A Surprising New First Class, Increased Flights to Europe, and Other Airline News You Might’ve Missed

They say life is full of surprises, and nowhere is that truer than in the world of aviation.

This week, we learned of a new first class coming to a lesser-known African airline, a new flag carrier in South America, a sleek-looking premium economy coming to LATAM Airlines, and more.

An African Airline Reveals a Surprise First-Class Cabin

First class first: Air Côte d’Ivoire, the flag carrier of the West African nation of Côte d’Ivoire, has ambitious plans to launch a new first-class product.

The airline is slated to take delivery of 2 shiny new Airbus A330-900neos later this month. In addition to a large business class, a TikTok video showing the inside of the new planes for the first time shows 4 first-class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration.

There’s a partition between the first class and business class seats, so Air Côte d’Ivoire has opted for a true first class. Some airlines, like you find with Virgin Atlantic‘s Retreat Suite on its Airbus A330-900neos, offer a more “business class plus” experience instead.

Air Côte d’Ivoire has yet to even launch a long-haul service to Europe. When it does, we’d expect its first route to be Abidjan (ABJ) to Paris (CDG), where it’ll debut its first-class-equipped Airbus A330-900neos.

Icelandair Increases U.S. Flights, Making Europe Easier To Reach

With its network of flights to over 50 destinations in Europe and North America, Icelandair offers convenient 1-stop connections between the 2 continents at a lower price point than flying nonstop.

Filling in the gaps that opened up thanks to low-cost rival PLAY pulling out of several U.S. airports, the Icelandic flag carrier will increase the number of weekly services to select U.S. airports next year.

Baltimore (BWI) will welcome the largest increase in flights from the current 7 weekly services. Between May 11 and August 31, 2026, Icelandair’s frequency will double to 14 per week. During the same period, the carrier will increase service to Denver (DEN) from 12 to 14 weekly.

Boston (BOS) and Portland, Oregon (PDX) will also welcome an additional weekly flight.

Air Transat Adds Nonstop Flights to Brazil

Canadian leisure airline Air Transat is expanding again, growing its international reach with 2 new nonstop services to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (GIG). This will be the first time Air Transat will operate flights to Brazil.

The carrier will launch service from its headquarters in Montréal (YUL) on February 5 and from Toronto (YYZ) on February 4, 2026. Flights will operate 2x weekly from Toronto and 1x weekly from Montréal.

Until the flights launch next year, Air Canada operates the only nonstop flight between Canada and Rio de Janeiro — done on a seasonal basis from Toronto.

The new service will be for the winter season only and will be operated by Air Transat’s fleet of Airbus A330-200 aircraft. These jets feature 12 Club Class seats, which are similar to what you’ll find when flying domestic first class in the U.S.

Air France Introduces New Priority System for CDG Connections

If you’ve ever flown to Europe or Africa from the U.S., there’s a high chance you’ll have taken an Air France flight with a connection at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG). Air France and its partner KLM schedule their flights to provide optimum connection opportunities for passengers.

Sometimes, especially during the morning peak when lines at security and passport control are longer, the time gap between flights can make for a stressful transfer.

In an attempt to reduce the risk of passengers missing their connecting flights, Air France is implementing a new system called the “Short Connection Pass.”

Passengers who qualify can essentially skip the line. They will receive a text and email on arrival at Charles de Gaulle. Then, when scanning their boarding passes at checkpoints, they will be granted priority access.

Uruguay’s New Flag Carrier To Launch Next Year

It’s common for countries to have what is known as a “flag carrier”: the airline that proudly represents its country. In Latin America, Argentina has Aerolineas Argentinas, Brazil and Chile share LATAM, and even Bolivia has Boliviana de Aviacion, for example.

Uruguay has been without its own flag carrier for over a decade since PLUNA ceased operations on July 5, 2012. That’s about to change with the launch of new airline Sociedad Uruguaya de Aviación, or SUA as it will be known for short.

The plan is for SUA to operate flights from Uruguay’s capital city Montevideo (MVD) to cities in South America like Asuncion, Paraguya (AUS), Buenos Aires (AEP), Santiago (SCL), and São Paulo (GRU).

In a public presentation, SUA announced a partnership with Latvian AirBaltic, which will enable the start-up carrier to operate a fleet of Airbus A220-300 — the same planes that make up the entirety of AirBaltic’s fleet.

The estimated launch date for SUA is currently scheduled for 2026.

LATAM Airlines Unveils New Premium Economy Seats

We continue our visit to South America with the news that LATAM will debut a proper premium economy cabin.

Over $100 million in investment will bring a new so-called Premium Comfort cabin to LATAM’s Boeing 787 fleet. At this point, it’s unclear how many seats will be in the cabin. The business class cabins on LATAM’s Boeing 787 jets are also undergoing a significant upgrade to suites with closing doors.

As well as a differentiated meal service, LATAM’s Premium Comfort passengers will enjoy 16-inch entertainment screens, Bluetooth headphone connectivity, and fast-charging USB-C ports.

Specifics regarding the seat pitch, width, and recline are yet to be revealed. However, from the angle shown in the image below, the recline looks very generous.

We can expect to see LATAM’s new premium economy seats and cabins flying for the first time in 2027.

Final Thoughts

This week’s news roundup brings us a host of new dates to add to our AvGeek diaries. From LATAM’s new premium economy and Air Côte d’Ivoire’s first class to the imminent launch of a new airline in South America, there’s a lot to look forward to.

I’ll be making a connection in Charles de Gaulle next month, too, so I could be back with an update soon on how the airline’s new Short Connection Pass works.

Until next time…