Johannesburg – Every day, Air France carries up to 140 000 passengers around the world.
To offer them an ever-smoother travel experience, the airline continues to pursue its innovation and digital transformation strategy.
At every stage of the journey — from booking to arrival at destination — new solutions are being deployed to anticipate customer needs.
Air France has recently unveiled five new innovations designed to make every step of the journey more seamless and comfortable for passengers:
A priority service for short connections at Paris-Charles de Gaulle
In August 2025, Air France-KLM and Groupe ADP announced the implementation of a priority system for customers based on how much time they have to make their connection at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.
While Air France’s flight schedule is optimised to ensure smooth connections for both passengers and their baggage, unforeseen circumstances can sometimes reduce the available time for passengers to transfer between flights.
From now on, when the connection time drops below a certain threshold (for example, 45 minutes for a connection between Toulouse and New York-JFK, arriving at Terminal 2F and departing from Terminal 2E Hall K), a priority process is automatically triggered for the relevant customers, without them having to make any request.
Specifically:
- Upon arrival of their inbound flight at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport — if not before — customers receive an SMS and an email informing them that, due to the short time available to reach the boarding gate of their next flight, they are eligible for priority access at security checks and border control. This message will soon also be sent via a notification in the Air France mobile app and a WhatsApp message.
- When customers arrive at security checks and border control, their boarding passes are scanned and Groupe ADP’s customer service staff are automatically notified of the short connection. They then offer priority access.
The goal is to minimise processing time and enable customers to reach their boarding gate within the allotted time.
Called the “Short Connection Pass”, this initiative is the first concrete outcome of the Connect France partnership announced by Air France-KLM and Groupe ADP in June 2025.
Easier connections thanks to WhatsApp notifications
Since February 2025, Air France has been offering step-by-step assistance via WhatsApp for certain connections at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol airports.
To take advantage of it, customers must have opted in to receive WhatsApp notifications when checking in.
Upon landing, they receive a message containing a link to a personalised page with key information such as:
- The boarding gate for their connecting flight
- Estimated transfer time
- Walking time
- Steps to follow in the airport
This feature is currently in testing, and each month nearly 2,000 connecting passengers benefit from the service.
Dedicated assistance for passengers with reduced mobility travelling in wheelchairs
Air France has long been committed to making travel accessible to all.
The airline offers dedicated services for passengers with reduced mobility, including its signature SAPHIR service, which assists them in preparing and booking their trip.
In 2024, more than 690 000 passengers with disabilities travelled with Air France.
For the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the airline launched a new process enabling passengers travelling in wheelchairs to remain with theirs for as long as possible.
Since March 2025, customers using a manual wheelchair can keep it until boarding and retrieve it immediately upon disembarking, giving them more independence and comfort.
The airline plans to extend this offer to electric wheelchairs by the end of the year.
A specific tag also allows customers to indicate to airline staff the wheelchair’s lifting points, so that it can be handled with the utmost care.
A new tool for online document submission
Instead of manually entering passport details during online check-in, customers can now simply scan their passport or ID card using their smartphone camera.
The information is then automatically read and added to the booking. Since the launch of this feature in March 2025, more than 3 million documents have been processed.
Customers can now also save these documents directly to their profile, avoiding the need to re-enter them for future trips.
This process saves valuable time and reduces the risk of errors.
Real-time flight tracking on iOS
Since December 2024, iOS users have enjoyed a new feature that displays all flight information directly on the lock screen of their iPhone or on their Apple Watch, starting four hours before departure.
Key information such as the boarding gate, departure time, and a countdown to arrival is visible continuously, without opening or refreshing the app.
Even without an onboard internet connection, this information remains available until one hour after arrival.
Every day, between 70 000 and 90 000 passengers use this new feature.
For more information or to book your ticket, visit www.airfrance.co.za.
