Air France Offers Early Star Wars Screening to Lure U.S. Passengers

Air France is offering U.S. Star Wars fans a unique flight-and-film package to see the Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in a special screening on December 16, two days before its official US release.

Air France has set up a dedicated microsite where Star Wars fans can take advantage of the limited bookings available before December 10.

The film will be shown in two screenings at Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp Cinemas multiplex, located in Roissy, near Paris-Charles Airport. The custom-designed cinema features a 59-foot wide screen with 4K Dual projection and a high 3D technology, developed by Dolby, with surround sound. Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be shown in English.

French news BFMTV reports that a total of 720 seats will be available for the two screenings, fitting 300 Economy class passengers and 60 Business and La Première passengers each, flying on select Air France flights which take off on December 15th from San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York, just in time for the show.

Those booking VIP packages can enjoy Air France’s Business and Première cabins on the flight out and will be seated in a special VIP section of the theater, with seats that transform into beds, sweet cinema treats from the house of Pierre Hermé, and salty snacks from Petrossian.

The ‘Flight and Cinema’ promotion was the brain child of the directors of Europacorp d’Aeroville, who suggested it to Air France as a way to promote both the theatre and the airline. The film package part of the promotion is financed by Europacorp d’Aeroville.

Air France has needed a bit of the force to fight the dark side of recent labor incidents which culminated in attacks on its management. The airline produced a special video shortly after, highlighting the force of its loyal employees, who are proud to be part of the company. But recent strong earnings reports risk that bad feelings could be stirred up again, something the airline’s CFO, Pierre Riolacci, addresses by saying that Air France “is getting better, but it’s not doing well.”