Air France has chosen Tokyo to unveil its new lounge concept, designed by the talented Noé Duchaufour Lawrance / Desgrippes-Gobé. This lounge, covering over 400 sq. m, with seating capacity for up to 140 passengers, is scheduled to open on 4 July, 2007. In the autumn, the second new Air France lounge will be inaugurated in Johannesburg.

The lounge’s original design reflects Air France’s commitment to offer the best to its customers, while enabling them to enjoy greater autonomy. This lounge has been designed to ensure that every passenger can adapt the space to their own specific needs and desires. The lounge offers customers a range of modern facilities, giving them the possibility to do as they please.

The result is a totally open space, with no dividing panels, created especially for Air France, where passengers spend their time as they please.
Take the seat, for example. “We have taken much more than the simple aspect of comfort into account when designing the seat. Getting the shape just right and ensuring the seat conforms ergonomically to the many uses it will serve were key elements in our design strategy.” explains Noé Duchaufour Lawrance. The enveloping seats have an open structure and are equipped with a PC socket built into the reading lamp, so passengers can work, have a private conversation or enjoy a meal as they please.

A private area to relax, offering a pre-flight interlude, the lounge is a showcase of the wide range of Air France services and attentions reserved for its passengers. As in all the Air France lounges, the Tokyo lounge is equipped with wi-fi, work stations and a private area for customers seeking absolute peace and quiet. Snacks are available, along with a selection of wines, champagnes and soft drinks, a wide choice of international newspapers and magazines, and showers.

Desgrippes-Gobé, the Air France brand image consultant, has opted for a “show/hide” concept: a red carpet becomes a desk, a panel reveals the shadow of cherry blossom; behind a couch, white suddenly becomes red. This suggestion of form is deliberate, leaving imagination unfettered, the choice is the customer’s and theirs alone.

Red and white, combined with warm light oak tones characterize this new Air France lounge. The red carpeting is an invitation into the lounge. Red, the symbol of power, exuberance and passion, conveys sophisticated luxury, never flashy,  while white, evoking purity, conveys the airline’s commitment to the highest standards vis-à-vis its customers.

This new innovative lounge design reflects Air France’s ambition to expand and enrich its brand image. The airline has sought to go beyond conventional designs and the boundaries traditionally assigned to the design discipline in order to express the real Air France identity. By underlining its assertive, bold and highly personalized qualities, Air France will successfully stand out from the competition, reflecting its determination to offer a modern portrayal of the French art of travel.

Combining the diverse aspects of the Air France identity, this lounge opens a new chapter in the history of the Company, whose aim is to convey more coherence in all areas of its activity.
 
Air France lounges

Air France offers its passengers access to 47 private lounges worldwide and over 400 together with SkyTeam partner airlines. On 26 June, Air France inaugurated its largest Business lounge in the new boarding satellite of Paris-Charles de Gaulle. This lounge covering 2,600 sq. m is equipped with a massage area and showers and can seat over 700 customers. 

Air France’s designers through time

Air France is dedicated to creating a brand that stands for elegance, prestige and quality of life, which has forged the reputation of France abroad. This is why the airline called on some of the most prestigious names in the world of design to adapt its ground and in-flight product. Noé Duchaufour Lawrance is the latest reputed designer to join the ranks of Charlotte Perriand, Pierre-Gautier Delaya, Raymond Loewy or Andrée Putman and more recently Eric Guizard. The agency Desgrippes-Gobe, the world’s leading consultancy for image strategy and brand management, has been responsible for the Air France image since 1999.

Noé Duchaufour Lawrance

Designer of the year 2007 for “Interior scenes”, this interior designer recently overhauled the famous Sénequier brasserie in Saint-Tropez and designed the Maya Bar in Monaco. He also designed the panoramic DéliCieux restaurant in 2006, along with the Senderens in 2005 and also received acclaim as artistic director of Sketch, in London.

Furniture designer

Two types of lighting are featured: Noé Duchaufour Lawrance for Baccarat and Noé Duchaufour Lawrance for Kundalini.
The seats and tables are designed by Cassina, and specially created by Noé Duchaufour Lawrance.

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