France at 35,000 Feet
Air France entrusts its new long-haul menus to six leading French chefs
An airline meal is temporary by definition. It is prepared on the ground, adapted to the demanding conditions of flight and consumed somewhere between departure and arrival. Yet for an international airline, that brief experience can carry an entire national identity.
Beginning October 1, 2026, Air France introduced new menus created by six figures in French gastronomy for passengers traveling on long-haul flights departing Paris. In La Première, chef Arnaud Lallement is responsible for the savory menu, while pastry chef Claire Heitzler contributes desserts. In the Business cabin, Mathieu Viannay creates the principal dishes, François Adamski develops selected breakfasts and brunches, and Nina Métayer continues her collaboration on desserts. Michelin-starred chef Frédéric Simonin has created dishes for the Premium cabin.
The program illustrates how Air France positions gastronomy as a central component of travel rather than a secondary onboard service. Lallement, chef of the three-Michelin-starred L’Assiette Champenoise near Reims, developed more than 30 dishes in collaboration with Servair’s Culinary Studio. His menus draw upon French ingredients and recognizable culinary traditions while accounting for the scientific realities of eating in flight: altitude, lower humidity and cabin pressure can affect the way passengers perceive flavors and aromas.
Heitzler brings a different but complementary sensibility to La Première. Known for her commitment to seasonality and close relationships with producers, she founded Claire Heitzler & Producteurs in Levallois-Perret in 2021. Her participation helps translate the values of contemporary French pâtisserie into the limited and highly controlled setting of an aircraft cabin.
Viannay, chef of the historic Lyon restaurant La Mère Brazier, represents another important dimension of French culinary memory. His work is connected to the traditions of the mères lyonnaises, the formidable women cooks whose restaurants shaped the gastronomic identity of Lyon.
Adamski contributes the perspective of both a Meilleur Ouvrier de France and a Bocuse d’Or winner, while Métayer, recognized internationally for her work in pâtisserie, creates desserts specifically designed to be served in the Business cabin. Simonin brings Michelin-starred cuisine to Premium, widening the airline’s gastronomic presentation beyond its most exclusive cabins.
The distribution matters. French culinary identity is not confined entirely to La Première. It is expressed differently across three levels of service, allowing a broader group of international passengers to encounter it.
Air France has long occupied a special position between transportation company and cultural representative. Its aircraft carry travelers, but its design, uniforms, lounges, tableware, film selections and menus also communicate an idea of France. Each decision becomes part of the country’s international presentation.
This is commercial strategy, certainly. Distinguished chefs strengthen the airline’s premium positioning and provide a visible point of difference in a competitive aviation market. But commerce and cultural expression are not mutually exclusive. French gastronomy has always developed through the work of restaurants, hotels, producers, artisans and private enterprises.
The new menus arrive as Air France prepares to strengthen connections between Paris and international destinations, including Las Vegas. That creates a particularly appropriate cultural narrative: the French experience begins before the traveler reaches France, while the journey from Paris carries elements of French culinary identity outward.
At 35,000 feet, there is no dining room, garden or open market. Yet through ingredients, technique and the reputations of the people behind each dish, Air France is attempting to make the aircraft itself part of the French art of living.
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