Airlines are fast preparing for the reopening of US borders on 8 November, with Air France planning to operate up to 122 weekly flights to 11 destinations in the US.
Air France is breathing a sigh of relief, with the airline noting a significant increase in bookings at Air France, particularly on routes to New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, for travel in November and over the Christmas holiday period.
To support the resumption of traffic on transatlantic routes, Air France will gradually increase its capacity during the winter season. Between now and the end of March 2022, the company plans to return to a capacity corresponding to around 90% of that of 2019, compared to 50% in summer 2021.
Certain destinations will get uplift on their routes including:
- New York (from 3 to 5 daily flights)
- Miami (from 7 to 12 weekly flights)
- Los Angeles (from 12 to 17 weekly flights)
The airline will also resume flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Seattle as well as the Paris-Papeete route, via Los Angeles. A new route between Pointe-à-Pitre and New York JFK will also startup.
Flight schedule to/from the United States – winter 2021 season
To/from Paris-Charles de Gaulle:
- Atlanta: 14 weekly flights by Airbus A350-900
- Boston: 7 weekly flights by Airbus A350-900
- Chicago: 5 weekly flights by Boeing 777-300ER
- Detroit: 5 weekly flights by Boeing 787-9
- Washington DC: 7 weekly flights by Boeing 777-300ER
- Houston: 5 weekly flights by Boeing 777-300ER
- New York JFK: 35 weekly flights by Boeing 777-200ER and -300ER
- Los Angeles: 17 weekly flights by Boeing 777-200ER and -300ER
- Miami: 12 weekly flights by Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A350-900
- Seattle: 3 weekly flights by Airbus A350-900 as from 6 December 2021
- San Francisco: 7 weekly flights by Boeing 777-300ER
To/from Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe):
- New York JFK: 2 weekly flights by Airbus A320 as from 24 November 2021
To/from Papeete (French Polynesia)
- Los Angeles: 3 weekly flights by Boeing 777-300 as from 11 November 2021
Full operational details have been loaded at airfrance.com. As usual, the operation is subject to change, based on travel restrictions.
Rebuilding the networks
With the Asian networks still in recovery, airlines will be turning to transatlantic operations to ensure they can make money. With Air France scaling to 122 flights a week from a low base, they are expecting their customer to flood back.
There appears to be a lot of demand for North America and the USA – which the airline seeks to capitalise on.
We’ll see if that demand exists soon enough – and more importantly – if it is sustainable.
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