Which airlines still sell first class from the US

As of November 2026, the first class suites on long flights from the US belong, on the pages we read, to foreign airlines and to one US airline that is changing its own. American announced on September 2, 2026, that Flagship First “will no longer be available for purchase on Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for travel beginning Nov. 19.”^{Source 1} In our experience, American sells the new Flagship Suite as first class in its place.

This guide sets out, airline by airline, the first class cabin, its aircraft and the US airports that the airline’s own pages name for it, read in November 2026. Where a page names no airport, we name none. The guide covers international first class, the cabin above business, and leaves aside the cabin sold as first on flights within the US.

Where first class stands from the US

The table sets each airline’s first class beside what its own pages say about the US. Six airlines name US airports for the cabin. Three describe the cabin and name no US airport for it. American gives the day it stops selling Flagship First, and its Flagship Suite takes its place.

From the airlines’ own cabin pages, route pages and newsrooms, checked November 2026:^{Source 2Source 3Source 4Source 5Source 6Source 7Source 8Source 9Source 10Source 11Source 12Source 13Source 14Source 15Source 16Source 1} “None named” means the pages we read name no US airport for that cabin, not that no US flight has it. American’s Flagship Suite is in the table because, in our experience, American sells it as first class. Cabins vary by aircraft and route. Ask us which aircraft and seat your flight has.

Delta and Singapore Airlines

Delta calls Delta One “our most premium travel experience”^{Source 17} and is not in the table; neither is Singapore Airlines. Singapore says of its Suites: “Available on our Airbus A380 aircraft.” Its list of Suites flights names no US city.^{Source 18}

Any other airline missing from this guide is one whose pages did not let us confirm a first class cabin on a US route.

American: the end of Flagship First

American’s release of September 2, 2026, is headlined “Flagship Suite seats are the new first,” and it sets two dates. Flagship First “will no longer be available for purchase on Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for travel beginning Nov. 19.” The next sentence, with more Airbus A321XLR aircraft entering American’s fleet, adds that it “will no longer be available for purchase on transcontinental routes for travel beginning March 28, 2027.”^{Source 1} The second date is for flights across the US, which this guide leaves aside.

What American’s own page still says

American’s Flagship First page, as we read it in November 2026, still describes the cabin on international flights between the US and Asia, Australia, Europe and South America. It says Flagship First “is only available on Boeing 777-300 aircraft,” and that the seat is always a Flagship Suite seat, fully lie-flat, with aisle access. The page does not mention November 19.^{Source 19}

In the release’s words, the 777-300ER “operates on the airline’s most popular long-haul routes to London; Tokyo; Sao Paulo; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Sydney.”^{Source 1} The one US airport it names is New York JFK, for the retrofitted aircraft’s first commercial flight, to Buenos Aires on September 2.^{Source 1}

One name, two seats

American uses the name Flagship Suite twice. Its Flagship First page gives it to the first class seat that is ending.^{Source 19} The release gives it to the new seats that take its place: the retrofitted 777-300ER has “70 Flagship Suite® seats with privacy doors,” and the headline calls them “the new first.”^{Source 1}

In our experience, American sells the new Flagship Suite as first class. Our view: on an American flight after November 19, ask for the Flagship Suite by name and confirm the aircraft that flies your date.

Emirates: the A380 from three US airports

Emirates sells First Class on two aircraft: “Fly First Class on our A380 or Boeing 777 and arrive inspired.” On the A380, “Close the privacy doors and you are in a world of your own.” For the 777, the page reads: “Introducing the fully enclosed First Class Suite.”^{Source 2}

Which aircraft flies from which US city is on Emirates’ route pages. As of November 2026 they show the Airbus A380 from New York JFK, Los Angeles and San Francisco to Dubai.^{Source 3Source 4Source 5} The Los Angeles page reads: “Operated by EK, Total flight duration 16 Hours, aircraft type Airbus 380.”^{Source 4}

The 777 cities

Emirates’ Boston and Chicago pages show the Boeing 777. Those pages list the cabins in general terms, “Economy Class, Premium Economy, Business Class or First Class,” and do not say whether the 777 on each flight has First.^{Source 20Source 21} This guide leaves them out of its list until a booking shows First on the date.

On the ground

Emirates’ chauffeur-drive terms cover “confirmed reservations in First Class, and in Business Class with a Saver, Flex or Flex Plus fare.”^{Source 22} For First, the terms name no fare; for Business, they name three.

Air France La Première: four suites and a curtain

Air France La Première is a small cabin on some of its Boeing 777-300ERs: “Four suites are gradually being installed on a selection of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.”^{Source 6} Its press kit says the first of these aircraft flew to New York JFK in spring 2025, and that the suites are “also available on flights to Los Angeles, Miami and Singapore.” In 2026, the kit adds, they are gradually being rolled out to Abidjan, Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo-Haneda.^{Source 6}

The kit gives the year for Boston and San Francisco, not a date. The table lists both as rolling out in 2026; on those two routes, confirm that La Première is sold on your date before you plan around it. Every La Première route in the kit runs from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, so a traveler from the US flies it to Paris.^{Source 6}

A curtain, not a door

Where Emirates, Japan Airlines, SWISS, Lufthansa and ANA describe a door, Air France describes a curtain: “Each suite is enclosed by a thick floor-to-ceiling curtain.”^{Source 6Source 2Source 7Source 10Source 23Source 16}

On the ground, in Paris and in the US

The kit describes a chauffeur in France. “A Hertz DriveU private chauffeur service is available to them, both to and from the airport,” with a footnote that names Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Nantes among its cities, all in France.^{Source 6} The kit does not describe that service in the US.

