Air France plans to operate its schedule for its summer season—April through October—at 2019 levels, the carrier announced Thursday, citing strong travel demand coupled with the lifting of remaining travel restrictions.
The carrier is adding more flights to North America in response to "dynamic demand" and will operate 180 flights a week to and from 14 U.S. destinations and 50 flights to five Canadian cities. A new route between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Ottawa, Canada, will launch May 27 with five weekly flights using Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Air France will be the only airline operating direct flights between Ottawa and Europe, according to the carrier.
Air France also is resuming its flights to China. The carrier gradually will increase service to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong through the spring to reach one daily flight for each destination by July 1. The carrier also plans to continue to boost capacity to Tokyo, with up to 11 weekly flights to the city's Haneda airport and three to Narita International Airport.
On June 12, Air France will begin flights to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, operating three times weekly with Boeing 787-9 aircraft as a continuation of its service to Zanzibar. On the same date, the carrier will make Paris-Nairobi, Kenya, a direct flight.
The carrier also will operate up to 650 flights per day to 106 French and European destinations.
Air France announced its next destination to receive the carrier's new long-haul cabins: Johannesburg, South Africa. They will be introduced on flights as of March 27 and include business, premium economy and economy classes of service. The cabins currently are available on flights to and from New York JFK, Dakar and Rio de Janeiro.