Air France Boosts Network Close To 200 Destinations As It Nears 2019 Capacity

​​​​​Air France is set to serve up to 196 destinations on five continents during the peak summer season. The carrier has increased capacity to 90% of pre-pandemic levels and even surpassed its 2019 activity on North America, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean routes.

The French flag carrier is boosting capacity on its long-haul network and has relaunched several routes in recent weeks. Flights to Dallas-Fort Worth resumed in March from the airline's hub at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), and service to Québec City (YQB) begins next month.

Upcoming shuttle service with Delta to New York

The Skyteam alliance carrier will operate close to 200 weekly flights to 14 destinations in the United States this summer, making it the airline's leading long-haul destination. The airline resumed service from Paris-Orly to New York (JFK) on March 27th. The route had been suspended since the beginning of the crisis, with the carrier consolidating its New York service to Paris' Charles de Gaulle.

The airline is also launching a "shuttle" service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and New York City (JFK) in conjunction with Skyteam partner Delta Air Lines. The carriers will commence eight daily flights in early June, with six being carried out by Air France and the remaining two by Delta.

Passengers between the two cities will see regular departures every one to two hours during the day out of Paris Charles-de-Gaulle. Those departing from New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport will benefit from almost hourly service from the late afternoon onwards.

In addition to the five-weekly service to Dallas, the airline has also resumed its service to Denver, Colorado. The flights will be operated three times a week onboard the carrier's 280-seat Boeing 777-200ER and are positioned to transition to a Boeing 787-9 in the future.

Long-haul network exceeding 2019 capacity in several markets

Air France has also positioned itself as the leading European airline to service Canada, with a 25% increase in capacity compared to pre-crisis levels. In May, the airline will also launch a non-stop route between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Quebec City. The city pair is currently served by Air Transat onboard an Airbus A321neo, making Air France the only widebody carrier on the route.

Air France will also return to its pre-crisis activity levels in Africa over the summer season. The carrier will be offering two daily flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), as well as extending its seasonal services to both Zanzibar (Tanzania) and Banjul (Gambia).

From Paris-Orly, the airline will launch three daily flights to Algiers (Algeria) and one daily flight to Tunis (Tunisia). Both routes will be in addition to Air France's existing services from Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

New seasonal routes from regional French airports

France is also abolishing domestic flights on routes that can be conducted by train in two and a half hours. Significantly, flights that connect to international destinations are exempt from the ban, which comes into effect this month.

The flag carrier has responded by cutting flights from its secondary hub for domestic and overseas territories flights at Orly International Airport, which also serves the French capital, and redeploying capacity on leisure routes.

The airline will offer 23 seasonal routes from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, three of which are new for the season. Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands is continuing from the winter season. The carrier is also adding the Greek island of Zakynthos (ZTH) and the Albanian capital of Tirana (TIA) to the schedule for the summer.

Passengers from the southern city of Marseille will see new routes launched to both the sunny Greek island of Santorini and the Tunisian capital of Tunis from early July. The carrier is also launching service from Nice Côte d'Azur Airport on the French Riviera to Heraklion (HER) on the Greek island of Crete and London's Heathrow Airport (LHR).

The French island of Corsica, situated in the meditratanian above Sicily and Sardinia is set to by served this year from Bordeaux, Caen, Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris Orly, Pau, Rennes and Strasbourg.