Air France's Heathrow Terminal 4 lounge is open, with a spa, a La Première room and strict entry rules

News and analysis · Sources checked October 6, 2026.

Air France's new lounge at Heathrow Terminal 4 opened on July 7, 2026, a few months later than the "spring" the airline originally floated, and it has now been running for three months. The lounge is roughly 750 square metres with around 150 seats, open daily from 05:00 to 22:00, and it replaces the arrangement under which Air France sent its premium passengers to the Plaza Premium contract lounge. Air France describes it as the first lounge of its own at Heathrow in 17 years; CAPA and One Mile at a Time reported the opening the same week.

What is inside

The space is the former Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge on level 3 near gate 6, sharing a corridor with the Gulf Air lounge. Air France gutted it. The result is a long room with floor-to-ceiling windows over the apron, a staffed bar pouring Laurent-Perrier and mixing cocktails in the evening, a dining area of about 60 seats with a rotating hot and cold buffet, work pods, a quiet zone for naps, two showers and a Clarins treatment room.

The Clarins room is the headline amenity. From July 13, eligible guests have been able to get one complimentary treatment, chosen from a short menu of three, on weekdays only and on a first-come basis. La Première passengers can reserve in advance; everyone else queues. Head for Points put the treatments at about 15 minutes, so think of it as a pleasant extra rather than a reason to arrive two hours early.

There are also two small roped-off areas that most visitors will never see: a five-seat La Première section with à la carte service, and a four-chair enclave for Flying Blue Ultimate members. Air France flies up to six daily Heathrow to Paris CDG rotations in summer, and the La Première section exists for the handful of passengers connecting onto a long-haul first class flight at CDG. It is a statement, not a volume facility.

Who actually gets in

This is where the lounge is more restrictive than a casual reader might assume, and it is worth being precise.

• Air France La Première and Business passengers on Standard or Flex fares.
• Flying Blue Elite Plus members (Gold, Platinum and Ultimate) flying Air France or KLM.
• KLM business class passengers.
• Business Light fares are excluded. If you bought the cheapest business ticket, you are in the same position as an economy passenger, and the Plaza Premium Lounge is the practical alternative if you hold a card that gets you in.
• Other SkyTeam carriers' premium passengers and SkyTeam Elite Plus members flying, say, Korean Air or Saudia from Terminal 4 are not admitted. Air France has described the lounge as being for Air France, KLM and "eligible" SkyTeam customers, but in practice the eligible set is Flying Blue elites on Air France or KLM metal. See our Air France Lounge page for the current rules.

There is no paid entry and no Priority Pass or card access.

How it compares at Terminal 4

Terminal 4 has quietly become one of Heathrow's better lounge terminals, and Air France's lounge arrives into real competition rather than a vacuum.

• The Qatar Airways Premium Lounge is still the best room in the building, with a formal dining area and a proper bar, but it is only for Qatar's own premium passengers and top-tier Privilege Club members.
• The Plaza Premium Lounge (T4), opened in October 2024, is the only option for Priority Pass, DragonPass and LoungeKey holders. It is good for a contract lounge and has four showers.
• The Saudia Lounge took over the upper floor of the old SkyTeam Lounge in 2025 and serves Saudia's own passengers.
• The Gulf Air Falcon Gold Lounge next door is small but well run, and Etihad's lounge was closed for renovation at the start of September.

Against that field, Air France sits second to Qatar on food and service, and first on the thing it chose to compete on: the bar.

Our take

The lounge is a real upgrade for the people it was built for, and a clear signal that Air France wants its Heathrow product to stand next to British Airways rather than behind it. The criticism is the same one we make of most new European business lounges: the exclusions are doing too much of the work. Business Light customers paid for a business class seat and get no lounge at all; a Korean Air Morning Calm Premium member flying from Terminal 4 cannot use their alliance partner's flagship London lounge. SkyTeam let its own Terminal 4 lounge lapse in 2020 and never replaced it, so the alliance's Heathrow coverage is now a patchwork of Plaza Premium contracts with one beautiful Air France exception. If you fly Air France or KLM in business on a proper fare, go early and enjoy it. If you fly anyone else in SkyTeam, Terminal 4 still has nothing that feels like yours.