Air France is saying bonjour to JFK’s hotly anticipated Terminal One

The French airline is moving from the existing Terminal 1 to the flashy new Terminal One in 2027, with plans to open a new lounge there the same year. It will span more than 2,694 square metres, making it Air France’s largest international lounge.

“New York is one of Air France’s most important and iconic markets, and this year we are especially proud to celebrate 80 years of serving New York,” Nicolas Henin, Air France’s senior vice president, North America, said in a statement. “With our move to Terminal One and the opening of this new lounge, we are taking our premium travel experience to a new level, continuing to invest not only in the flight itself, but providing elegance in every moment of the journey.”

Conceived by the airline’s in-house team in collaboration with design agency MARKS Brandimage, the lounge will span two levels and offer seating for more than 400 guests. It will feature dining areas where travelers can enjoy French cuisine and a bar where they can sip French wines and Champagne. It will also have dedicated areas for beauty treatments, relaxation, and work, plus all the requisite mod cons.

“We want our travelers to experience the best of Air France, with French hospitality, gastronomy, and savoir-faire at the heart of the experience, and this exceptional new lounge will be a true showcase of that ambition,” adds Henin.

The lounge will be open to La Première (First) and Business customers, Flying Blue Elite Plus members, and eligible travellers flying with KLM and SkyTeam partner airlines. Air France says La Première customers, specifically, can expect “a seamless and personalized airport experience” from arrival to departure. They will have access to an exclusive area in the lounge and be served a menu created especially for them by “a renowned French chef,” the airline says. Flying Blue Ultimate members will also have an exclusive space within the lounge

Terminal One—set to be the largest terminal at JFK upon opening, with 23 gates and more than 27,871 square metres of space—is expected to have six lounges total. Four will be run by airlines—including Korean Air, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, and of course, Air France—with two independently operated. Air France will have the largest lounge—not exactly surprising, given it’s the terminal’s largest airline and a key anchor carrier. It operates up to six daily flights to JFK, plus three other flights in partnership with Delta Air Lines.

This story was first published on Robb Report USA. Featured photo by Air France