or first class on Air France or KLM

Of course, there could be other access permissions as well, and Thrifty Traveler noted that Air France wishes to partner with a financial institution for access, too, which could mean the lounge will be open to Priority Pass customers in the future. While many of Air France’s other lounges participate, there can be limited hours of access expected, especially since Los Angeles has very limited Priority Pass options as it is.

Other SkyTeam Lounges at LAX

Currently, the only other SkyTeam lounge in this terminal is the Korean Air KAL Lounge, which operates on reduced hours and offers slim amenities and services.

While Delta offers joint venture flights with Air France, the airline operates out of another terminal, and there is already a fairly new Sky Club there with great amenities (with a Delta One lounge opening in 2024), so there may be limited reason to trek over to Tom Bradley to the Air France Lounge unless it ends up being that stunning.

Final Thoughts

Thanks to public records at LAX Airport, it appears Air France is planning on opening up its own lounge there in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Once opened, it will provide a great place to relax prior to flights for SkyTeam and elite passengers and offer another alternative to the nearby Korean Air KAL Lounge.