At Paris-Charles de Gaulle, a La Première traveler is driven to the aircraft: “These ground transfers take place on the tarmac, in a Porsche Cayenne hybrid vehicle operating in electric mode.”^{Source 6}

In the US, Air France says it is “progressively rolling out dedicated La Première areas in its lounges, notably at New York-JFK, Los Angeles, Washington-Dulles and San Francisco.”^{Source 6} Washington-Dulles is on that list of lounges, not on the kit’s list of suite routes.

Japan Airlines and SWISS: a door on every suite

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines fitted its Airbus A350-1000 with a First Class of six suites: “The new seating arrangement features just six (6) suites to create a unique and exclusive cabin environment.” The release gives the seat type as “Enclosed Private Suite with Door.”^{Source 7}

JAL’s A350-1000 page lists the aircraft between Tokyo Haneda and New York JFK, Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles, each daily, as well as London and Paris. It gives no dates for the three US routes.^{Source 8}

JAL’s schedule page for its US routes is dated June 18, 2026. It shows the A350-1000 on the New York, Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles flights in two blocks, the winter of 2025-26 and the summer of 2026, and the later block ends on October 24, 2026.^{Source 9} For a flight after that day, confirm the aircraft on your date.

SWISS

SWISS flew its first full SWISS Senses flight, on its new Airbus A350, from Zurich to Boston on November 20, 2025. Its First Class, in the release’s words: “The new First Class cabin offers three suites providing maximum privacy and comfort. Each suite has its own door and wardrobe, along with a spacious table.”^{Source 10}

The release says travelers between Zurich and Boston get the new cabins “in all seating classes.” It names no other US city for the A350.^{Source 10}

Cathay Pacific and Air India: some flights only

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific brought First Class back to New York in 2024: “First class services between the two cities recently resumed on March 31, 2024 aboard one of the airline’s signature long-haul aircraft, the Boeing 777-300ER.”^{Source 11} In a release of June 2024, Cathay said: “Today, Cathay Pacific operates three flights per day from JFK Terminal 8 to Hong Kong using Airbus A350 and Boeing 777 widebody aircraft.”^{Source 24}

Cathay’s New York to Hong Kong page lists “First class” among the cabins on the route, with the note “Cabin class availability is subject to aircraft configuration.”^{Source 25} None of these pages says which JFK flights carry First. Ask which one does before you choose a time.

Air India

Air India’s page of nonstop flights to the US lists its Boeing 777-300ER from Mumbai to New York JFK on AI119, daily, and to Newark on AI191, 3 times a week, both with First marked. Its Airbus A350 has no First cabin in the same table.^{Source 12}

The page carries no date of its own, and one of its notes reads “starting Nov 1, 2024.”^{Source 12} We list both airports on its word, and the table says the page is undated. Confirm the flight and the cabin on your date.

Lufthansa, British Airways and ANA: the cabin, not the cities

Three airlines describe a first class cabin on their own pages without naming the US airports that have it. We name none for them.

Lufthansa

Lufthansa’s new First Class has “separate cabins, with ceiling-high walls and a lockable door, large table and wide seat,” and a double “Suite Plus” with two wide seats that can become a double bed.^{Source 23}

Lufthansa’s booking page for travel agents says the new First Class is “Available exclusively on the A350 operating to and from Munich.”^{Source 13} Its list of Allegris routes from Munich to North America covers the new cabins as a whole, not First alone, and adds that “different Airbus A350s, that are not yet equipped with Lufthansa Allegris, will also be used” on two of them.^{Source 13} No Lufthansa page we could read lists the US routes with First today.

British Airways

British Airways’ fleet pages list a First cabin on its Airbus A380 and its Boeing 777-300. Of the 777-300, BA says: “We operate these on routes to Asia and North America.”^{Source 14Source 15}

On October 5, 2026, BA revealed a refitted A380 with “12 seats in First,” in an all-new First suite, and said: “The first completed A380 is expected to enter service in the coming months.”^{Source 26} Its A380 fleet page agrees: “The first redesigned aircraft will take to the skies on selected routes in the coming months.”^{Source 14}

BA’s First page describes a First lounge in the US: “Located at New York JFK airport, Terminal 8, this elegant lounge is exclusively for customers in First on British Airways and American Airlines flights.” The same page notes that “a few of the cabin design elements may vary by aircraft.”^{Source 27} None of BA’s pages we read lists the US cities whose flights carry First.

ANA

ANA’s First Class on its Boeing 777-300ER is “An exclusive space with only 8 seats,” and “Each seat features its own door.”^{Source 16} The ANA pages we read do not name the US airports that get this aircraft.

How to ask for first class

Across this guide, the cabin comes with the aircraft. Emirates names three US cities for its A380,^{Source 3Source 4Source 5} Air France is fitting La Première to a selection of its Boeing 777-300ERs,^{Source 6} and Lufthansa’s new First Class flies only on the A350 to and from Munich.^{Source 13}

Our view: before you book first class, ask for three things in writing: the aircraft on your date, the flight number, and the name of the cabin as the airline sells it. If the schedule changes after you book, ask again.

Ask for First when you call us, or choose First as the cabin on a destination page’s quote card. Read how booking with us works, or start from a destination: Dubai, Paris, Tokyo, Zurich, London or Mumbai.