Air France is preparing for a busy summer, with some new destinations and frequency increases.
Air France Boeing 777-300ER approaching Chicago O’Hare – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
It seems a mixture of strong travel demand, along with restrictions being lifted will mean that Air France is planning operations at Summer 2019 levels. For the 2023 summer season (April – October), Air France will be flying up to 835 times a day, to 191 destinations in 89 countries.
Long Haul
With China reopening and with entry getting easier, Air France will fly to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Operations will gradually increase throughout spring to reach one daily flight per destination by 1st July, or 21 flights a week.
Japan will also gain additional coverage, with the airline serving both Tokyo region airports, with up to 11 weekly flights to Tokyo Haneda and 3 to Tokyo Narita.
Looking across the Atlantic, Air France will operate up to 180 flights a week from/to 14 US destinations (including two airports in New York: John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty), as well as 50 flights to 5 Canadian cities, including the new Ottawa service.
Moving to Africa, the airline will begin flying to Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), with onward service to Zanzibar. In addition, the daily service to Nairobi (Kenya) will become a direct flight.
Finally, in the Caribbean, Air France will inaugurate a new flight on 5th May 2023, linking Cayenne (French Guiana) and Belém (Brazil) once a week on Airbus A320.
These additions to the schedule will raise Air France’s number of long-haul destinations to 85.
Next on the new business class seat: Johannesburg
With the 12 Boeing 777-300ERs being refurbished with Air Frances’ new business class product, there comes a new destination – which will be Johannesburg.
Flights with the new experience will start flying from 27th March 2023. The airplane with the new seat already flies to New York JFK, Dakar and Rio de Janeiro.
The Business cabin features a new sliding door that allows for a private space, with the seat able to transform into a real bed almost 2 metres long. For passengers travelling together, the seats located in the middle of the cabin are now equipped with a central panel that lowers easily, to make flying together even more enjoyable.
Europe and French Domestic
There continues to be a heavy reliance on the short-haul network, with the airline planning to operate up to 650 flights a day to 106 destinations in France and Europe.
The airline will operate 66 seasonal routes, connecting Paris and the regional French airports. These flights will make it possible to reach Corsica (from Paris, Bordeaux, Caen, Rennes, Lille, Lyon and Nantes), Greece (from Paris, Marseille, Nice and Toulouse), Algeria (from Paris, Marseille, Nice and Toulouse), Morocco (from Paris and Nice), and Tunisia as well (from Paris, Marseille and Nice).
For those who prefer a more cost-conscious affair, Transavia France will operate nearly 200 short- and medium-haul routes to 120 destinations this summer, including 100 from/to Paris-Orly.
Let’s be careful out there
With all these new options loaded, it’s tempting to just book and go, with all the timings loaded on Air France’s site, as well as via other distribution points.
As usual, Air France urges its customers to check the travel restrictions and documents required upon arrival at their destination. For more information, go to airfrance.traveldoc.aero.
As usual – options are wonderful things to have – and Air France seems to be delivering them to its customers, with the schedule back to 2019 levels.
The next step will be growth – something to think about over the winter season.
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